From adoptions to auctions: The rituals that define Warwick’s sports club social culture

Warwick is home to over 60 sports clubs, each of which encourage exercise and competition whilst also being the home of weekly socials that tend to involve alcohol-fuelled challenges and controversial forfeits.

Whilst many sports club members recall positive experiences, concerns persist over safety risks, peer pressure and the effectiveness of Warwick’s Student Union’s (SU) regulations.

Comments in The Boar Sport’s recent poll provided a student perspective on these concerns, emphasising the reality of university sport socials.

Students can join any of Warwick’s sports clubs by paying a membership fee via the SU website. Each club, however, tends to host one evening towards the beginning of the year where new members are confronted with challenges that they should complete so that they can be truly accepted into the group.

This tradition has been named adoptions, but is more commonly referred to, as initiations. They typically involve both alcohol, and non-alcohol, orientated challenges that occur in a variety of locations.

In 2014, Warwick’s Rugby Union was banned from POP!, Skool Dayz and the Sports Ball for the academic year after their own initiations caused controversy

Some adoptions begin on the piazza before moving to a field or to someone’s house off campus. Others take place in bars in, or on the streets of, Leamington Spa. No matter the location, descriptions by respondents to The Boar Sport’s poll highlighted that challenges are always similar. They involve food, drinking and games. For some, this resulted in “lots and lots of sick” and the conclusion that “initiations” were “horrible”.

Club initiations at UK universities frequently make national headlines following specific incidents concerning student safety. Most recently, in August, Harper Adams University were investigated following concerns that their initiation rituals were “becoming dangerous”. These initiations saw students be sexually abused, lashed with belts and forced to consume bodily waste.

In 2014, Warwick’s Rugby Union was banned from POP!, Skool Dayz and the Sports Ball for the academic year after their own initiations caused controversy. It was found that there was negligence by the executive committee when planning their adoptions. This resulted in disorderly conduct, abusive language and illegal behaviour.

SU guidelines ‘stress the importance of allowing students to opt out of any activities that they wish, as well as the importance of positive consent in all club socials’

Now, rugby adoptions “are pretty similar” to those of “every other society”, according to a member of the University’s Rugby Union who spoke to The Boar Sport. The Rugby club themselves confirmed this idea, saying; “as every other club or society with a social aspect at Warwick, participation is always stressed as optional between consenting adults”.

This is in line with SU guidelines which “stress the importance of allowing students to opt out of any activities that they wish, as well as the importance of positive consent in all club socials”.

According to a member of Rugby Union, the club’s adoptions begin with challenges on the piazza and see freshers dress up to a certain theme which “necessitates limited clothing”. Following these initial on-campus activities, club members travel to Leamington where they get taken to a house in which freshers drink “turbo purple” – a drink made of purple (cider, beer and blackcurrant) combined with “all sorts of spices and food”. Freshers also engage in “various other forfeits” with many being given “vodka flour pints”. The latter challenge requires two freshers to finish a pint of vodka and pint of flour between them.

Rugby Union told The Boar that they take any raised concerns “very seriously” and that they “encourage open dialogue withing the club”. At adoptions, the club assigns each participant with “an elder for more personal pastoral issues”.

These rugby adoptions, and all of Warwick’s sports club adoptions, are required to be fully planned and approved by the SU in advance. This has resulted in them being “far more controlled” than previously.

The SU also requires that adoption participants sign agreement forms prior to the event. In spite of this, only 50% of respondents to The Boar Sport’s poll who participated in their club adoptions signed an agreement form.

Although seemingly not all the SU’s rules are followed, it appears that they do create safer and more positive adoptions; 90% of respondents stated that they enjoyed adoptions and only 30% said that they felt pressured to participate. This is less than the 40% who have been pressured to do something at a regular sports club social.

Two respondents stated that they had been forced into doing something which they did not want to do at a social

The most common sports club socials are circles, a Warwick tradition which sees societies gather in a circle to play a variety of drinking games.

Individuals recalled being coerced into “drinking, especially in circles”, “embarrassed after” being pressured into playing a circle game, and having to “drink alcohol” to “participate in the circle”. One respondent stated that their club does not make attendees do anything but mentioned that “the pressure of everyone watching…and the aggressive nature of social secs” can make “freshers scared to say no”.

Others noted that whilst they “feel comfortable saying no to non-drinking challenges”, like “embarrassing forfeits or somewhat dangerous” tasks, it is “difficult to say no to just drinking challenges”.

Someone who has participated in circles run by many different sports clubs emphasised that different clubs create different environments. They said that at some circles, attendees who are not members of the sports club are “picked on” and end up “drowning in pints”.

Most of those who had experienced pressure to drink or participate emphasised that this was “not much of a frequent occurrence”. Furthermore, only two respondents stated that they had been forced into doing something which they did not want to do at a social.

Even if no pressure or force is involved, the environment in which socials are held can be dangerous. One Warwick student told The Boar that they slipped on the alcohol covered floor during a circle held at a bar in Leamington. This fall caused them to hit their head and resulted in a trip to A&E.

Team Warwick have urged students who have encountered behaviour that they consider to be unacceptable or high-risk to report this via the university’s Report and Support Team, “who we cooperate with fully in any investigation”.

The surrounding area of some circles held at similar local bars feature “bins” for participants to throw up into. This is also a feature at Rugby Union’s adoptions, an annual event which sees “Rugby freshers perform on stage in front of other clubs such as netball, hockey and lacrosse”.

These spectators place “bids” for Rugby Union’s freshers to face “forfeits” which range from having to drink a “certain amount of pints in a time limit to more embarrassing forfeits such as having to strip to boxers before having pints poured over you”. One of these forfeits sees freshers “lowered into” one of these sick bins “on stage”.

The individual who shared this information stated the most concerning part of rugby auctions is the fact that it takes place “in front of 50-60 people from Warwick sports clubs”. The event is normalised by attendees and “goes somewhat under the radar” which suggests that the clubs watching on from the audience order their freshers and members to participate in similar punishments and forfeits.

A respondent stated that they were not aware of who their club’s welfare officer was

Like adoptions, Rugby auctions have “apparently” become “more tame than in previous years” indicating that Warwick’s sports clubs are heading in a “more sanitised” direction. This was confirmed by the club who stated that they “are proud of the progress made in recent years to ensure” the club is a “safe and welcoming space for all”.

The SU’s byelaws state that clubs and societies must ensure that their executive committees include a Welfare Officer. Despite this, a respondent to The Boar Sport’s poll stated that they were not aware of who their club’s Welfare Officer was and that this executive member then “left the club halfway through and were not replaced”. This respondent did not know whether their club’s missing Welfare Officer was flagged by the SU, suggesting that the activities of Warwick’s sports clubs are not regularly checked and rules are not always followed.

Team Warwick openly acknowledges that there is “always more we can do” in terms of maintaining regulations at sports socials

Whilst scandals like those of Warwick’s Rugby Union in 2014 are not frequent occurrences, there is still evidently a blurred line between tradition and toxicity.

However, Team Warwick openly acknowledges that there is “always more we can do” in terms of maintaining regulations at sports socials, and “are already in the process of reviewing our approach to see if there is anything we can improve”.

Despite oversight from the SU, it appears that issues within Warwick’s sports socials persist. The fusion of alcohol and peer pressure in adoptions, socials, and club events can compromise wellbeing and create an environment where unsafe behaviour is ultimately normalised.

The University of Warwick, Warwick’s Student Union and mentioned sports clubs have been contacted for comment.