Vikings keen to make history at uni games

By Gina Carlucci They might not wield swords and don bushy beards, but the Murdoch Vikings want to make history this year at WA’s biggest university sporting event. The teams of academic-athletes will compete in 18 sports including football, golf, netball, squash and the League of Legends against teams such as UWA’s Torpedoes and Curtin’s Carnaby’s. The Western Uni Games (WUG), to be held in Bunbury, is expected to draw around 1200 competitors who will face off in their quest to qualify for the nationals, the Australian Uni Games (AUG), in the Gold Coast later this year. Netball team captain Monica Reinhardt is hoping for a repeat of last year when the team won the netball division. The Vikings came fifth in the national contest. “Myself and the mixed netball team captain [Rebecca Lill] are in charge of the trials, we currently have 11 players in our team. Who we compete against changes from year to year,” says Miss Reinhardt. Murdoch students Lauren Miller and Sarah Jones are among last year’s netball players who competed in Bunbury as Vikings and have played as long as 20 years between them. Miss Jones recalls how demanding the three days of competition were. “We bonded as a team quite quickly and had some memorable moments both on and off the court. It was a challenge to play two games a day over a five-day period while running on around 4-5 hours’ sleep but it was a great experience,” she says. In addition to playing matches all day, students look forward to the night life; the chance to socialise with other universities at after-parties, network and take part in themed events. The Western Australian tournament takes place in Bunbury from the 2nd to the 5th of July, and the National tournament takes place on the 24th to the 29th of September in the Gold Coast. See here for a full list of the sports. Miss Jeffery’s talks uni games: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrkYFysZk4s&w=560&h=315]