Varsity 2017
Varsity is one of the biggest events on a Universities calendar. Most students that attend see it as a day to spend in the sun with some alcohol and watch some sport but for those that don’t know it is a day in which two rival unis come together and compete their sports teams against each other in many different games. Wednesday the 29th of March was no exception for the University of West London, where the rival University, Westminster came to UWL’s home ground Ealing Trailfinders where they both competed for the day playing a total of 9 games.
This was UWL’s first time at home in two years so there was added pressure to make sure it was a top performance by all. The huge and uplifting support from both the universities added an exciting, vibrant atmosphere which stayed throughout the whole day and pushed all the teams to fight and try to win. The result of each game was then put towards the final score of the day which crowned who the ‘better’ university was.
The first game to kick off the day was the Men’s second teams football. With the uproar coming from the side of the pitch from both sides supporters it was the perfect atmosphere for a day of competition. The day however didn’t start how the warriors expected with the boys unfortunately losing 8-0. However, this did not lower anyone’s spirits and in fact made the teams keep their head high and to push themselves even harder towards a win for the rest of the games.
Both ladies and men's basketball team fought for their title with the women's coming out on top with a close score of 27-25. The men's unfortunately had an intense and lively game and had a close call and lost 45-44. Both games were painfully close but nonetheless they all kept fighting until the last whistle blew. Similar to the men's second team football the Netball's second had a painful 60 minutes but the girls stuck with it and put all their efforts into the game but unfortunately this was not enough as Westminster came out on top with a 46-9 win.
Despite the early loses in the day it was now up to the first teams Netball, Football and Rugby to try and pull it back for UWL. The men's football were up first and with a intense 90 minutes there was never a dull moment. The Spartans were awarded a penalty which bought them level at a score of 1-1 however could not find the chance to score another goal and unfortunately conceded another goal finishing the game with a 2-1 loss. The Netball's first team smashed their game against the dragons, an exciting electric match for the whole 60 minutes led to a tight win of 38-37 but a win nonetheless.
With the day concluding the only game left was the men’s rugby, arguably the biggest game of the day. The build-up was huge and the pressure the boys put on themselves was massive. The crowds in the stadium grew and the atmosphere became tense with the two unis battling it out in one last game. They fought their hardest and came up on top with a huge win of 32-15. With the success from the boys they were joined by the group with a pitch invasion as the Warriors celebrated the huge win.
Even though UWL did not win over all it was a day full of laughter and cheers it will not be a year to forget, the was the individual results of the games made history and this will not be forgotten anytime soon.
-Alice Blaxland
