Varsity 2022 saw Coventry students face off against Warwick SU in 31st edition of their Varsity series. In what was a thrilling weekend, as is always expected, both sets of students put on incredible performances throughout the event. Coventry finished with 23 points and Warwick won with 37 points across 29 competitive sporting fixtures.
Although different outcomes would have been preferred, several Coventry teams played nailbiters including our Men’s Football team, which lost a very close game to Warwick in the waning minutes of the game. Women’s Volleyball also dropped a 3-2 loss in an exhilarating fixture against Warwick that had everyone on the edge of their seats.
Highlight wins include outstanding performances from our Team Phoenix clubs, Women’s Basketball, Men’s Basketball, Women’s Rugby Union, and Men’s Volleyball, who all come away with entertaining wins. Additionally, our Athletics men and women picked up 2 points for Team Blue for the first time in 5 years in one of the opening events to Varsity 2022, followed by a great performance by our Equestrian club. Coventry’s Karting club dominated their Varsity race by placing 9 drives in the first 11 finishes.
Beyond the sporting performances, Sport Coventry was particularly proud of the fundraising efforts by our students, made possible by our sponsors, Eden Square. The partnership between Eden Square and Sport Coventry allowed for students to eliminate the financial barrier to participating in and watching the Varsity fixtures as students were able to buy packages for as little as £3. In total, £5600 was raised for two charities specifically selected by our Sports Committee, Alice Ruggles Trust and Student Minds.
2021/22 Sport and Wellbeing Officer, Elvis Zeiluks said, “I’ve been here for four years now and was really looking forward to just getting Varsity back. After the pandemic, we weren’t really sure what that would look like and how many teams we would be able to get competing. The goal was just to try to get the games on but we went beyond that and created a brilliant experience for everyone.” Zeiluks was incredibly thankful to Eden Square, saying “we definitely would not have been able to raise such an amount without Eden Square’s support. And it’s really important to highlight the work that these two charities do as they are particularly relevant to the student demographic, so we are happy to be able to support them.”
Despite the results, the excitement around Varsity was palpable and already has people talking about how to make Varsity 2023 even better. As we countdown to next year's Varsity, be sure to check out the photos on our dedicated Varsity 2022 page and our @sport_coventry Instagram account and Youtube channel.