Team Durham (formerly Durham University Athletic Union, DUAU) is a student-run organisation responsible for sport at Durham University. Durham University's sports programme, run by Team Durham, has produced more professional sports people than any other UK university (141 as of 2022) and has twice seen Durham named Times and Sunday Times Sports University of the Year (2015 and 2023).[1][2][3] It has ranked in the top three institutions in British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) every season since 2011–12. Six Team Durham alumni or current athletes have won seven Olympic and Paralympic medals since 1996.
Team Durham instituted a policy in 2016 allowing students to train and (if permitted by the national governing body) compete in the team that best fitted their gender identity. This was proposed to the National Union of Students as a model for a national policy.[6][7]
History
Administrative history
Team Durham alumna, Great Britain gymnast and TV presenter Gabby Logan hosting the BBC's coverage of the 2012 Olympics
The Durham Colleges Athletic Union was formed by the captains of the men's sports teams in the Durham division of Durham University in 1927, prior to which sports were run directly by the university. A federal Durham University Athletic Union was formed in 1929 with representatives from the Durham Colleges Athletic Union, from the Armstrong College and College of Medicine athletic unions in the Newcastle division of the university, and from the men's and women's university teams. From 1931 it was affiliated as a full member to the Universities Athletic Union (now British Universities and Colleges Sport; BUCS).[8]
In 1946, the Durham Colleges Athletic Union merged with the Durham Colleges Women's Athletic Union, which had been formed in 1938. It became the Durham University Athletic Union in 1963, when the Newcastle division of the university became the independent Newcastle University. In 2002, Gabby Logan launched Durham University's "Team Durham" initiative to provide coaching and facilities for talented athletes. The athletics union was re-branded as Team Durham in 2006.[8][9]
As a consequence of the Charities Act 2006, which removed exempt charitable status from students' unions, Team Durham was, along with a number of other student associations and some junior common rooms, legally incorporated into the university as a Durham Student Organisation in 2011.[10]
Sporting history
Team Durham alumnus Andrew Strauss, "the most famous MCC University graduate",[11] playing for England at the Oval
Sport at Durham University dates back to the university's foundation, with boats having raced in the first Durham Regatta in 1834, at the end the first academic year.[12] The first recorded university cricket match was in 1842.[13]
After the formation of the athletics unions and joining the Universities Athletics Union, Durham's first national titles came in men's cricket, with victories in 1938 and 39.[14] These were the only victories until after the Second World War, when victories came in women's netball in 1949, 50 and 51, men's tennis in 1949, men's rugby union in 1951 and 55, mixed rifles in 1951, men's fencing in 1952, 53, 59 and 60, men's golf in 1953, men's association football in 1956, men's badminton in 1957 and 59, men's table tennis in 1957, 58 and 59, women's fencing in 1959 and 62, and women's tennis in 1960, before the separation of the Newcastle division in 1963.[14]
In recent years, Team Durham was ranked second (behind Loughborough) in the BUCS overall championship in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.[15][16][17] They came third (behind Loughborough and Nottingham) in 2019 and 2022 (the 2019–20 season was incomplete, and the 2020–21 season did not happen, due to COVID).[18][19] Durham were ranked top in BUCS for team sports in 2014-15, when they also became only the second team (after Loughborough) to gain over 4000 BUCS points.[20][21] Both of these achievements were repeated in 2015-16.[15] In 2016-17, Durham had 30 top tier BUCS teams, three more than closest rivals Loughborough, and had a total of 119 teams entered in BUCS competitions, the most of any UK university.[22]
In 2022, Team Durham won BUCS national championships in women's cricket, men's rugby, men's fencing, women's futsal, men's lacrosse, women's rowing and women's volleyball.[3]
BUCS/BUSA record
The Universities Athletics Union was formed from the Inter-Varsity Athletics Board in 1930. British Universities Sports Association (BUSA) was formed in 1994 by the merger of the Universities Athletics Union (UAU; formed 1919), the British Universities Sports Federation, the British Students Sports Federation, the British Polytechnics Sports Association and the British Colleges Sports Association. In 2008, BUSA merged with University College Sport to form BUCS.[26][27] Durham participated in UAU competitions from 1931 to 1994, in BUSA from 1994 to 2008, and in BUCS from 2008 onwards.
