Aberdeen University Sports Union (AUSU) is the sports union at the

University of Aberdeen , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. It is a constituent part of

Aberdeen University Students' Association Aberdeen University Students' Association (often referred to as AUSA) is the students' association of the University of Aberdeen, an ancient university in the city of Aberdeen in North East Scotland. It organises recreational activities; provi ...

. It is not responsible for facilities and rents time for its clubs from Aberdeen Sports Village.

History

The University of Aberdeen Sports Union was created in 1999 from an amalgamation of three student bodies, to create the

. At this point the ancient Athletics Association, as it was known, ceased to exist. At first the new sports body was called Sports Council but in 2002 this changed to Sports Union due to confusion over the number of councils at the university. The new body is identical in set up to its sister Aberdeen University Societies Union.

Colours and playing strips

The strip uses the four colours of the university crest - royal blue, gold, red and white. The design was based on the quarters of the university crest and the previous rugby 1st XV strips. The traditional colours of royal blue and gold had to be supplemented due to Heriot-Watt University carrying out a similar project several years previously and their colours also being royal blue and gold. The away strip was opposite with red as the main.

Facilities

Aberdeen Sports Village

Kings Pavilion

Kings Pavilion is an art deco building built in the 1930s, containing the swimming pool, performance gym, performance suite and away outdoor changing rooms.

Butchart Recreation Centre

Butchart Recreation Centre was constructed in the 1950s, where it was the sports Hub of the university for over 40 years. Butchart closed its doors as a sport facility on 26 July 2009 before reopening as Aberdeen University's Students' Association

Kings Playing Fields

Kings Playing Fields has two

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

pitches, a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

wicket and

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

pitch. Away changing is done in Kings Pavilion and home changing in Butchart Recreation Centre.

Hillhead Centre

Hillhead Centre The Hillhead Centre (formally known as ''Keith Park'') is a multi-use stadium, sports stadium in the Old Aberdeen area of Aberdeen, Scotland. It is owned and managed by the University of Aberdeen. It consists of a floodlights, floodlit, grass ...

is just up the road opposite Hillhead Halls of Residence. It houses the Grampian Institute of Sport, bar and conference suite. It has a floodlit full-size grass football pitch, currently home to

Aberdeen University F.C. Aberdeen University Football Club is an association football team representing the University of Aberdeen. History Early years The University Club was formed in 1872 and became members of the Scottish Football Association, SFA in 1904. Aberde ...

(and formerly home to Junior team Hillhead F.C./ Bridge of Don Thistle before they moved to the village of Newburgh) and sand based floodlit full-size

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

pitch.

Balgownie Playing Fields

Balgownie Playing Fields is further up the road from the Hillhead Centre and consists of a floodlit rugby training area, club storage, bar and club room, changing rooms, flood lit running track, floodlit football pitch and football, rugby, Gaelic football and

shinty Shinty ( gd, camanachd, iomain) is a team game played with sticks and a ball. Shinty is now played mainly in the Scottish Highlands and amongst Highland migrants to the big cities of Scotland, but it was formerly more widespread in Scotland, and ...

playing fields.

Aberdeen University Boat House

Aberdeen University Boat House is found on the River Dee housing all the universities rowing boats. Other facilities used by the Sports Union to house clubs include Zeste Dining Room, Hillhead Games Hall, Aberdeen City Council Altens football pitches, Aberdeen City Council Torry Games Hall and Aberdeen City Council Jesmond Games Hall.

Clubs

Sports Union has fifty-eight affiliated clubs, the second largest in

. The clubs have 99 teams who travel weekly around Scotland and Britain competing against other universities and clubs. Many tour further abroad annually. The clubs are for social and competitive members with clubs competing in regional, Scottish Student Sport (SSS) or British Universities & College Sports (

BUCS British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) is the governing body for higher education sport in the United Kingdom. BUCS was formed in June 2008 following a merger of British Universities Sports Association (BUSA) and University College Sport ...

) leagues.

Committee

The Sports Union Committee of 19 elected members is led by a President for Sport to coordinate the clubs, events and 3,500 Sports Union members. The President for Sport and the Sports Union Treasurer also sit on the Executive Committee of the Students' Association. The President of the Students' Association is an ex-officio member of the Sports Union Committee. The Sports Union President and Treasurer are elected as part of the Students' Association Executive Committee elections normally held in March of each year. In April 2013 Marc McCorkell was elected as President for Sport for the 2013/14 season. The rest of the Sports Union Committee elections are held as part of the AUSA Council elections, normally held in early April of each year.

2016-17 Committee

Source:

Events

hosts some of the largest university events in Scotland. These range from those for the avid university sports person to providing a fun day for students.

Superteams

Superteams is normally the second weekend of March and is one of the flagship events attracting approximately 480 students to compete and 60 student volunteers. It is the largest one-day event of its kind in Scotland. The event is made up of teams of seven with no more than four from the opposite sex, the team must also nominate a Superman and Superwoman. This is a fun event and separated into many bases, some of which over the years have included;

Go-Karting Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on ful ...

