Sunday 05-05-2024 - 20:48

 

We started the weekend saying it in hope, now we’re saying it in fact - Roses Are Red!

 

 
Late into the night on Saturday, the victory in women’s volleyball took us to within a point of the 172.5 needed to win and then, finally, it was the open darts that took us over the line and Lancaster won Roses 2024. The Lancaster teams and individuals played, rowed, tackled, shot, fought, fenced, lifted, swam, climbed, gamed, threw, volleyed, danced, rode, sailed, skied, ran, paddled and cycled their way to an historic victory.
 
When York took a very early lead, there may have been the very slightest worry, but in the end, it was never in doubt. At the end of the first day Lancaster had established a healthy lead and on Saturday their march to victory was simply unstoppable.
 
VP Sport Jack Watson said: “It’s been another fantastic victory for Lancaster this year! I just want to take this opportunity to say a massive well done and thank you for all the hard work and dedication each and every one of our athletes has put into the weekend. Roses is a competition of blood, sweat and tears; all of which went into this year’s victory.
 
“I also want to thank the amazing work of the Students’ Union staff and volunteers, who have gone above and beyond to host the most memorable Roses ever. I’m so proud of the work they have done, along with the performances and spectatorship of our students, in bringing it home for a third year in a row. Thanks also, of course, to the University, who’s partnership with the Union is crucial in making our great varsity thrive at Lancaster, and I think we can all agree that this year has been pretty special! And thanks as well to the amazing student media teams who covered the whole weekend so well, they did a fantastic job and add so much to the atmosphere of the event.
 
“Finally, a big thank you to York University Students’ Union and our colleagues across the county border. Can’t wait to see what next year brings, but for now, it brings me a lot of joy to once again say that Roses are Red!”
 
Lancaster University Vice Chancellor, Andy Schofield presenting the Roses trophy at the closing ceremony thanked the Students’ Union and the staff at the sports centre who had made everything run so smoothly, and he added:  “I’d like to pay tribute to York, you’ve come a long way, you’ve been great competitors this year, but this is Roses and this is the competition that decides the colour of the rose for another year and I am delighted to declare that for another year Roses are Red.”
 
LUSU CEO Misbah Ashraf said: “Firstly, we want to thank the sports centre staff for everything they have done. I’d like to thank the Vice Chancellor Andy Schofield for supporting Roses and always being there to support us and back us. I would like to thank Abby Chamberlain, who is our sports development manager and who has literally been the woman behind all this and all the staff and volunteers in the Students’ Union, every purple shirt you see has been behind the scenes grafting away and a special thank you to the facilities and grounds-people and everyone who has come together to make Roses what it is.”
 
It has been an amazing Roses - more than 3,500 competitors taking part in more than 140 fixtures over the weekend in Europe’s biggest inter-university sports competition.
 
Richard Soper, Vice-Chair of the LUSU Trustee Board, at the opening ceremony, said: “Roses is a great tradition - it was already going strong when I was a student here in early days of the University. Traditions like this help to give us an identity through shared experience and I am sure you will take away with you some great memories of the weekend.
 
“Roses is about competition of course, but it is also about comradeship and partnership. and I want to mention one partnership that is really important to us - the partnership between the Union and the University that is so evident today.
 
“The University commitment to sport is reflected in the superb facilities and leadership we have at Lancaster, and it’s the Union that sponsors the clubs and societies which enable each new generation of students to develop their skills and find friendship through so many sports.”
 
Thanks must go to all the competitors, and huge congratulations to the teams and individuals from Lancaster. Commiserations to York, but great rivalries make for great sport, and we know they will be looking to redress the balance next year when they’re on home territory.
 
Thanks too to the spectators from both sides who turned out in force to all the events and who create the atmosphere that makes Roses so special.
 
And remember, Roses Are Red!