Celebrate the rivalry that keeps getting bigger

It’s fair to say that the University of Melbourne and cross-town Monash University are competing for many of Victoria’s brightest young minds. And with many celebrated sporting alumni having graduated from both universities over the years (more than 150 years in Melbourne’s case) it’s not surprising that this rivalry has found its way to the sporting field.

Building on this on-field rivalry (Melbourne and Monash have been Victoria’s best placed universities at the Australian University Games since their inception in 1993 and have won six out of the past 10 Games between them), both universities committed to showcasing their student-athletes in a series of sporting competitions in home-and-away format last year. And with this commitment, the Varsity Challenge was born.

Melbourne University Sport’s Director Tim Lee explains that the success of the Australian Boat Race between Melbourne and Sydney university’s men’s and women’s rowing eights over the past six years has shown that the wider university community has an appetite for marquee sporting events with a focus on collegiate rivalry.

“The Boat Race has steadily built a spectator audience of not only rowing enthusiasts, but of alumni who are looking for an opportunity to reconnect with their former class-mates or club mates, and at the same time, cheer on the current crop of student athletes as they go into battle with one of our traditional university rivals,” Mr Lee says.

“The Varsity Challenge provides this opportunity by maintaining the momentum of Orientation and the start of the university year. The sporting events are on campus, or very close by, and the event almost has a ‘homecoming’ feel about it for the alumni who attend.”

From a student perspective, the University’s student-athletes get very excited about playing in front of a home campus crowd of family, friends and alumni. Student basketballer Tim Clark says it’s a great feeling to be out on court and hear the crowd in the stands cheer on the team’s performance.

“The basketball court on campus can get pretty noisy when it fills up, and it can give you a bit of a lift when the crowd goes a little crazy when someone hits a three-pointer or makes a dunk,” Mr Clark says.

Family, friends and alumni have the opportunity to cheer on their University at this year’s challenge with the Monash leg taking place on Wednesday 11 March where basketball, football and touch football teams will be in action at the Clayton campus. 

Melbourne’s home leg takes place the following week on Wednesday 18 March with hockey and volleyball on campus, and a marquee Australian Rules football game at Ikon Park (formerly Visy Park) rounding out the challenge for 2015.

Melbourne’s home leg is set to be big, colourful and noisy. The event is set to have something for everyone, with a marching band winding through the campus to lead spectators into the Sports Precinct and then through Princess Park to Ikon Park, face-painting in University black and blue, a free barbecue, Red Bull DJ and a College mascot race. Spectators will also have the chance for a kick-to-kick before and after the footy on the hallowed turf of Carlton Football Club’s home ground.

www.varsitychallenge.ccom.au.