Latest News

This month UTSNZ bids farewell to our Marketing Intern for 2021, AUT postgraduate marketing student Chloe Bardsley. Alongside putting together this e-newsletter every month, Chloe assisted the marketing team at the National Tertiary Badminton Championship and provided student insight to UTSNZ in a number of key areas.

University and Tertiary Sport NZ (UTSNZ) is excited to announce the appointment of two new board members - Joe Hitchcock and Joanna Kelly. Read more on the recent appointments here.

University and Tertiary Sport New Zealand (UTSNZ) is pleased to announce the winners of the National Tertiary Championship Shield and Te Kaitiaki - the National Tertiary Spirit award. These awards honour New Zealand's best student athletes and tertiary sports teams. More on the winners here.

UTSNZ, in partnership with Netball NZ, have made the difficult decision to cancel the 2021 National Tertiary Netball Championship that was scheduled to be held at the Auckland Netball Centre on 25-26 September.

Due to the ongoing alert level restrictions in place, the decisions to cancel the Tertiary Rugby Sevens Challenge and postpone the University Team Sailing Championships have been made in conjunction with our event partners.

UTSNZ, in partnership with NZ Ultimate, the University of Waikato and Waikato Ultimate, have made the difficult decision to cancel the 2021 National Tertiary Ultimate Championships that were scheduled to be held at the University of Waikato on 18-19 September.

UTSNZ, in partnership with Basketball NZ, have made the difficult decision to cancel the 2021 Tertiary National Championships that was scheduled to be held at the AUT North Campus on 17-19 September

UTSNZ is proud to unveil its latest award – Te Kaitiaki – to be presented for the first time this year. Te Kaitiaki, the National Tertiary Spirit Champion award recognises the tertiary institution that has captured the spirit of national championship events as determined by participant vote across all UTSNZ National Tertiary Championships throughout the year.

Over 100 students hit the courts for the National Tertiary Badminton Championship and Tertiary Badminton Cup events held at the AUT North Campus over the weekend, taking the tertiary badminton nationals on-campus for the first time ever. In another first, Championship and Challenge Series events were held side-by-side, giving twice as many students the opportunity to represent their universities, compete for a national title, and connect with others from across the country.

We head into the second half of the 2021 UTSNZ event calendar this weekend as student-athletes take the courts at the AUT North Campus in Auckland for the National Tertiary Badminton Championship. After being held in badminton halls across the country for the past 5 years, the event moves on-campus for the first time in its history.

The University of Auckland achieved a rare feat at the National Tertiary Volleyball Championship last weekend with both their men’s and women’s teams lifting the event shields and earning the title of Tertiary Volleyball Champions for 2021. Also achieving an impressive double was their opposition, the University of Canterbury, who played their way into both Grand Finals.

There is set to be a lot of young talent on display as men's and women's teams from across the country prepare for the National Tertiary Volleyball Championship. As the sport at the secondary school level continues to go from strength to strength, we check in with a few students who will be tasting tertiary volleyball for the first time in Christchurch on the 17th & 18th of July.

Online introduction sessions will commence this weekend for selected participants in the 2021 FISU Volunteer Leaders Academy (FVLA). Read more on the event and New Zealand's representative here.

With the 2021 FISU World University Games postponed until next year, New Zealand Broadcasting School student Jess Dermody talks to UC athlete Christina Ryan about what the postponement means for her and other aspiring student athletes. Read Jess's story on Metronews here.

The South Island Universities reigned supreme at the Tertiary Futsal Championships 2021, held over the last four days at Palmerston North’s Central Energy Trust Arena. Read more about the tournament delivered by UTSNZ and New Zealand Football here.

After a hiatus in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Tertiary Futsal Championship makes a return this week as athletes hit the courts at the Central Energy Trust Arena in Palmerston North from Thursday through Sunday. The tournament will see seven university teams in both the men’s and women’s tournaments for the very first time, proving the opportunity to be as popular as ever among student-athletes. Read more here.

The Canterbury women and Auckland men have taken out UTSNZ 3X3 Tertiary Championships, presented by Stuff, at ASB Sports Centre in Wellington on Sunday. Both finals reversed the lead-up form with the lower ranked sides upstaging the favourites in the tournament deciders. Read more here.

Stuff is continuing its support of basketball in New Zealand by becoming the Presenting Partner for the UTSNZ's National Tertiary Basketball Championships. National Sports Editor Fred Woodcock says Stuff is pleased to continue their partnership with Basketball New Zealand and additionally support University and Tertiary Sport New Zealand (UTSNZ). The addition of Stuff as a presenting partner is a fantastic vote of confidence and boost in exposure for tertiary sport in New Zealand. Read more on the announcement here.

On 7 December 2020 it was confirmed that due to COVID-19, Rowing NZ did not intend to send athletes to compete at international regattas throughout 2021, excluding the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta and the Tokyo Olympic Games. However, it is still the intention of Rowing NZ to select and support age group squads irrespective of international travel throughout 2021. A World University squad has been selected and will train together over the course of the winter and race at the Development Regatta from 21 - 28 August 2021 at Lake Karapiro. Read more on the team announcement here.

University and Tertiary Sport NZ have received official confirmation from FISU that the 2021 World University Games scheduled for August in Chengdu, China have been postponed until 2022 due to ongoing Covid19 restrictions

One of the most fiercely contested events on the inter-tertiary calendar, the Aon New Zealand University Rowing Championships is held around Easter time each year and universities from all around the country compete in grades ranging from completely Novice to Championship level in all sizes of boats, from singles to eights. Read more to find out where it all started.