Oxford and Cambridge are taking their rivalry to new heights

Updated on: Wednesday, February 20, 2013

UK's iconic varsities Oxford and Cambridge are taking their rivalry to new heights competing for a cheerleading trophy.

The bendy biologists and flexible philosophers of the Oxford Sirens are all set to challenge the springy statisticians and limber lawyers of the Cambridge Cougars in a "varsity trophy" for the first time.

The Cambridge Cougars have just come first in a national competition and are ready for the clash with Oxford. The teams have long battled for supremacy on the water, on the rugby pitch and in the league tables.

The participants and supporters of both the teams hope this weekend's fixture will become an annual event like the Boat Race, first held in 1829, the 'Daily Mail' reported.

The participants stress there is far more to their "sport" than just waggling your pom-poms.

Sirens president Suze Hawkins, 21, of Ipswich, soon to begin a PHD project modelling the dynamics of malaria, said, "Cheerleading is such a bizarre sport that no one really understands it - until you come and you do it. It requires strength, coordination and teamwork."

"When I tell guys I'm a cheerleader they usually just assume the very typical American stereotype and I have to tell them I don't flounce around in small shorts and I do wear normal clothes," she said.

The Oxford team, formed in 2004, has a trademark chant of "Go Oxford Sirens - let's go dark blue" (a reference to the university's traditional colour, as opposed to the light blue of Cambridge) while the Cougars, set up in 2007, belt out chants such as: "Cambridge, Cambridge, crank it up. Cambridge, Cambridge, we're on top."

Each team has previously performed at university sporting matches, but never at a varsity match. Both are also relative newcomers to major competitions.

Each side can field up to 32 performers per routine, including men whose strength is useful for flinging the girls into the air.

They will compete at the Future Cheer Saturday Night Fever competition in Loughborough this weekend. Teams from nearly 60 universities are taking part in total, with whichever does better out of Oxford and Cambridge taking home a separate "varsity trophy".

Oxford and Cambridge are taking their rivalry to new heights

More Education news