Bristol Uni to host sport extravaganza this week with 500 athletes and six universities

Find out how to catch the action and support Bristol


This week sees Bristol University’s first ever Derby Day. The event will include 500 athletes from six universities and 30 different sports.

Starting at midday on Wednesday 20th March, it will run until 9:45pm before free transport will take students to The Triangle to participate in a full Bristol Sports Night, with the event sponsors Fishies.

Bristol University will be joined by Cardiff, Bath, Exeter, UWE and Birmingham, at the Coombe Dingle site where there will be a Freshers’ Fair-style set up of stalls from vendors, including Surridge Sports.

Credit: Bristol SU

Bristol Uni students can travel to the event for free using the transfer buses, which leave on the hour, every hour, on Wednesday from Tyndall Avenue from 10am to 7pm. The shuttle buses return on the half hour from 1:30pm to 7:30pm.

The day will be structured with a “Bristol vs The Rest” scoring system, with points given to each side for a win or a loss.

The day will finish with MVP awards given to players nominated by their teams, with prizes available for the winners.

If you know more about shots than shuttlecocks, and can’t even begin to explain the offside rule, there will be a pop-up bar in the Derby Day Hub, where draught pints, cans and non-alcoholic drinks will be available.

If you want to try your hand at a new kind of sport, you can join in with some highly athletic beer pong or table tennis at the Coombe Dingle Tennis Centre.

If you want to get your hands on a drink pitch side, there will be a can bar in the building on the 3G site, and the usual bar menu from Harry’s Bar (the bar in the cricket pavilion).

The coverage from the day will be played in The Beckford and The Balloon Bar, so students can watch from campus without heading up to the Coombe Dingle venue, just north of Stoke Bishop.

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