UJ hosts National Varsity Football Tournament
JOBURG - Football fanatics are gearing up to watch the first ever fixtures in the National Varsity Football tournament at the University of Johannesburg.
AUCKLAND PARK – The University of Johannesburg (UJ) is gearing up to host its first fixtures in the National Varsity Football Tournament which start on 21 July.
The second edition of the nine-week tournament will see the top eight footballing universities do battle on grounds across the country.
The first and last of these will be played at the AW Muller Stadium on the Auckland Park Bunting Road campus, while the second match will be televised live from the Soweto Campus sports complex.
According to UJ’s sports marketing coordinator Tanya Naudé, football played a critical role in uniting the institution’s diverse student population.
“We are particularly excited to see the football culture unwrapping among the students as the tournament draws closer,”she said.
“With the soccer world cup atmosphere still in the air, we cannot ask for a better time to take on varsity football.”
Naudé said organisers were looking forward to capacity home crowds at each of the 2 000-seater stadiums.
“We will do what UJ does best – create an amazing atmosphere, with the UJ Samsung cheerleaders, fireworks, halftime giveaways, music and MCs. We continuously strive to create the ultimate student sporting experience”.
UJ sports events manager Niamh Faherty adds, the university had previously held the University Sport South Africa Tournament, which acts as the qualifying event for varsity football.
“That was a week long and there were approximately 800 players, so this one is much more intimate, which gives us the opportunity to focus on the ‘wow’ factor.”
Faherty said strategic activation had already begun on the various campuses.
“We are bringing back the UJ Football Fridays, starting with the cheerleaders and varsity sports shirts.”
Fans can look forward to the participating men’s teams, which is UJ, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, the University of Pretoria, University of Limpopo, North West University (Mafikeng), University of the Western Cape, University of the Free State and the University of Cape Town.
UJ will host three home games on 28 July, 18 August and 1 September.
Tickets are available at the gate on game day at a cost of R20, and on www.varsitysportssa.com for R10. Spectators, who register on the website, will receive two free tickets per person.
