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Durham sports teams celebrate success as University hosts major BUCS event

23 March 2026
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We recently hosted the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Northern Conference Cup, welcoming teams from 18 other universities, celebrated a number of Durham team successes, and marked a new two-year hosting agreement.

The BUCS Northern Conference Cup finals 

The finals were held at our Sports and Wellbeing Park at Maiden Castle. Over 60 top-performing sports teams from 19 universities across the North of England and Wales took to pitches and courts in Durham to fight for winning titles.

Some 35 fixtures took place, and competing Durham teams delivered an impressive set of performances. They earned eight gold and silver medals in total: 

Men’s tennis 

X 1 Gold, x 1 Silver 

Women’s tennis 

X 2 Gold 

Men’s gold 

Gold 

Men’s lacrosse 

Silver 

Women’s badminton 

Gold 

Men’s volleyball 

Silver 


The BUCS Northern Conference Cup finals is part of a set of five regional finals covering UK university sports teams from Scotland, the North, the Midlands, the South East and the West. A wide range of sports is featured, offering universities considerable opportunities to demonstrate their commitment to student sport, and to showcase the talent of their student-athlete teams. 

BUCS Big Wednesday qualifiers 

In parallel to the BUCS Northern Conference Cup finals, 10 Durham sports teams also qualified for the annual BUCS Big Wednesday. This will be held at Loughborough University, 24-25 March. Some 120 UK university teams will battle for national titles across 60 fixtures in 16 league sports, making it the most prestigious single event in the university sports calendar.

Our 10 qualifying teams are: 

  • Men’s lacrosse
  • Women’s table tennis
  • Women’s volleyball
  • Two women’s water polo teams
  • Men’s water polo
  • American football
  • Men’s squash
  • Men’s football
  • Men’s hockey

We will be cheering them on as they compete for national honours. Tickets for the matches are available and matches from selected sports will be live streamed on the BUCS YouTube channel. Further details on tickets and live streaming can be found at the bottom of this article. 

Celebrating closer links with BUCS 

Starting in 2026, the University was awarded a two-year hosting agreement with BUCS, providing a home for this year’s Northern Conference Cup finals. This ensures that our state-of-the-art facilities at the Sports and Wellbeing Park continue to serve as a key venue for major student sporting events. The agreement also underpins our commitment to supporting our student-athletes, and fostering a vibrant sports culture and community at Durham.

On top of the two-year hosting agreement, we will also be the home of the BUCS Conference in July 2026. This is the largest member event in the BUCS calendar, and is the first time the Conference has been held in the North East of England. The Conference includes the BUCS Awards ceremony, and will welcome professionals from across the higher education sporting community.  

Confirmed keynote speakers include: 

  • Olympic rower, world champion and author of ‘The Long Win’, Cath Bishop and former BUCS athlete;  
  • Olympian, Commonwealth medallist and Star of the BBC, Montell Douglas;  
  • British Paralympic Association Vice Chair, and University of Bath Professor of Practice (Sport) Tom Hollingsworth OBE;
  • CEO of Chelsea Football Club Foundation Laura Cordingley. 
Seeing so many of our teams consistently qualify for BUCS Big Wednesday reflects the hard work and dedication of our students and staff. We’re hugely excited to support them on the national stage and also proud to help deliver events that celebrate the very best of student sport. Our new hosting agreement with BUCS strengthens our role as a leading institution for university sport. It brings the wider sporting community to Durham, and highlights the essential role of sport in enriching the student experience.
Dave Coldwell
Head of Sport and Physical Activity

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