The football instalment of varsity sports brings the heat to university campuses across the country to warm up winter with sporting excellence and fan spirit.
The women’s tournament began on 26 July and concluded on 9 August, with UWC emerging as the Varsity Football champions. UP-TUKS played a 50/50 game in the group stages. Their first game against the then-reigningchamps, TUT, ended in a 1-2 defeat. However, the women held strong to play dominant games against WITS and CUT. UP-TUKS beat WITS for a 3-0 victory where Sbahle Ndlovu was named player of the match. The women’s matchup against NWU was tightly contested, and TUKS only lost by one goal. Unfortunately, that goal cost them their spot in the semi-finals. However, UP-TUKS went on to play a fired-up and dominant game against CUT in the playoffs to secure a 6-0 victory that secured them fifth place in the tournament as a whole.
On the men’s side, UP-TUKS are playing a phenomenal game, as they are currently at the top of the table amongst the eight contesting teams. At this point, the men have won three games, drawn one and lost none. Their first game took place at home against VUT. This opening game was highly contested, with UP-TUKS playing an up-in-the-air, Brazilian-style game against a grounded VUT. Ultimately, TUKS took the win with a goal in the 84th minute to set the tone for the competition ahead. The men in red and white secured a comfortable win over CUT, ended in a draw against NWU and most recently beat UFS. UP-TUKS have three more games to play and are in a strong position to make it to finals. Interestingly, the current runner-ups are their first challengers, VUT. Could the 2024 Men’s Varsity Football tournament be a full circle event for UP-TUKS? You will have to tune in to find out.
