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 (UCS) organisations. BUCS is responsible for organising more than 52 inter-university sports within the UK and representative teams for the World University Championships and the

World University Games The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

. BUCS is a membership organisation for over 165 universities and colleges in the UK, with 6,000 teams competing across 850 leagues. Anne, Princess Royal is Patron of BUCS.

Sports

BUCS has 52 sports represented within the leagues and events. They are: * American football *

Archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

* Athletics * Badminton * Baseball and softball * Basketball * Boxing *

Canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other acti ...

Clay pigeon shooting Clay pigeon shooting, also known as clay target shooting, is a shooting sport involving shooting a firearm at special flying targets known as clay pigeons, or clay targets. The terminology commonly used by clay shooters often relates to time ...

* Climbing *

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 striki ...

* Cycling * Diving * Equestrian * Fencing *

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

* Futsal *

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

* Golf * Gymnastics *

Handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

* Hockey * Jiu jitsu * Judo *

Karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

* Korfball * Lacrosse *

Modern biathlon Biathle is a sub-sport of modern pentathlon invented to create opportunities for training the run and swim parts of pentathlon in real race conditions. It is a sport in its own right. It bears close resemblance to aquathlon which also contains s ...

and

pentathlon A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek: combining the words ''pente'' (five) and -''athlon'' (competition) ( gr, πένταθλον). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of t ...

* Netball *

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 s ...

Para powerlifting Paralympic powerlifting, also known as para powerlifting and para-lifting, is an adaptation of the sport of powerlifting for athletes with disabilities. The only discipline in Paralympic powerlifting is the bench press. The sport is governed by th ...

* Pool and

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...

Rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

* Rowing * Rugby league * Rugby union (including rugby sevens) * Sailing * Snowsports * Squash *

Surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

* Swimming * Table tennis * Taekwondo * Tennis * Trampolining * Triathlon * Ultimate Frisbee * Volleyball * Water polo * Weightlifting * Wheelchair basketball * Windsurfing

Leagues, Competitions and Events

Team sports compete in BUCS leagues, with the majority of league fixtures taking place on Wednesday afternoons, which is commonly referred to as BUCS Wednesday. Wednesday afternoons are generally free from lectures to allow students to compete in sport. There are 850 leagues, with institutions across the country competing against each other to avoid relegation or win the league and gain promotion to higher leagues. The finals of the Championship and Trophy are played a
BUCS Big Wednesday
This annual single-day event showcases the Championship and Trophy finals across 16 league sports. The event currently takes place at the University of Nottingham.
BUCS Nationals
is an annual multisport event that takes place across three days. Indoor athletics, swimming, badminton, fencing, judo, karate, rifle and climbing are the sports represented at BUCS Nationals. The event currently takes place in Sheffield. Over the year, BUCS runs over 120 events for both individual and team sports.

BUCS Points

BUCS Points are given to institutions depending on where they finish in leagues and events. The accumulation of these points determine which institution becomes overall BUCS Champion.

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...

have won the BUCS competition 40 years in a row up until the 2019–2020 season. Both the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons were not completed due to COVID.

BUCS Super Rugby

BUCS Super Rugby is the highest level of men's university rugby in Britain and a potential pathway for university players into elite rugby. The tournament launched in 2016–17 with eight teams, before expanding to nine teams in 2017-18 and ten teams in 2019–20. The season has two main phases: * A double round-robin, where teams play each other home and away (known as the BUCS Super Rugby ''League''). * A

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

tournament featuring the top eight teams from the League (known as the BUCS Super Rugby ''Championship'').

International/GB Students

Members of both FISU (International University Sport Federations) and EUSA (European University Sports Association), BUCS is responsible for sending a cohort of students to international events including the World University Summer & Winter Games and the European University Games. The British international team goes by the name o
GB Students

National governing body involvement

BUCS applies for annual funding from Sports England to support the delivery of student sport across the country. They also work with national governing bodies to develop sports within the student sector and some posts within BUCS are funded by governing bodies, with the aim of developing the specific sport for students. The Football Association fund projects and positions within BUCS to help develop grassroots football. With their investment, BUCS set up 62 Football Grassroot Hubs to support Football and Futsal in the higher education sector, benefiting just under 70,000 participants. BUCS and The FA also joined to create the Women's Leadership Programme, providing students with important skills and qualities to help them in their future careers whether that is in the football and sporting sector or not. The first cohort of leaders graduated in 2020.

Board

The BUCS Board is responsible for leading strong governance and strategic leadership within the sector. The Board is made up of the chair, seven independent directors and two BUCS directors - one representing students and the other representing the senior staff of the membership. Chair of the Board: Professor Craig Mahoney Commercial and marketing director: Andy Westlake Governance and Legal Director: Jenny Agnew Physical Health & Activity Director: Born Barikor Inclusion Director: Josef Baines Sport and Competition Director: Katy Storie Professional & Workforce Director: Nigel Wallace Finance Director: Simon Wilson Chair of BUCS Senior Managers Executive: Cathy Gallagher Student Director: Madeleine Cannell

Hall of Fame

In 2019, BUCS introduced the Hall of Fame to celebrate the centenary of British university sport. The Hall of Fame acknowledges individual's dedication and achievements in sport. Members of the Hall of Fame include: *Alison Odell CBE * Bill Slater CBE * Christine Ohuruogu MBE * Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill * Dame Katherine Grainger DBE * Danielle Brown MBE * Dr Deng Yaping * Eric Liddell * Liz Nicholl CBE * Sir Gareth Edwards CBE * Sir Roger Bannister CH CBE

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:British Universities And Colleges Sport European members of the FISU Physical education in the United Kingdom Sport in the London Borough of Southwark University Sports organizations established in 2008 Student sport in the United Kingdom Student sports governing bodies 2008 establishments in the United Kingdom University and college sports