Between 250 and 300 U of T at Scarborough (UTSC) and U of T at Mississauga (UTM) students packed into Varsity Arena Friday night to witness an ancient rivalry between the two campuses play itself out on ice. Not the ice-capades, but hockey, the true Canadian sport.
Friday night’s game ended a week of homecoming competition between the two campuses. Like Randy Thomas, the assistant director of athletics at UTSC and the coach of the mens hockey team, says “we like each other as fellow students…but we don’t [like each other] when the uniforms come on, and that goes across the board with every sport.”
It was a close game with UTM winning 3-2, but where UTSC was lacking in goals, they definitely made up in support from fellows students. The turnout was massive from UTSC, with each student donning a burgundy duck hunting t-shirt and waving pom-poms. Raffles for various prizes were also handed out during and after the game, the final prize was two tickets to see the Toronto Maple Leafs.
It should not go unmentioned that a lot of sweat and blood went into the planning, not just the playing, of this game. Seeing as the game was played on the St. George Campus, the goal was to involve more students from UTSC and UTM. Thanks to the offices of advancement at UTSC and the office of development, alumni, and public affairs at UTM, the game drew a massive turn out, and succeeded in promoting some much needed school spirit.
This was the second year of the East versus West hockey challenge, with last year’s match-up seeing UTSC come out victorious, winning by a landslide 7-2.
The alumni development officer for UTSC, Drew Dudley, helped organize this event with the help of the Residence Council, the Scarborough Students Athletic Association, and the I Am Canadian Club. He hopes to draw in some corporate sponsors for next year, encourage more students to attend the game, and have as much participation from UTM as there was from UTSC. And to all UTM students: don’t forget the duck next year!
