UCLan Director of Sport speaks on Varsity creating a sense of belonging to university
Sporting events like Varsity are important to celebrate the joy and unity playing sport brings, says UCLan’s director of sport.
This year’s Varsity – an annual event which sees UCLan and Edge Hill face each other in a series of sporting events – starts today (March 24) and lasts till Wednesday.
And Adrian Ibbetson, who oversees the Sports department at UCLan, says it is a chance for the competitors to really enjoy the event.
He said: “We are trying to use the event to create a buzz about sport, to create a sense of belonging to the university and to use it as an opportunity to make memories.”
Continuing with the belonging theme, Ibbetson also said Varsity presents the unique chance for all the different sports to perform together at an event.
“It’s the one time of the year that all of the sports teams come together and collectively play for the university all at once,” explained Ibbetson.
“The teams are always here, there and everywhere whereas with Varsity it’s a collective effort against a collective opposition so it feels different, it feels special.”
Varsity will see sports teams from UCLan and Edge Hill University compete against each other across a wide variety of sports for the chance to be crowned Varsity champions.
The event is held at each university every other year and hosts a range of sports with the likes of football, basketball, rugby and swimming.
VARSITY: Teams have been busy preparing for the event.
This year is set to be the biggest one yet as it is to be held over three days, with rugby and basketball being played on the Monday and Tuesday alongside the main event on Wednesday.
Ibbetson says the aim of this is to make the event more of a spectacle and better than it has been before – and includes adding in a showpiece element at the end of each day to announce the winners.
“The idea was to try and make it a bit bigger and feel a bit more special,” he said.
Varsity is being held across venues within UCLan’s campus in Preston, including the Sir Tom Finney Centre and UCLan Sports Arena.
