Why Sport Is More Than Just A Run Around With Mates

When you’re growing up, you’re usually more or less told to do sports, but once you get into uni, it’s your call - no one's there to make sure you’re signing up for school sport, so it’s easy to think about sports as just heading out there for an hour or so to have a little run-around, kick or throw a ball and enjoy the half-time oranges.

That all being said, anyone who’s decided to have a crack at university sports will tell you it’s so much more than a run around with mates. We had a chat with a few university sport players to get their take on why their uni clubs are so important to them.

Sports can help you see the world! (or a least more of your city)

A big theme amongst all of our respondents was travelling.

You might not know this, but university sports clubs can participate at a national level! The organisation UniSport runs an event called the UniSport Nationals where students and student teams go head to head in a bunch of different sporting competitions. Set in Brisbane, their 2023 event will see over 7000 participants playing in 33 different sports competitions, including events like Aussie Rules, lawn bowls, squash, tennis and more.

There are also World University games on offer. This year’s Summer World University Games is set in Chengdu, China, and the UniRoos (Australia’s national university sports team) are getting involved.

All the high-level sports are really cool, but beyond that there are also plenty of opportunities to get to know your backyard a little better as well. Playing against teams all over your local city, or even inter-city comps help you meet people, learn hidden local spots, and get outside our day-to-day bubble one away game at a time.

It’s great for flexing that competitive muscle a little bit

This one’s a little more personal, but I reckon I’m lowkey pretty competitive. Not in a sore-loser/bad-winner kind of way (maybe my opponents would disagree!), but in the way I genuinely get a kick out of being in that competition mindset. There’s something about stepping on the gas a little more or pushing your limits to snag that point that I probably wouldn’t do if I was just playing a sport by myself. Even when I do take part in solo sports I like to keep track of my stats or my best times around the park so I can be in a little competition with myself.

The tricky thing is that in adult life, you don’t really have a lot of opportunities to be competitive in a fun way. You’re either competing for really important stuff (like a job) or maybe playing the occasional board game when you can get all of your housemates in the same place for an hour or two (it’s a lot harder than it sounds!).
 

Doing sports at uni gives you a perfect outlet to have a go, and have some fun at the same time.

So, if you’re interested in trying your hand at a new sport, or even coming back to a sport you love, make sure you check out your uni’s clubs page to find a group that hits all of your goals!