Varsity is a competition which drums up a strong healthy rivalry between Marjon University and Plymouth University, the event usually lasts about a week and gives students a chance to prove themselves against students from Plymouth University.
Teams from both universities will go head-to-head in women’s and men’s hockey, women’s football, men’s 1st 2nd 3rd 4th football, men’s and woman’s lacrosse, American flag football, men’s tennis, netball, women’s water polo, women’s futsal, mixed volleyball and men’s and women’s football with the addition of golf this year.
In 2020 Varsity was cancelled due to the coronavirus, while last year was due to be held from March 16th to the 25th, there is still a lockdown being enforced stopping the events from taking place this year.
Lauren West, Marjon’s student sports assistant, has confirmed that Varsity will go ahead this year, but not like it has been done before.
Because of the restrictions imposed by Coronavirus, instead of having large scale spectator sports with the proceeds of the tickets sold for said event going to charity, the outdoor sports events are going to be live-streamed through social media with links to a GoFundMe page for the Young Minds charity that Marjon have chosen to support.
This year is going to be especially difficult for those taking part as there has been no official training taken place, but training for outdoor sports will be getting underway as soon as the 31st of March, although there are still restrictions on friendly matches being played due to health and safety concerns.
The indoor sports facilities will be opening in line with the government’s road map which is predicted to be on April 12th.
Unfortunately, Varsity cannot take place after lockdown restrictions have been removed as this will be after the school year has finished, but both Marjon and Plymouth University are working together to bring the best Varsity experience they can under the circumstances.