Anyone who doesn’t know what this curious word stands for, I am sorry that your life has not been thus enlightened. DOXBRIDGE is the fond term for the epic sports tournament that occurs over in Dublin at the beginning of every Spring holidays between the three universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Durham. And when I say epic, I really do mean it: three days of competitive sport, competitive socialising, and competitive madness sandwiched in-between a day of travelling at either end. What more could one ask for?
6.25am A phone alarm rings all too early in a high-ceilinged yellow dorm somewhere in the depths of Dublin city. It is quickly silenced. There is a strong possibility hovering in the air that no-one will be sitting on our 7am bus. The floor is occupied by 9 suitcases, overly large for a 5-day trip of course but that’s essential for the female’s peace of mind (and especially if there are fancy dress themes involved). Their innards are scattered around the perimeter of the room leaving a central space for the empty bottles and chipped china mugs from the youth hostel kitchen that explain, all too plainly, why the finest of Wadham netball team are currently dead to the world.
6.30am A second, more insistent alarm goes and people begin to stagger to their feet with varying degrees of enthusiasm. With only one bathroom in the shared dorm, progress is slow and as a result there is no possibility of having time to scrub off the pirate tattoos still branded on us from the ‘nautical’ theme of the night before.
7.45am We arrive at the sports centre after a quiet bus journey – more a voyage of silent reflection than of animated conversation. The university sports centre, sensibly enough at this hour, is almost entirely empty. The teams make a bee-line for the netball courts where people begin to look around, size each other up. In the netball competition there are four Oxford teams, one Cambridge team and about 10 Durham teams. As a whole this seems quite an accurate reflection on the tournament as a whole, with Durham putting out by far the most teams, followed by Oxford, and Cambridge having the least number of representatives. Boring tabs.
8.30am The tournament kicks off and the cheering begins with Wadham A vs. Wadham B – a nice friendly game to get us going before we take on the real opposition. The matches are 10 minutes each way with a short break for half-time. That may not sound like very much but believe me, with the large quantity of alcohol still running around in 99.9% of the players present it was more than enough to create some very red faces. Thankfully the umpires take it all in very good spirits even if their highly trained expertise is perhaps at times wasted on some rather drowsy students.
9.30am Wadham A vs. St. Cuthbert’s. This first non-Oxford match is against the side that a number of people consider to be the top competitors from Durham so there is pressure to perform as we step on-court. The fact that the majority of the team are what normal people would class as giants doesn’t improve our confidence. The goal-shooter is definitely close to being able to perform the slam-dunk manoeuvre on a netball court. The running rate is high, as is the number of goals scored on either side, and at halftime Wadham finds themselves just a few precious goals ahead. The teams return rosy-cheeked to resume play and despite battling hard, Cuth’s manage to claw back to a draw at full-time. Personally I reckon that height rather than skill was the clinching factor.
10.45am Wadham A vs. St. Hild and St. Bede. Reputed as another strong Durham side, but on this occasion our Oxford side manages to take them down fairly easily. As a result victory marks the end of the day’s play for us as we stand on an equal footing with St. Cuth’s. The teams pack up as the other divisions begin to arrive looking rather more well-rested. (Still a few cross-bones and anchors around though…).
12.00am Back to the hostel and ready to celebrate a top day of sporting achievement with food, showers, and…….. bed. Yes, we did spend the prime hours of the day sleeping. It really did feel good though.
16.30pm A group excursion to the local supermarket – ‘Supervalue’. It must be said that considering the dire state of the euro right now, we definitely purchased some suspicious ‘Country Cola’ that can rightly be deemed as falling into this category. It’s super cheap and super rough.
19.00pm Numerous gourmet meals are produced in the steamy overpopulated hostel kitchen, mainly consisting of the exotic staples of pasta or rice. The fight over pans and cutlery reaches an extreme height and university rivalry begins to emerge among the industrial-sized cooker units.
19.45pm Now happily fed, the transformation process begins as the entire team gradually take on the alternative identity of cavewomen. For a B.C. theme the muddy-faced, back-combed hair, leopard-print look really is hard to beat.
21.00pm And so the drinking commences…. seated in a large circle on the floor of our cosy dorm room, the games take place in the height of luxury with carefully removed plastic beakers. All drinking is done responsibly though of course, zero peer pressure involved.
23.00pm Club time. The various teams make their own separate ways to the chosen destination. Thus we are to be viewed running through the Dublin streets in our cavewoman attire which proves to be wholly insufficient against the cold evening as we try to find an unknown street through a combination of orienteering and asking locals.
23.30pm Club located. Leopard-print fest. Enough said.
And so concluded the first official day of our Doxbridge adventure. Losing to the overall winners of the tournament in the semi-finals gives testament to it being a pretty good recipe for success. After a day of sleeping, eating, valiant attempts at running, drinking and more drinking, it was Doxbridge 1 – student health 0. Long live Doxbridge.
