University of Leicester: Varsity kicks off on Wednesday 7 March

University of Leicester: Varsity kicks off on Wednesday 7 March

University of Leicester’s #FearLeics sports stars will once again face off competition from De Montfort University

LEICESTER, 01-Mar-2018 — /EuropaWire/ — Sporting students from the University of Leicester will take to venues across the city to defend their title of reigning Varsity champions from rivals De Montfort University.

The biggest event in the universities sporting calendar, Varsity kicks off on Wednesday 7 March. 63 teams of students will be competing in nearly thirty sports over eight days in a bid to be crowned the city’s Varsity champions – a title that the University of Leicester has won every year since records began in 2000.

This year, University of Leicester and Leicester Students’ Union invite everyone to ‘be part of it’ by joining the crowds at any of the more than sixty games taking place at venues across the city, including football, netball, basketball, tennis, badminton, squash, cricket, swimming, hockey, American football and cycling. The familiar homes of legendary Leicester sports teams will be the backdrop for many of the games, including the Leicester Tigers stadium on Welford Road and the Leicester Riders Arena.

Varsity is an annual competition which pits sports teams from the University of Leicester, commonly known as Team Leicester, against teams from local neighbours De Montfort University. Despite the rivalry which runs between students of both institutions the matches are played in good spirit and is the highlight of the year for many competitors.

With the best sporting talent from both universities on display, it’s unsurprising that the games draw crowds of students, staff and even the local Leicester community. The basketball matches on 14 March have a projected attendance of over a thousand spectators while the men’s and women’s rugby matches on 8 November, coinciding with International Women’s Day, are expected to draw up to 8,000 spectators.

Last year’s Varsity was one of the closest ever, with DMU taking an early lead but Team Leicester clawed back to victory with 30.5 points to 18.5. The Varsity Series will run until Wednesday 14 March when the games will culminate with both institutions’ basketball teams going head-to-head on the court at Leicester Arena, and a white-knuckle race down the river Soar by the boating clubs. Varsity officially ends when the cricket teams don their whites in May.

Highlights from last year included the eagerly awaited rugby matches at the Leicester Tigers stadium, where Team Leicester’s women’s team extended their Varsity unbeaten run to 14 years, while the men’s team came to a nail-biting finish as Team Leicester scored in the closing moments to win the match.

A report on last year’s games’ highlight is online here: https://www2.le.ac.uk/news/blog/2017-archive/march/leicester-triumph-at-varsity-2017

Paul Robbins, Team Leicester Sports Coordinator, said: “Varsity is a fantastic opportunity for our University community to come together under the Team Leicester banner. Whether students are competing or showing their support, there is an opportunity for everyone to contribute and be involved.”

Kennedy Adamu, Student Sports Officer at Leicester Students’ Union and Power Forward, Men’s First Basketball Team, said: “Varsity is so special because it unites the University community as both sporting and non-sporting staff and students come together with a common goal – to protect our proud history of beating DMU.

“I’ve competed in Varsity since 2014 and there’s nothing quite like hearing hundreds of students chanting ‘Leicester’ at the top of their lungs. For sports teams, it’s the biggest match they’ll play all year and it’s always fantastic to see the support from the Students’ Union and University in encouraging everyone to be part of Team Leicester.”

• University of Leicester Varsity website: https://le.ac.uk/varsity
• University of Leicester Varsity 2018 hashtag: #FearLeics

Ends

Notes to editors:

For more information contact Paul Robbins on pr142@leicester.ac.uk

• Photographs of Team Leicester available to download from: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wrfx360pw7k55gr/AADRV8tvIaESAIlACey_fnJUa?dl=0
• Watch Team Leicester’s Varsity 2018 video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf0oVILw5kA
• Listen to LUSH student radio’s commentary on the winning try of the men’s rugby match in 2017: https://www.mixcloud.com/lushradio/mens-rugby-varsity-2017-the-final-try/

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SOURCE: University of Leicester