Leeds Varsity 2023 has ended for the second year with University of Leeds beating out Beckett to take home the win with a score of 69-49.
Varsity made its return to leeds this May, with over 60 sporting events and one massive final fixture at Headingley Stadium, it promised to be an exciting few days of sporting action.
The event was sidelined until last year, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But Students proved they were hungry for the event, with last years Varsity amassing over 15,000 spectators across 3 days.
Beckett came into the competition with something to prove, having lost the 2022 matchup 64-52, all eyes were looking at them as the favourites to get reparations for the previous year’s loss.
Lacrosse Players Joe Smith and Josh Barnes were confident coming into the yearly competition.
‘Exceptional Atmospheres‘
Basketball was the sport that kicked the fixtures off on the 3rd of may, and in my opinion the combination of athletic ability, fierce competition and mutual respect perfectly encapsulated everything great about leeds varsity.
Up first were the Men’s Second teams. Beckett Struggled early on with turnovers, but a mixture of elite defense and shot making from star point guard Liam Kearns managed to earn his team the hard earned points and put Beckett up early in the standings.
It was a great spectacle to watch, the first team watched on from the stands, supporting their own team and heckling the other making for an extremely fun, if tense, environment with the final score being 50 -36 to LBU.
Unfortunately, that would prove to be the final win for Beckett on the court, as the womens and mens 1sts lost 63-68 and 26-52 respectively, which proved to be a microcosm of the dominance The Gryphons showed throughout the few days, ultimately leading them to victory.
Josephine Manion is the main co-ordinator for the event, managing everything from security to sponsors, and despite the Rugby finale being the focal point of the competition, Event director,she believes that the smaller sports like these are often the true deciders of the whole tournament.
‘Every sport counts towards the final tally, and certainly in previous years its been the smaller, lesser known sports that have tipped us over the edge(…) So i would definitely encourage people to get down to some of the more out-there sports’
Third times the charm?
Leeds Beckett University are yet to win a varsity series since its resumption last year, and with a lot of history to live up to, the pressure will be on.
As attendances keep growing, new sports are added and a fierce rivalry continues to grow, varsity 2024 looks set to be the best in the competition’s history.
