The sports community here at the University of Sheffield is huge and isn’t just confined to big favourites like football, rugby and ice hockey.
There are so many sports clubs that achieve great things and many of them you may not even know, so here are some of the best that you might not have heard of…
Quidditch
If you read Harry Potter as a child you will know of quidditch, the flying broomsticks, three hoops and the golden snitch.
However, real quidditch, which Sheffield Quidditch (or SQuidS) clarifies, is a sport in its own right, separate to Harry Potter.
It is quite intense; we did our research on the sport and the videos online are crazy. It looks physically draining. All the running and throwing and pushing, whilst simultaneously holding a stick between your legs.
President of the Quidditch team, Amit Portnoy said: “Quidditch is a sport that anyone, regardless of gender or previous experience can take part in.
“This is genuinely the most fun I’ve ever had playing sports.”
The best part of the whole thing though was the snitch, a great big man dressed all in yellow with a sock, containing a ball, hanging from his shorts. He would literally push the “seekers” to the ground before running off again. Mental.
Formula Student
The University of Sheffield has a formula racing team that makes its own single-seater car, right here at the University.
Based in the George Porter Building on the northern side of campus, Sheffield Formula Racing compete every year at Silverstone against over 100 other universities across Europe.
This isn’t like other clubs though, where you have beginner level leagues as well as the top tier players in higher leagues, this is only the best of the best.
A rigorous six-week application process picks out 10-12 of the very best first-year candidates to join the team.
Korfball
Korfball is most similar to netball or basketball. It consists of eight players, four women and four men, who try and throw a ball into a netless hoop about 11 and a half feet off the ground.
The University of Sheffield Korfball club were the British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) national champions in 2019 and the BUCS national plate winners in 2020, impressive stuff of course, but we expect nothing less from the sports stars at the University of Sheffield.
Korfball Social Sec, Chloe Christodoulou, said: “Korfball is such a different and unique sport to play because it is like a combination of two sports and that is why I enjoy it so much.”
