Sports Editor Saoirse Byrne offers a crash course in King’s sports scene and explains how to join a club while at university.
You’ve moved into halls, you’ve invested in a TFL Travelcard and you’ve done your best to navigate the latest update of KEATS. You’re starting to settle in and now you’re really looking to get stuck into your new life at King’s. By this point, you may have talked to a few sports clubs online or at the KCLSU Welcome Fair or browsed the Student Union’s list of teams. You might have heard people mention Varsity and Macadam, wondered what ‘GKT’ stands for, or pondered what really happens on a Sports Night. Roar is here to give you a quick crash course in KCLSU sport, and hopefully convince you that joining a King’s sports club is one of the best things you can do whilst at university!
Joining a sports club can be a daunting idea, but it could also become one of the most rewarding things you do during your time at King’s. KCLSU sports clubs are about far more than just a weekly game or training; they offer a chance to expand your social circle, gain valuable experience in a committee position, network with alumni and much more. Along with mental and physical health benefits, playing a sport at King’s gives you the opportunity to develop new friendships (and perhaps a few respectful rivalries), and really make the most of your time at university.
Clubs and Teams
King’s has over 70 different sports clubs, representing 52 sports — that’s more than the Olympics! Most clubs will hold taster sessions or open tryouts in the first few weeks, so if you are curious about what a particular team is like, the best thing to do is just go along! You can try out as many clubs as you like — at the start of term many people will be giving everything a go, so don’t feel shy. You can always drop some new team a message a few weeks into the term asking if you can come along to an open session.
Once you have decided that you want to commit to a club, you’ll need to purchase a membership through the KCLSU website. The cost of memberships can vary, but they are an essential source of funding since all clubs are student-run. Quality coaches, equipment and competition costs can all factor into the cost of membership. These memberships then enable clubs to continue running. If you are concerned about a club’s membership cost, it is always worth speaking to a committee member. Some clubs will have contingencies in place to ensure no one misses out on playing sports due to financial issues. Most societies will offer both social/recreational and competitive membership options.
KCL vs GKT
Many sports will have both a ‘King’s College London (KCL)’ team and a ‘Guy’s, King’s, and St Thomas’ (GKT)’ team. KCL teams represent the entirety of the university and are therefore open to students who study on any course or campus at King’s. GKT teams have historically represented students studying medicine and other related courses, who are mainly based at Guy’s and Denmark Hill campuses. In reality, however, students studying any course can join either team depending on their preference.
So what is the practical distinction between any given KCL team and their GKT counterpart? The answer varies from sport to sport. Simply put, they represent different clubs, with different cultures, traditions, values, levels of competition and more. Ultimately, the decision comes down to what you are looking for in a team, who you connect with and perhaps also where you want to spend your Wednesday nights!
GKT and KCL teams sometimes play at varying levels of competition, which can be a factor for some when deciding which team to join — for example, GKT Netball acts as the King’s ‘official first team’, whereas, in Women’s Rugby, it is the KCL side who compete several leagues above their GKT counterpart. However, every year all clubs have an equal opportunity to prove themselves as the dominant King’s team by competing in the Macadam Cup, one of the most entertaining sporting events in the KCL calendar.
Socials
Perhaps the most attractive part of joining a university club is the socials, including the weekly Wednesday ‘Sports Night’. All sports clubs rely on members bonding and supporting each other both on and off the pitch, court, pool, track, or ring. Socials are there to build this bond, and therefore all clubs will consider them an integral part of university life. It’s also absolutely normal to join a team purely to engage in the social culture – in fact, it’s very common!
Every Wednesday evening you will see members of KCL and GKT clubs descend upon the KCLSU Vault and Guy’s Bar for a night of (optional) drinking, dancing and wearing themed outfits. KCL teams generally consider the Vault their home turf, whereas GKT will stick to Guy’s Bar, so make sure you get the right ticket! However, clubs will often explore different venues for sports night, so it can be a great way to get to know London’s nightlife!
Something else that you might hear many clubs talk about is ‘tour’. Most clubs will organise some sort of trip for their team members once a year (sometimes even more often!) where the whole team will essentially go on holiday for a few days. From Manchester to Bratislava, King’s teams can be found exploring the local culture and nightlife; this time the main focus is on socialising rather than competing. What happens on tour stays on tour, so if you want to know any more, it’s best to just sign up!
Competition
Due to the variety of sports on offer at King’s, there is a massive range of competitions for students to participate in, ranging from friendlies with other King’s teams, all the way up to national-level competitions. Some clubs, on the other hand, such as KCL Hiking, Fitnestic, and FITE (Females in Intensive Training and Exercise), are purely recreational and aim for training and developing skills, rather than winning competitions.
For those who do wish to compete in their respective sport, almost all clubs will compete in British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) competitions, including weekly Wednesday leagues, knockout-style trophy competitions, regattas, swimming galas, athletics meets and even surfing championships — there’s something for everyone!
Varsity
One event, however, stands before all others in the King’s Sports calendar — Varsity. The London Varsity Series takes place at the end of second term and features eleven different sports, with more being added year on year. KCL teams take on their biggest rival, University College London (UCL). With each win, they give their respective university a point in the final tally, which then decides the overall series winner. Two GKT teams — Netball and Men’s Rugby, also take part in the series, representing King’s against their medical counterparts at UCL, who are known as RUMS.
Varsity is a big deal. Teams will spend months finalising rosters, designing personalised kits, and planning their fixture. Since Varsity was born initially as a rugby match between King’s and UCL, the Varsity rugby game is usually the biggest and most attended event of the series, with over 1000 people flocking to Richmond Athletic Ground in 2024 to watch KCL Men and Women take on UCL. Roar has been a leading channel informing the student community of Varsity’s thrill. The games are also live-streamed, with the Vault being a great place to watch Varsity fixtures if you can’t make them in person!
How to Find Your Club
We hope this brief introduction to sports at King’s has convinced you to consider joining a team, but with so many options, it can sometimes be difficult to decide which club is best for you. Whether you want to continue a sport that you have played previously or pick up something new, the best people to go to for advice will be the clubs themselves, so never hesitate to approach a team that intrigues you. Most clubs will be responsive on social media such as Instagram and many have a WhatsApp group chat that you can join.
Whether you are new to King’s, or a returning student looking for a change in your routine, all teams are welcoming to new members at the start of term and most will accept new people at any point in the year. Even if you feel nervous about trying something new, or don’t know much about a particular sport, it’s never a bad idea to approach it with an open mind; it could be the best decision you make whilst at university!
