#varsity match

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Everyone turns toward someone. Look for one scarred by the King's polo stick.

- Rumi

[giantsorcowboys]

Hump Day Hunks

Getting Ready For The Varsity Match!

Woof, Baby!

[bradfordzone]

Rugby Union: Varsity Match Oxford v Cambridge | BBC Two 7 December 2:45pm

Rugby’s annual university challenge between Cambridge and Oxford resumes for the 136th time in the men’s game, with John Inverdale introducing the action from Twickenham. Cambridge ended a run of six straight defeats in the Varsity match to beat Oxford in thrilling fashion last year, with Rory Triniman’s late try sealing a 23-18 win for the Light Blues. They now lead Oxford by 62 wins to 59 but…

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[ajmpalmer]

A British perspective on the business of American college sports.

Reading this recent Guardian article got me thinking about the huge differences between student sport in the UK and US, and having spent a few years here watching all sort of US sports, both college and Pro I was compelled to comment.

It’s well known that college sports in the US is big business, with huge TV rights fees and sponsorship deals filling the coffers of the elite schools. But what surprised me about the case of UBA (that’s the University of Birmingham Alabama, a relatively small University for those of you in the UK) was their decision to stop running a football program purely based on the fact that the business numbers did not stack up. Many will point the finger at their bigger, far more powerful opponents Alabama and Auburn who monopolise both the commercial side of the college game and the competition for the best football talent in the same state.

But for me this raises a far more important question about the purpose of student sport in the first place. In the UK most universities have a thriving students union sports program that provides students at all levels with opportunities not only to practice their chosen sport to an extremely high level, but also to gain valuable skills in organising these sports clubs. Student sport as a spectator event watched on TV is practically non-existent outside of the Oxford / Cambridge Boat Race and Varsity Rugby Match at Twickenham.

The Varsity match at Twickenham - note the empty upper 2 tiers of the 82,000 seat stadium.

While the majority of student sports teams in the UK survive on a fraction of the cost of most US college sports programs, the skills and experience that students gain in running student union sports clubs are invaluable later in life.

Looking back at my own experience at Bath University, I took up a completely new sport (rowing) and was able to compete to a pretty high level, but most rewarding was the experience I gained in running the club and playing an active role in the students union sports association. I didn't realise it at the time but activities like promoting the club to new students, fundraising and trying to secure sponsorship, managing budgets and organising training have all been invaluable to me as I’ve pursued a career in the sports industry. British Universities & College Sport's own research backs this up, identifying a clear link between university sport participation and valuable skills and experience sought by graduate employers.

No doubt if I was fortunate enough to go to a US university my student rowing experience would have been vastly different, better funded, with professional coaches (and maybe even a personal cheerleader*) but probably lacking in some of the life experiences I gained. US college sport is quite frankly mind boggling at first, seeing crowds of over 100,000 regularly attend the biggest college football matches and wall to wall TV coverage takes some time to get used to. But once you do, you learn to appreciate everything it does well.

University of Michigan regularly sells out games with up to 109,000 in attendance.

In many parts of the US college sports are the only sport to watch and support in many states and they provide an extremely strong link between the college and its local / regional area. College campuses and sports facilities that I’ve seen in the US are world class and it’s evident that commercial success does make a difference in this regard. The draft system that requires most pro athletes in the major leagues in the US to attend college is also something that European sports could certainly learn from, and is certainly a huge benefit to pro athletes in the US.

But, what’s the price of this commercial success? Does the focus on major televised college sports come at the expense of more minority sports such as rowing, cycling or athletics? In purely performance terms I would say not, which brings us back to the question of the wider role student sports play in the personal development of the athletes involved. Yes, when I was at Bath University I would have loved to have a boathouse that looked like the Harvard Men's facility I saw at Head of the Charles a few years back, and yes I probably could have taken my own performance to a higher level thanks to better funding, professional coaches and a more competitive program. But at the expense of the fun I had running a club and the experience I gained being involved in the students union, no thanks.

So to the UAB football program that’s apparently going out of business with $28.2M in revenue (for the whole Athletic program), I sincerely hope the students don't let this deprive them of a chance to not only play sport, but take charge of organising and managing a program for their fellow students. You don't need $28.2M to do that....

* Based on a true story of one of my friends from Bath, who when he arrived at University of Texas on an exchange program was introduced to his own cheerleader on the rowing team. I kid you not.

[jwratcliffe-blog]

I don't just want to box for Oxford, I want a blue. Fuck anything less.