Abseiling Abseiling ( ; ), also known as rappelling ( ; ), is the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. When abseiling the person descending controls their own movement down the rope, in contrast to low ...

Tug of war Tug of war (also known as tug o' war, tug war, rope war, rope pulling, or tugging war) is a sport that pits two teams against each other in a test of strength: teams pull on opposite ends of a rope, with the goal being to bring the rope a certa ...

, Sprints,

Sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a '' rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring ('' dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by t ...

Wrestling, Bungee Runs,

Paintballing Paintball is a competitive sport, competitive team sport, team shooting sport in which players eliminate opponents from play by hitting them with spherical dye-filled gelatin capsules called Paintball equipment#Paintballs, paintballs that brea ...

and

Orienteering Orienteering is a group of sports that require navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a ...

Blues Ball

The Sports Blues Ball is traditionally the first Thursday in February and it the annual recognition of sporting achievement at the university where the five Sports Trophies are awarded along with the Blues. It is the largest all seated sports ball in Scotland. Guest speakers have included

Jimmy Hill James William Thomas Hill, OBE (22 July 1928 – 19 December 2015) was an English footballer and later a television personality. His career included almost every role in the sport, including player, trade union leader, coach, manager, director, ...

, Jason White,

Ally McCoist Alistair Murdoch McCoist, (; born 24 September 1962) is a Scottish former footballer who has since worked as a manager and TV pundit. McCoist began his playing career with Scottish club St Johnstone before moving to English side Sunderland in ...

Clive Tyldesley Clive Tyldesley (born 21 August 1954) is an English television sports broadcaster. He was ITV's senior football commentator from 1998 until 2020. In that role, he has led the ITV commentary team at four World Cups and four European Championshi ...

Doddie Weir George Wilson "Doddie" Weir (4 July 1970 – 26 November 2022) was a Scottish rugby union player who played as a lock. He made 61 international appearances for the Scotland national team and represented the British & Irish Lions. With the ...

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and Chris Cusiter and Tim Baillie.

The Boat Race

The annual boat race between University of Aberdeen and

Robert Gordon University , mottoeng = Now by all your mastered arts , established = 1992 (origins mid-18th century) , type = Public , endowment = £1.9 million (2015) , budget = £103 million (2014) , chancellor = Dame Evelyn Glennie , principal = Professor St ...

has been competed for since 1995. The University of Aberdeen has lost only four times, in 2006, 2009, 2012 and 2013

Aberdeen Asset Management Aberdeen Asset Management was an international investment management group, managing assets for both institutions and private investors from offices around the world. Its head office was in Aberdeen, Scotland. The company was listed on the Lon ...

sponsor the event.

Granite City Challenge

One of the largest varsity events in Britain competed annually in the week before the Easter holidays in March. All sports are competed for on the Wednesday of the week. Since its conception in 1996 University of Aberdeen have only been beaten once by their city rivals

, in 2008.

Kings Football Sixes

Aberdeen University Football Club is older than Aberdeen F.C. formed in 1889. The success of the rugby sevens is rivalled by that of the football and is normally the weekend after the rugby.

Kings Rugby Sevens

Boasting one of the oldest

teams in the world, formed in 1875, the university also hosts one of the largest university rugby events in Scotland. The tournament is usually hosted on the last weekend of April or the first weekend after the Easter holidays.

Intra-Mural

University of Aberdeen has a strong

Intramural sports Intramural sports are recreational sports organized within a particular institution, usually an educational institution, or a set geographic region. The term, which is chiefly North American, derives from the Latin words ''intra muros'' meaning " ...

tradition with a high standard found in four football leagues all of ten teams, two are eleven-a-side leagues played at the Aultons Council pitches, one is a six-a-side league played on the Cage at Kings and one is a seven-a-side league in the Aberdeen Sports Village, the title of which is held by Iain Proudfoot's Village Army. All leagues together combined bring together upwards of 650 students weekly - the second largest intramural programme in Scotland.

International representation

The University of Aberdeen has boasted many athletes of international significance during its history. This can be seen in team sports such as the

Aberdeen University Rugby Football Club Aberdeen University Rugby Football Club (AURFC) is the rugby union team at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. The men's team play in ; the women's team play in the university leagues. History Acknowledged as the equal oldest rugby club i ...

with and

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

representation.

Affiliations

British University & College Sport (BUCS)

The University of Aberdeen affiliates to

annually. BUCS is responsible for the organisation of the majority of university sport and claims to set more sports fixtures than any other sports organisation in Europe. Every sport that is recognised by BUCS is allocated points. These are compiled and at the end of the season all institutions are ranked for sport.

Scottish Student Sport (SSS)

The University of Aberdeen affiliates to Scottish Student Sport annually. SSS runs a lot of the sports events and fixtures on behalf of BUCS in Scotland, in particular the

British University Games British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

(BUCS). SSS also takes responsibility for a lot of the sports BUCS does not recognise such as rifle, shinty, Gaelic football and curling.

References

External links

Aberdeen University Sports UnionAberdeen Sports Village
{{University of Aberdeen Students' unions in Scotland Student sport in Scotland University of Aberdeen