22 March 2016: More than 200 student athletes from the University of Canberra will don the blue and black tomorrow as the University hosts the 2016 Intervarsity Sports Day.
Facing crosstown rivals the Australian National University, the universities will battle it out in 17 sports with the University of Canberra hoping to make the most of its home ground advantage.
In addition to basketball, badminton, futsal, hockey, netball, rugby 7s, soccer, table tennis, touch rugby, tug-of-war, ultimate Frisbee and volleyball returning, this year will see tennis, squash and 100-metre sprint added to the program.
Joe Roff, CEO of the University of Canberra Union which oversees Sport at UC, said more than 330 students attended the trials to represent the University with a minimum of two trials held for each sport.
"We were very pleased with the quantity of people attending these trials, but also the quality of the athletes that we have on campus," he said. "This is very promising moving forward into the Australian University Sport program that will run at various times throughout the year."
He added this is only the third year that the two major Canberra universities have formally organised a sporting competition and participation has grown exponentially in that time.
"The first year each university only had 50 people across four sports, last year was the first time the event was properly formalised with 182 UC students across 11 sports, and this year each uni will have around 215 participants," he said.
"We want to create a true competition between the two universities and allow students an additional opportunity to represent their university in the sports arena."
Hoping to claim bragging rights this year, Mr Roff encouraged staff and students to head to the University's Sporting Commons and surrounding ovals, where there will be food and beverages available, and cheer on their university at the free event.
"We strongly encourage all to come and support our UC teams," he said. "This year will be the first year that we host the event, so we really want to make the most of the home advantage!
WHAT: Intervarsity Sports Day
WHEN: TOMORROW, Wednesday, 23 March, 11.00am
WHERE: University of Canberra sporting grounds. Campus map.
Contact the University of Canberra team:
Claudia Doman: 0408 826 362
Matthew Hogan: 0409 140 415