Roses Tournament

The Roses Tournament is an annual sports competition between Lancaster University and the University of York in England, and is the largest inter-university sports tournament in Europe. It is organised by their respective Students' Unions, YUSU and LUSU. It takes its name from the 15th Century civil war, The Wars of the Roses, between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. The competition is held every summer, alternating its venue between the two universities.

The first event happened on 15 May 1965 after the Vice-Chancellor of York, Lord James of Rusholme, suggested a boat race between the two universities. The students amplified this idea and held a 3-day event with a variety of sports: rowing, table tennis, relay race, mixed field hockey, and tug of war. The winner of each of the sports received two points, and the losing vice-chancellor presented a trophy to the winning university. The event has continued to increase in size since its founding, with new events added every year (2004 had 37 different sports). Live coverage of the event is broadcast every year by a joint collaboration between the two university's student television stations YSTV and LA1:TV, and its two student radio stations, Bailrigg FM and University Radio York. The importance of non-sporting social activities at the event has also been increased, with organised events on the Friday and Saturday evenings.

The Lancaster University Men's Hockey Club 3rd Team, Lancaster Bombers American Football team and the Lancaster Trampolining team were the only teams to remain unbeaten in the history of the tournament to date going into Roses 2012, however all three teams lost to their York counterparts in 2012.

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