VARSITY 2017 by Ioan-Alexandru Herdea

I would describe Varsity like a Champions League between universities. For freshers who may not know what this, Varsity is a competition that takes place in almost in every UK city where there are at least 2 rival universities. Each sports club competes against the other one, with the idea of winning supremacy in the city.

This year, so far, the University of Sheffield AKA “Uni” fought with Sheffield Hallam University AKA “Hallam” or for ardent fans of Uni, “Poli” (abbreviation for polytechnic, which Hallam used to be) years ago in 58 sports. Over a period of almost a month, everywhere in Sheffield you could see supporting messages from both teams, on t-shirts, placards or even buildings. There was even a huge advertisement on Arts Tower “VARSITY” in black and gold colors.

 

In my opinion, this event is another reason why Sheffield University is voted as the #1 Russell Group University for student experience by THE Times 2017. I felt really proud being a Uni student, especially when I was walking with my Varsity t-shirt and the words “This city is ours” on my back.

Now, in terms of the games, most of them were free to watch. The games included many traditional sports like boxing, lacrosse, rugby, american football and of course Ice Hockey. Every student went to support their favourite team and the most awaited game was the finale of the Ice Hockey first teams.

I would like to share my experience about the last game as I attended it with  my squash club. It was the last match and was held at Sheffield Arena. It was maybe the most advertised one and I have never seen such a rush to buy tickets, which sold out in a couple of weeks. Fortunately, my club managed to buy excellent seats in the first 3 rows. As the tram was free for spectators, the trams and stops were filled with  singing and chanting spectators, similar to what you hear at football matches.  The trams were filled with supporters from both sides, so half were in black and gold and the other half filled with purple and white. When everyone reached the Arena, fans had separate entrances, to avoid any disputes and clashes. The queue was very long and there were some women walking with Instaframe for pictures. The atmosphere inside the stadium was electric with 8000 spectators and a great bonus - everyone got a free pair of inflatable clapper balloons.

 

The game was  really interesting and there was even a short fight between players. From my seat, the most fun bits were watching the players “squashing” each other on the side wall. The final result - Hallam won by 6-3, unbelievably they  marked in the last 20 seconds, but who cares… We still won Varsity overall!!!  The cup was handed to the new Sports Officer and after that, most of us headed to Varsity Roar, the most awaited party of the year.

 

A day before this big event, there had been a similar atmosphere at the squash games, just with fewer people. Unfortunately, this year we lost but almost all of the games were tough and quite close in points. The last one, against rackets #1 of 1st team, was the longest. In the 5th game Hallam led by 10-8 and our player gave one final huge push to make it 10-10 and win with 12-10.

 

Personally I cannot wait for the 2018 Varsity and see if we can defend our title over this city for the sixth consecutive year.

Well done Uni and keep goin’ !!!

Who said you can’t play sports during winter?

Written by: Min Q Lee, MEng in Bioengineering

Are you a sport lover? Afraid that you can’t exercise due to the freezing weather? Don’t want to play sports under the strong wind and cold? Don’t worry; Sheffield has great sports facilities for those who like to play sports. Sport Sheffield, is the University’s sports department: it offers a lot of facilities including swimming pool, sauna steam rooms, bouldering wall, squash courts and many more. 

Sport Sheffield also offers some sports that are exclusively FREE for the residents who live in University student accommodation. The programme is known as the Residence Sport. I have been involved in a few sports that I would like to share with you.

Every Wednesday, Sport Sheffield organises a table tennis social in Stephenson Activity room. It was indeed fun and I learnt to play a new sport. It was actually my first time playing table tennis in my life. (It is exclusively free with Residence Life)  

On Friday night, I will book my place online for a swimming session since I am not a party go-er. Swimming on a Friday night is the best way to release stress and relax.

This is the Olympic sized, 33m indoor-heated pool. The temperature is kept constant at 28 degrees. Lifeguards are also always on duty, supervising the swimming pool.

Changing rooms are also available. The changing rooms include lockers, shower rooms with shampoo, hairdryers and also a cool machine to dry your swimsuit (on your left).

If you prefer extreme sports, consider bouldering. Bouldering is rock climbing without ropes. Do not underestimate bouldering, it is not as easy as it seems. Every session of bouldering has a professional instructor to guide and explain some simple rules to you.

Bouldering was considered tough to me (because I am small sized and do not have enough upper strength), yet it was challenging and fun. 

David, he is a very professional instructor. He gave me a lot of useful advice and tips for bouldering. 

These are some of the sports organised by Sport Sheffield in which I have been involved so far and they are all exclusively free for residents living in University accommodation (how cool is that?!). Sometimes, after a long day of classes and studies, it is good to relax and give yourself a break. 

What does the University offer?

Written by Birju Galaiya

In this blog I will explore into what the university offers in terms of the facilities and support for students. It is really important for all the students to be satisfied with the services provided to them- whether it is directly related to their studies (e.g. library resources) or help them undertake activities outside their course (e.g. sports). I have been impressed by the facilities available to us- it just makes the university experience complete!

As always, with studying being a priority for all students, the University has 3 libraries that students can use for their study time. The biggest of them is the Information Commons that delivers high quality IT-enabled study spaces and 24 hour access to student materials. Having 6 levels, it has study desks where students can read or plug in a laptop, soft-seating areas where students may work informally or relax and specially allocated space for silent study (too silent for my liking!). It also has a 24hour café to cater for those students who are lazy to go back home. Being up to date with technology, the computer system allows you to book computers, group rooms and text books in advance. There are plenty of text books available in all the libraries allowing you to refer to them during revision.

There is a dedicated team of staff that provides computing facilities for students to meet all their learning, research and development needs. It maintains over 1400 computers across the campus together with the printing machines, ensuring they are functioning at all times. With their Laptop Loan Service, students can borrow laptops for free. Also, students are also allowed to borrow creative media equipment such as video cameras which students can use for their society events or even module assignments.

If things are not going right for you, there is always someone you can talk to in the Student Advice Centre. Whether it’s something personal, course related or accommodation problems, you can always count on their advice. It’s all fun and games when you’re healthy and keeping well until you hit rock-bottom. I experienced that during my first semester in second year when I fell ill for more than a month. You feel weak, miss home and a lose appetite. Frustrating as it may be, you have to attend lectures so you do not miss out on topics. Thankfully, the University’s Health Service really assisted me during this rough time. Booking for appointments to see a doctor was not too much of a hassle and you do not have to wait for a long period of time for you to get an appointment. I had a blood test taken at a nearby hospital that gave doctors more information about my condition. The doctors were very understanding and gave me advice and prescriptions on how to get better quickly. Overall, I was pleased by the services they provided.

Being a sport fanatic, I was hoping for great sporting facilities that I could use and yes- Sheffield delivered. The University’s own centre for sports- Sport Sheffield has a lot to offer including several floodlit football and hockey pitches, a swimming pool, state of the art gym, badminton courts and a bouldering wall for the daredevils. You can join the different intra-mural leagues where teams compete against each other while also getting a chance to have a break from studies. Sheffield, known for its hills, has been a brilliant place for me to explore my running- I enjoy running in the numerous parks, hills and get a chance to see some beautiful scenery Sheffield has to offer. If not Sport Sheffield, Sheffield offers other venues such as the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre which as an Olympic-sized 50m swimming pool. Whatever sport you are interested in, you won’t be disappointed.

These are just some of the things the University offers. There are loads more!