With blockbuster Varsity clashes, BUCS National Championships and Cuppers knockouts looming large, Lent promises to satiate any student’s sporting appetite. After a fruitful Michaelmas saw 14 Cambridge BUCS teams go unbeaten and over 4000 students get involved in college sport, opportunities for both participation and light blue glory continue to abound in 2025.

For all Lent has to offer, the term’s undoubted centrepiece will, of course, be the Varsity fixtures. Centuries of fervent rivalry between the nation’s two academic pantheons will be played out across a swathe of sports this Lent, as light blue goes toe-to-toe with dark blue once more. An obvious focal point is the illustrious rugby union Varsity Matches; Cambridge achieved a memorable double in 2024, featuring a record-breaking drubbing dished out by the men’s side. Set to be held on the 8th of March at Saracen’s 10,500-capacity StoneX Stadium, spectators praised the venue’s carnival atmosphere after the game moved away from its traditional Twickenham home last year. Other marquee fixtures taking place in the nation’s capital include the hockey Blues’ matches at Southgate Hockey Centre, while the squash sides will do battle at Pall Mall’s Royal Automobile Club – often seen as the racket sport’s spiritual home.

“Although these rivalry-soaked matches may dominate the Lent sporting conscience, they are far from the term’s only calendar highlights”

Back in Cambridge, the University Sports Centre will play host to a bounty of Varsity clashes – ranging from Korfball to Karate, and headlined by Blues netball on the 23rd of February. Following a nail-biting 32-34 loss last year, Cambridge will be hoping home support can provide the point of difference in 2025. Cambridge United’s Cledara Abbey Stadium is also due to welcome a sea of vociferous light blue support come the 21st of March, as the men’s football team looks to avenge last year’s penalty agony, while the women’s side will seek to extend their dominance having trounced Oxford in the two most recent editions of the fixture.

Although these rivalry-soaked matches may dominate the Lent sporting conscience, they are far from the term’s only calendar highlights. In the BUCS arena, February sees the culmination of the league season for the eight Cambridge teams who currently compete in their sport’s Premier Division. These elite eight will then have the chance to push for knockout glory in the National Championships tournaments, pitted against Britain’s preeminent university sporting talent. Perhaps Cambridge’s brightest victory hope burns with the women’s tennis first team, who sit just a point off leaders Essex University in BUCS Premier South despite having a game in hand after a magnificent Michaelmas campaign. On the individual events side, a select crop of Cambridge athletes will be striving for selection in the European or even World Games. A chock-full schedule of events features the BUCS nationals from February 14th-16th, the annual pinnacle of the student individual sports calendar.

“The heartwarming event manages to transcend mere athletic competition”

Beyond the light-blue toting brigade, there is still plenty of eye-catching sport to be enjoyed at college level. Come Lent, crunch time truly begins in Football Cuppers as both the men’s and women’s quarterfinals get underway. Meanwhile, from the 11th-15th of March, the archetypical Cambridge sport comes to the fore once more when college boats fight it out on the Cam in Lent Bumps.

Away from the heat of competition, the new term also welcomes a fresh face at the Cambridge sporting helm. Following Nick Brooking’s departure last year, Mark Brian has taken over the reins as the University’s Director of Sport, having previously enjoyed successful stints as Head of Sport at both Durham University and BUCS.

Lent also bears a unique treat for fans of the beautiful game. Curated by Dr Joseph Powell, the University and Cambridge United FC are launching Footnotes: The Writing of Football this January, a four-part seminar series that promises to both fascinate and delight, completely free of charge. Spanning renowned journalists, an expert witness to a parliamentary justice committee and ethnographic investigations, these interactive events are simply not to be missed.

For students yet to find their calling in sport, the new year presents ample opportunities to get stuck into the Cambridge scene – be it joining one of the numerous clubs on the lookout for new members, getting your voice behind the light blues during a heated Varsity tussle, or following in the footsteps of the 600 students who partook in the University’s Give it a Go scheme last term.

A final, yet truly essential Lent standout is the 9th March’s TPP Cambridge Half Marathon. Passing through 4 colleges over an idyllic course, the heartwarming event manages to both bridge the “town and gown” divide and transcend mere athletic competition – raising invaluable funds for a variety of fantastic charitable causes.

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