Six reasons why college sport at Durham is so special, unique and important

It’s the most typically Durham thing about Durham. There’s nothing and nowhere quite like it. Yes, the likes of Cambridge, Oxford, Lancaster and York universities have similar systems but there is absolutely nowhere with a comparable level of participation or passion for college sport.

If college life is what defines Durham University, then it is college sport which defines college life. It is not the internal bubbles of the JCR’s or university societies which impact the average weekend life and Wednesday nights of Durham students. Instead, it is their love for and commitment to the sports they play, at the most remarkably variable standards.

To anyone wanting to contest this, I present to you the fact that 75 per cent of Durham students play sport on a weekly basis, a rate substantially higher than any other university in the country. Why else do you think everyone here is attractive? It’s not just the daily trips up cardiac hill and walks of shame.

It is special, it is unique and it is something which we should be innately proud and protective of. So, here it is. The six reasons why I, and many others, love college sport and have had our university experience bettered by it.

1. The sense of community

Enter any college sport team and you will find an undying community of people united throughout university, and in many cases life.

Let’s be realistic, at most levels of college sport it is not our ability for the sport which makes us turn up with a violent hangover at 9am. It is instead our passion for our college, our love for our sport and our respect for our teammates.

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Even at the lowest rungs of college sport, those shared experiences of promotion and relegation games mean absolutely everything and create a special and unique community replicated nowhere else to the extent of Durham.

2. The sheer scale of it

Before saying anything else, I’ll just make the point that college sport plays host to 95 (yes, 95) men’s college football teams.

Collingwood alone has 16 (yes, we are absolutely massive, I know). That is absolutely obscene.

For reference, Cambridge only has two divisions with seven teams in each. How incredibly village, I’d rather be a Oxbridge reject than have an underwhelming college sport system.

But, it is not just the most typically mainstream sports which attract significant turnout. For example, who knew that St. Mary’s, not known for being a particularly sporty college, has three ultimate frisbee teams? It is a testament to the demand for college sport that Maiden Castle, an impressive sports facility by university standards, often struggles to schedule in fixtures for every team every week.

3. Floodlit

It is the absolute pinnacle of the college sport calendar in Durham and nothing else comes close.

It is the highlight of the year and those that scalp some glory and honour for their respective colleges will be revered as legends beyond their own stay at university.

There’s also a certain magic of the cup element to it. It isn’t like the league, it feels like literally anything can happen when you’re under the lights with the entirety of a college behind you.

In larger colleges with enough teams to fuel healthy rivalries inside college, rivalries are put aside for one night to pull together behind the college you all love and endear. Yes, the atmosphere may have mellowed slightly in the last few years owing to the university’s inability to control students having a few social pints at floodlit.

Still, I think you would struggle to find such a level of atmosphere and passion at any other level of intra-mural university sport in the country.

4. It makes the college system mean so much more

To the vast majority of us who aren’t caught up in JCR drama (I’m looking at you, South), college does not play a significant role in day-to-day life, particularly after moving out of accommodation in first year.

Yet, going back to Collingwood once a week for training and representing it at the weekend brings me back into college life and reaffirms my undying love for the college. I’m sure that emotion is shared across all 16 other colleges, too.

It is also essential in solidifying the stereotypes and light-hearted college rivalries which make Durham so… Durham. Would we really hate Hatfield as much as we do if they weren’t regularly at the top of premierships in many a sport? Would we really call Aidan’s irrelevant if they chose to actually win something for once? The ever-moving and continuous nature of college sport extends our love for our colleges and our healthy distaste to others.

Without it, I do question whether our college system would be even remotely as meaningful and relevant to our university experience.

5. Wednesday night socials

Despite the negative, flaccid and stale outlook on sports socials by some, it is undeniable that they are essential in forging lifelong bonds between friends and are ultimately the highlight of the week for many students.

An excuse to dress up in a silly costume, have some silly drinks at a social and be even sillier in Jimmy’s? Sign me up.

The close connection between teammates and the strong infrastructural system of teams in which most have designated welfare and social secretaries ensures that students can have fun within a controlled and inclusive environment.

6. It gives people like me who are pretty terrible at a sport they love an opportunity to keep playing

I’ve played a football match every weekend of my life from September to April since the age of eight.

I’m also pretty mediocre at football; my athleticism is at best average, I possess very little technical ability and at 5’9″, I stand pretty tepid in goal.

And yet, I still absolutely love the game and would be genuinely gutted if I were unable to play week in, week out. However, there is a place in college sport for pretty much anyone, myself included.

Go down to football division 6B and you will see many a man who has the composure of yours truly after five Woodgate’s on the Jimmy’s dance floor. Go to a novice rowing race and you will see rowers who have never stepped foot in a boat before university. Watch floodlit rugby and there’ll be plenty a player more than good enough to play at a high level of university rugby.

It is this culture of both inclusion and opportunity which distinguishes college sport in Durham from elsewhere.

Rather than just playing in an intra-mural league like at most universities, people who are unfit, people who are inexperienced and people who are just quite simply terrible are given the opportunity to represent their college at something and are able to feel part of something bigger than themselves. That means something, and we should be incredibly proud of it.

Images via Nathan Elliott (CCAFC), James Stubbs (VMCRFC) and Lebaneat

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