The Sheffield United Community Foundation has announced the return of it’s College Varsity, which is set to take place on Friday.
The event brings together Sheffield United Community College students versus Sheffield Wednesday Community College for a multi-sport competition.
Ryan Collins, Education Manager at the Foundation, said: “Last year was the first year of the Varsity. I used to be a Sheffield Hallam student and loved the University Varsity – especially the Ice Hockey final- and I thought, ‘why can’t we replicate that at a community college level?’.”
This year’s Varsity will be staged across three venues: the English Institute of Sport (EIS) for track and indoor sports, Bramall Lane for eSports and Handsworth Junior Sports Club which will host the evening football fixtures.
“This year, there is a 10 series event which are men’s football and women’s football which is the only sport where we’ve got separate genders. Then we’ve got basketball, futsal, badminton, handball, dodgeball and then track and field events which are mini events that build into one point,” added Ryan.
The foundation has added in athletics as part of the event to give students the opportunity to compete individually as well as in a team.
The competition will operate on a points-based system, with a total of 10 points available. In the event of a 5-5 tie, the winner of the Men’s Football match will be awarded the trophy.
Ryan added: “Last year, we didn’t know what to expect, but it was really successful, the students engaged really well and our college won the trophy.”
“The plan is to replicate it annually and the idea is just to tweak it each year with new activities and sports to give the event some more variety. In the future it might be a week event rather than just a day!”
Degree-level students will take on roles such as coaches, officiators or media producers for the day. Those unable to play due to injury are encouraged to attend as spectators to keep the entire student body involved.
In the build up to the day, the Foundation is launching a student-run podcast, due for release the day before the event on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube. A new partnership with Kitlocker, who have produced ‘two bespoke varsity kits’ for students to wear on the day.
A group of students will visit Kitlocker’s headquarters to take part in a photoshoot for the launch. The Foundation views the event as part of its wider aim to offer students structured opportunities outside of standard classroom settings.