A re-cap on the historic Varsity 2010

A re-cap on the historic Varsity 2010

Unless you have been hiding in your room with your head firmly buried under your duvet for the last two months, you will be aware that Christ Church has recently taken part in some form of sporting event.

With more games than ever before being played in this hotly contested competition, and the added pressure of playing up the hill at the dreaded UKC, one month on and Christ Church is still in reflection of what was one of the most dramatic Varsity’s of recent years.

With Christ Church taking an early lead after winning the swimming the attention of the University turned to the Rugby. On a bitterly cold March evening an impressive number of dedicated fans, both Christ Church and UKC, made the journey to Canterbury Rugby club to show their support for the men and the women who battled it out to get some more early points on the board. However, an impressive UKC women’s team brushed aside the Christ Church girls leaving the men to fight for some rugby pride. But yet again, in a closer contested match, another impressive UKC outfit gave the Christ Church men a firm seeing to eventually ending up with a 13-7 lead.

After the opening day of the competition over and done with, and the scores being seemingly level, everyone’s attention turned to the Wednesday two days later, where the majority of the fixtures will take place and will undoubtedly be a pivotal day of sport.

It was an assured fact that football was going to play a key role in the race for the Varsity Crown 2010 with a total of nine games being played across the day. For the first time in a Varsity competition, Christ Church was able to equal UKC in the number of football teams as the top four teams of the newly set up Intramural Football League at CCCU won their right to represent their University against the respective top four teams of the highly regarded college football at UKC. This meant that football in Varsity 2010 saw the highest number of games to be played under a single sport in the competitions history. And it got off to a perfect start for Christ Church with all four of the men’s BUCs teams wining their games and the women’s BUCs team also earning a point for CCCU after a thrilling penalty shoot out after 90 minutes which saw the scores tied at 4-4.

However, UKC began the much anticipated fight back, which saw three of the Intramural teams cleanly dispatched from the competition. As the day drew to a close, and the flood lights of the 3G pitched got called in to action, the last Intramural team to make their mark on the contest entered the pitch. A cold and windy evening saw both teams commit many mistakes and very little football played, and unsurprisingly after 90 minutes the game was level at 1-1. Due to a delayed start after a Christ Church player was rushed off to hospital with a torn Achilles in the game before, this final and pivotal football game was taken straight to penalties and it was the CCCU boy’s who’s nerve held strongest winning the game 4-3 on penalties.

As the main Varsity day of 2010 came to a close UKC found themselves guarding a narrow lead with the scores at 16-14 with two games still to play, meaning for the first time in Canterbury Varsity history the games could be a draw.

The attention was now full focused on the two remaining games of the competition; Women’s first team Hockey and American Football.

On the evening of Friday 12^th of March the Christ Church students showed how much this competition means to the University. Even though the rain was pouring down and the temperature was bitter, around 100 Christ Church students made the journey up the hill to cheer on the hockey girls in a pivotal match. As the rain got heavier the songs from the Christ Church faithful got louder as the spurred the girls on to take an emphatic 4-2 victory against a very strong and impressive UKC team.

With this well deserved win in the bag for Christ Church the results of the competition hinged on the American football game, the first American football game in Canterbury Varsity history. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite the fairytale ending every Christ Church student was hoping for as a strong UKC team beat an inexperienced Christ Church who had only played 3 games prior to this meet. So unfortunately UKC came out victorious in the final game of the competition and effectively were victorious in the final tournament standings winning 17-15, however, there is know doubting that Christ Church is getting closer to that first Varsity win and the importance of the competition grows with every year.

By Samuel Francis

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Intramural Football League

Intramural Football League

Christ Church has never been shy of sporting participation over the years and with the introduction to the new Intramural Football League it shows no sign of stopping.

Football is without doubt one of, if not the, biggest sports societies at Christ Church, with hundreds of hopefuls ever year attending trials with a keen eye of putting on that maroon shirt come the start of the season. In years gone by Christ Church has always been in plentiful supply of football teams with six Christ Church BUCs (official university league) teams up and running last year, with another team based in Broadstairs and two teams set up to give other Christ Church teams' friendly’s when possible. However, at the start of this year it was only possible for four h BUCs teams to be entered in to competitive leagues leaving even more hopefuls disappointed.

With still such a high interest in football at the university the union decided to set up a new league based entirely at the university, Christ Church students verses Christ Church students. And with the first term over and done with and the football well under way this league is shaping up to be as exciting as any.

The league’s top team at Christmas, the C4 Rejects, was set up by captain and centre midfielder, Paul Spinks, who had nothing but praise for the way the union had set up the league "considering the university cut down from six BUCs football teams to four, the league is a great idea. It allows a lot more students to play competitive football." Spinks went on to commend the social’s "In the SU on a Wednesday night provides a good start to the night with a lively atmosphere and plenty of banter". The league’s top goal scorer, Tom Curnick of the C4 Rejects, backed up what his captain had mentioned "the league’s great as it allows players to have competitive fun and be part of a good social."

The union have everything sorted for the eight teams that signed up for the league; fixtures, society nights, kits and a league table, and with more games than most of the University BUCs teams at a cut of the price, the Intramural league is proving to be fantastic value for money.

In many ways the league is so much more than just a group of boys running about, it’s a very healthy way of playing the game, Chris Flynn, left back for the C4 Rejects enjoys the environment more than anything "It’s great to be able to play in a successful team in a fun and friendly environment without anyone taking it too seriously" Flynn continued to say "the league has clearly been a success with the amount of people that come to watch all the teams every week'.

Even though the league is set up through the University that does not mean that there is a lack of competitiveness between the sides, all the games that have been played so far have been hard fought and tough fixtures leaving the league table tight and very entertaining. However, there are question marks rising over the scheduling of the fixtures as the heavy down pour of rain that Canterbury saw in the weeks leading up to Christmas left Stodmarsh, the home of Christ Church football, in an awful state meaning all games in the league for three weeks running were called off. And with the recent avalanche of snowing hitting all areas in the UK it seems that the groundsman at Stodmarsh has his work cut out for him if there is to be any football played in the coming weeks.

This league is a fine example of everything that is right in football, one of the top teams in the league CCCU 4th team was one of the BUCs teams last year for the University but fell brunt to the cut backs the University had to take. Even though many of the team’s first choice players had been scouted to play for BUCs teams this year, the team stayed together and have continued to play as a team this year.

With football having such a big impact on the sport societies at Christ Church something had to be done when the University had to cut two of the BUCs teams this year, and it is no over statement to say that they have found the perfect replacement. With all teams involved being more than pleased with how the season has gone so far and a friendly environment at a cut of the price, the only problem the University have been left with now is how to deal with all that snow!

By Samuel Francis

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