By Tyler Arthur
Hundreds of members of De Montfort University’s sports clubs and societies gathered at The Venue yesterday afternoon (Tuesday March 6) for a Varsity Rally to celebrate and ramp up the excitement for the annual event.
Many of the 62 teams who are playing in the coming week were in attendance, and some of them had representatives involved in the rally’s activities, including the signing of the university’s Varsity pledge.
The Pledge – Signed by all of the attending team representatives
Photo Courtesy of Jason Senior – Redpix Photography
The Vice Chancellor, Professor Dominic Shellard, alongside the DSU and DMU Sport representatives, hosted and spoke at the event. Drawing from multiple quotes from Winston Churchill, he motivated the attendees and emphasised the historic importance of the event.
“History is written by the victors.”
The reps for the sports teams who featured in the rally were all very excited for their Varsity fixture, and the atmosphere in the build-up during the week has now reached it’s peak, just in time for the Wednesday’s start to proceedings, with the Women’s Tennis 1st match ups.
Huge cheers for the representatives of our #TeamDMU sides competing this Varsity series! #TeamDMU 🤜👏 🏆 pic.twitter.com/7MClgDcLOq
— dmuleicester (@dmuleicester) March 6, 2018
Of the 743 competitors, only a handful were put forward as a rep for their side, so those who did were proud and excited to contribute to the rally, ahead of their all-important fixtures.
Sam Kibble, who works with many of the teams in their strength and conditioning sessions, said: “Varsity is the pinnacle of the year for DMU Sport, and it’s huge for the University as a whole, it’s great that everyone is getting involved.”
The Varsity Week fixtures will play out over the 7 day period, concluding with the Men’s 1st Basketball team, on the 14th of March.
The final two matches will be decided at the end of April, at Welford Road – where the Men’s and Women’s Rugby 1st teams both fight for the final couple of Varsity points, to decide whether DMU can make history, and win their first Varsity.
