“The reason why I entered Miss Varsity Cup was because I saw this as an opportunity to challenge myself and to grow as a person, and I also wanted to see what I could contribute to Varsity Cup and not just see what I could get out of it for myself,” Venske said. According to Venske, the Miss Varsity Cup competition is not just a beauty pageant but also a way for someone to become an ambassador for Varsity Cup.
Each university chooses a specific charity to support. UP currently supports Mercy House, a charity organisation which provides support to abused women and children. “The campaign is called ‘Rocking in Pink’ [which goes with] the saying, ‘Keep the agro on the field’, and this goes together with the purpose of Miss Varsity Cup to be the link between the charity and to keep the aggressiveness on the field,” said Venske. She adds that Miss Varsity Cup makes people aware of the charity initiative and is very involved in the charity event. “She’s also the person who needs to, besides being the ambassador for Varsity Cup, bring all the different aspects together by focusing not only on the aggressive rugby side, but also on the purpose behind Varsity Cup; to get fund raisers and sponsors and get people involved in Varsity Cup.”
Six other universities are currently competing in the competition – University of the Witwatersrand, University of the Free State, University of Johannesburg, North-West University, University of Stellenbosch and Cape University of Technology. The winner of the competition will be announced during halftime at the Varsity Cup final on 17 April. The public vote for the competition counts 25% towards the total score. Voting is free and people can vote for their favourite candidate every 24 hours. You can vote by visiting the Varsity Cup website at varsitycup.co.za.
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