Team Durham is based at the Maiden Castle sports centre, with a large 2,000 square metres (22,000 sq ft), a smaller 1,000 square metres (11,000 sq ft) hall, an indoor cricket centre, fencing salle and other facilities, along with three 3G pitches (used for association football,[34] American football[35] and lacrosse[36]), two water-based hockey pitches, and a variety of grass pitches, including baseball/softball[37] and cricket.[38] The centre was upgraded at a cost of £35 million between 2017 and 2020.[39] The football ground, which lies inside a running track and has a 300-seat grandstand and turnstile-controlled access, has been used since this upgrade as the home ground of Durham W.F.C. in the FA Women's Championship.[40]
There is a first class cricket ground at the Racecourse, along with other grass pitches and Green Lane Cricket Ground (Durham City Cricket Club), used for some inter-college games and non-first team BUCS matches.[41] The Rugby fives club has two fives courts in the Racecourse pavilion.
Hollow Drift
The rugby club shares a ground with Durham City RFC at Hollow Drift, and the university has further grass pitches adjacent to this at Whinney Hill, used for inter-collegiate rounders and ultimate frisbee.[42][43] Hollow Drift, which is owned by the university, has been earmarked for further development of its sporting facilities in the university's 2017–2027 estates masterplan.[44] The ground has seen crowds of over 6,000 for the rugby club's annual charity matches against other top BUCS rugby teams.[45]The Original All Blacks played at Hollow Drift in 1905, beating Durham County, the English county champions, 16–3 in front of a crowd of 8,000.[46][47]
Elsewhere
The waterpolo team uses the pool at Durham County Council's Freeman's Quay Leisure Centre.[48] In addition to courts at Maiden Castle, the tennis club uses the David Lloyd centre in Sunderland and the Durham Archery Lawn Tennis Club.[49] The university boat club has a boat house on the River Tyne in Gateshead, shared with Tyne United Rowing Club, as well as at Maiden Castle, and many college clubs have boathouses along the River Wear in Durham.[50] The sailing club uses Derwent Water reservoir, where they have a fleet of firefly dinghies, as their training ground.[51]
Inter-college men’s football, in particular, is hugely popular, with around ninety 11-a-side teams playing regular matches.[54]Collingwood College alone field 16 teams and claim to be the UK’s largest amateur football club.[55] Netball is similarly popular, with around 50 teams competing.[56]
Alongside the regular season, some colleges hold an inter-collegiate varsity tournament in Easter term, with two colleges pitting their A teams against one another in a variety of sports over one day.
Varsity matches
BUCS Varsity
Durham competes in the BUCS Varsity against Loughborough University, which has been organised twice-yearly (home and away) as part of the BUCS fixture list since 2015.[57]
There are 25 Vice Chancellor's scholarships available annually for undergraduates across sports, arts and music (normally 8–10 awards in sports), 20 Palatinate scholarships for students who just missed out on a Vice Chancellor's Scholarship in sports, and 3 Weldon-le Huray scholarships in sports for students from low-income backgrounds.[69] In addition, there are over 100 sports scholarships for postgraduate students.[70] Durham is also one of the "delivery sites" for Sport England's Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme.[71]
Partnerships
Team Durham has partnerships with Durham W.F.C. (women's football), Durham United F.C. (men's football) and DMP Sharks (women's rugby).[72][73]
University clubs
Durham University AFC vs Stirling Alumni at Durham City in 2008
Team Durham has 56 clubs representing the university across 53 sports, many of which compete in BUCS but including others in non-BUCS sports.[74] Some of the more notable university clubs are:
Durham University Athletic Football Club (through a partnership with Durham United Football Club) – Wearside Football League Division One[73]
Esports
Team Durham also encompasses esports through Durham University Esports and Gaming (DUEG). DUEG participates in 12 games, across National Student Esports (NSE) and National University Esports League (NUEL) tournaments.[76]
Charity events
The Athletic Union hosts 3 charity events per year, the Rugby Charity Challenge, Durham Fun Run and Twenty:20 Charity cricket.[77] These events raise money for Sport Action in Zambia, Team Durham's official charity.[78]
^Zoe Thomas (21 September 2014). "Fit for purpose: success on the field of play and in community outreach programmes puts Team Durham ahead of the pack". The Sunday Times.
^"Dean's Comment". 6 May 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015. Once the British University points table is up-dated it will show that we have broken the all-time University record for points scored in 'league sports' and points scored in 'cup competitions' but after yesterday it will also show that Durham has crashed through the 4000 points barrier. With the obvious exception of Loughborough no other university has ever reached this total and huge congratulations should go to our athletes, to our coaches and all the support teams.
^"Bleed Palatinate Bulletin". Team Durham. 11 October 2016. BUCS. Retrieved 1 November 2016. The Palatinate's have 119 teams competing in BUCS team sport competition, 17 more than in 2015/16 and, for the first time, more than any other institution in Britain. In addition, Durham will be represented in new fewer than 30 Premier Leagues - a record for the University and three in front of our rivals from the Midlands.
