Unfortunately, the Festive period is over, and the seemingly endless supply of chocolate has run out. Those deadlines you forgot about are now imminent, with second term now looming large. Students all over the country have begun their return back to their uni digs, waving goodbye to homecooked meals and spotless kitchens. However, it is not all doom and gloom. High quality, competitive student sport in the form of BUCS is also making its return. To ensure you don’t miss any of the action, Freshered has put together this handy guide, detailing when each sport starts up again.
Football
The beautiful game makes its BUCS return with a Women’s Premier South fixture between Hertfordshire 1’s and Bristol 1’s, kicking off on Monday 17th January at 7pm. After this, there is a staggered return, with several fixtures taking place just two days later, including some Men’s National Trophy matches. The majority of fixtures in the top tier of BUCS football, the Premier North and South, return on Wednesday 26th January.
Rugby Union
You will not have to wait long for your latest fix of BUCS Rugby Union action, with Wednesday 19th January the date to put in your diary. The pick of the fixtures for this date include the Women’s Premier North Yorkshire derby, between Leeds Beckett and York. The top tier of Men’s BUCS Rugby Union, Super Rugby, starts up again just a few days later, on Friday 21st January, with relegation threatened Northumbria facing Cardiff at 4pm.
Hockey
Wednesday 19th January is again the date to have in mind, with 19 fixtures marking the return of the popular sport. The pick of these is a Men’s South Eastern Tier 2 London derby, with UCL 1’s playing St Mary’s, starting at 3pm. You will have to wait another week for the return of the Women’s Premier National, on Wednesday 26th January, and a tedious two weeks for the Men’s Premier National. These fixtures return in full on Wednesday 2nd February.
Basketball
Given it is still winter, BUCS Basketball is probably a better sport to choose to watch, given it is played indoors unlike other sports on this list. If you fancy some basketball action, the dates you need to look out for are either Wednesday 19th January or Wednesday 26th January. The majority of the Men’s and Women’s Premier division fixtures continue on 26th, although you can catch a few a week earlier, including Solent Men’s 1’s vs UWE Men’s 1’s.
Athletics
Everyone remembers Super Saturday at the London 2012 Olympics, where three Olympic gold medals in Athletics were worn for Team GB in a matter of hours. If you have been yearning for more action like it ever since, the weekend of 18th-20th February is the date for you. This is the date of the 2021/22 Athletics: Indoor Championships, where university students will be hoping to translate their winter training into BUCS success. Taking place in Sheffield, the indoor nature of the event means you don’t have to worry about the cold or wet.
Ultimate (Frisbee)
For those looking to check out a new sport, then look no further than the Ultimate: Indoor National Championships, taking place on 12th and 13th February. The quality will undoubtedly be high, given teams had to qualify through Indoor Regional Championships to earn the right to compete. The Men’s competition takes place in Nottingham, with the Women’s in Hatfield, Hertfordshire.