Varsity Sports SA, is a group university sports leagues in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. Its members all belong to the University Sport Company, and may each enter only one campus per competition, though they may enter different campuses for different competitions.

History

The

Varsity Cup Varsity Cup is the collective name for four South African rugby union competitions involving the top rugby playing universities in the country. It was launched in 2008, with eight teams participating in the Varsity Cup competition and each univers ...

tournament was founded in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, featuring the rugby teams of eight universities. Varsity Sports was created as an offshoot in 2012. In the first season rugby sevens and

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the ...

were played. In 2013,

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

were added. In 2016,

mountain biking Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and pe ...

was added.

Member universities

Sports

Varsity Sports currently runs competitions in six sporting codes. These are

and rugby sevens. Athletics and football have events for both men and women. Rugby, has only a men's event. Volleyball, netball and hockey have only female events, though men's hockey will be added in 2014.

List of Varsity sports

Season summaries

2012

In 2012, the only events held were for rugby sevens and beach volleyball. Ten teams took part in sevens rugby. They were, UFS, NMMU, UCT, TUT, UP-Tuks, UWC, NWU-Pukke, Limpopo, Maties and UJ. The University of Stellenbosh won the first rugby sevens title. They won both of the tournaments, held in Plettenberg Bay and Margate. Seven teams took part in beach volleyball. They were UWC, UJ, UP-Tuks, UCT, Limpopo, NMMU and TUT. The

University of the Western Cape The University of the Western Cape (UWC) is a public research university in Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa. The university was established in 1959 by the South African government as a university for Coloured people only. Other un ...

won the tournament. The Plettenbrg Bay event was called off before the final, due to bad weather.

2013

In 2013, the season began with a three meeting athletics series. The overall winner was UP-Tuks. That was followed by a women's

tournament, which was won by Maties. The

2013 Varsity Football The 2013 Varsity Football challenge was the first season of a South African university association football competition. It involved some of the top football playing universities in the country, which belong to the University Sports Company. The t ...

tournament was won by UP-Tuks. The netball competition was won by UFS-Kovsies. The 2013 rugby sevens and volleyball tournaments were won by defending champions Maties and UWC respectively.

2014

The 2014 saw a four meeting athletics series, and a men's hockey tournament replacing the women's one from 2013. The

2014 Varsity Football The 2014 Varsity Football challenge is the second season of a South African university association football competition. It involves some of the top football playing universities in the country, which belong to the University Sports Company. The t ...

season will begin in July, and will be followed by netball, rugby sevens and beach volleyball.

2019

The inaugural Varsity Women’s Rugby 7s, Basketball.

2020

Cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, football could restart.

2021

This tournaments, football and netball, will take place in a secure Covid-19 bio-bubble called the Varsity Sport Village, matches will be played at

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was ...

and

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

References

{{Authority control 2012 establishments in South Africa