Otago to Field Leaner, Meaner Games Squad

Defending Champions Otago to Field Leaner, Meaner University Games Squad

The Otago contingent at this year’s New Zealand University Games will be a tight, dedicated squad, with the focus on Otago’s traditional sporting strengths. Otago currently hold the University Games shield, and according to Otago University Students’ Association president Steven Sutton “This year we’re sending a quality team made up of Otago’s core sporting codes, smaller than previous years but concentrating on events we expect to win.”

The Otago crew will include 73 members of the award-winning Otago University Rowing Club (along with $300,000 worth of rowing equipment), and 78 keen athletes from other disciplines, including golf, rugby league, volleyball, and Otago’s formidable debating society. OU Rowing Club Head Coach Glen Sinclair predicts that this year’s competition will be a cliffhanger. “It’s going to be bloody tough. Waikato in particular are fielding a strong team, with several New Zealand reps. I think it’s going to be closer than it’s ever been.”

Steven Sutton, however, was more optimistic. “I pity the teams that take on Otago this year”, he boasted, “I pity the fool.”

Teams from 8 New Zealand universities will be competing for the shield at the University Games 2005, hosted for the first time by Auckland University of Technology on Auckland’s North Shore from the 24th – 27th of April.

ENDS

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