The secret language of university sport

If you’re new to sport at Warwick, you’ll quickly discover that knowing the ins and outs of a particular sport is only half the challenge. The other half is understanding what everyone is talking about.

So, here’s a guide of some to the key terms you’ll need to navigate the Warwick Sport community.

BUCS is the heart and soul of competitive university sport

First up: BUCS. Short for British Universities and Colleges Sport, BUCS is the heart and soul of competitive university sport across the UK, running the main national sport programme each academic year. Its competitions span tiered regional and national leagues, cup competitions, and championships, with teams battling it out in everything from football and rugby to lacrosse and badminton while flying the flag for their university.

Being familiar with BUCS means that you will quickly come across the term ‘BUCS Wednesdays’. That’s because in the university sporting world, Wednesdays are pretty much sacred.

It’s the all-important day when weekly BUCS fixtures take place and suddenly that 11am seminar isn’t the most important thing happening on campus. By early afternoon, lecture halls empty as timetables are largely cleared for sport to take centre stage.

Red and black becomes a familiar sight as student athletes don their kits and bring Team Warwick spirit to fixtures at Cryfield Sports Pitches, the Warwick Sports Hub, or Westwood Campus.

Though BUCS Wednesdays aren’t just special because of what happens on the pitch. Some traditions transcend sport itself and are a little harder to explain to outsiders. Of course, I’m talking about circling.

The true art of circling is difficult to capture in a definition

Unique to Warwick, circling is a Wednesday night tradition run by sports teams and societies, where participants sit in a large circle and take part in a variety of drinking games. There are usually more forfeits than you can count for messing up, plenty of ‘purple’ (you’ll have to find out for yourself what that is), and a weekly theme that can have you scrambling to put together the most random costume imaginable.

Sports team circles can have a reputation for being a little more intense than others, but don’t let that put you off joining!

The true art of circling is difficult to capture in a definition, though – it’s something you really must experience to understand what it truly entails.

We might as well save the biggest for last: Varsity. In the UK university sporting lexicon, the term refers to inter-university rivalry fixtures. Think Oxford vs Cambridge or Lancaster vs. York.

[Varsity is] the annual showdown between the University of Warwick and local rivals Coventry University

Here at Warwick, you’ll come to know Varsity as one of the most notable sporting events on the calendar: the annual showdown between the University of Warwick and local rivals Coventry University.

Usually held during Term 2 in February, the multi-sport tournament is quite literally the biggest sporting competition of the academic year. A packed schedule of morning and afternoon fixtures brings intense competition across campus, with around 20 Warwick teams competing to prove they are the better side.

Team Warwick certainly knows how to deliver, currently sitting on a 36-year winning streak and with absolutely no intention of giving up those local bragging rights anytime soon.