Men’s team captain James Brouff said the UNE was well represented in team and individual events this year.

“We are fortunate enough to have two Olympians in our side –  Melissa Mitchell,  a current UNE Sporting Scholarship holder, who is swimming in the 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle events, and Richie Campbell, who is the current captain of the Australian men’s water polo team.”

“The inclusion of these two elite athletes should boost our teams’ chances of finishing in a good position,” he said.

“We also have individuals competing in the hammer throw and track and field events and a men’s and women’s water polo teams and men’s and women’s soccer teams.”

“The women’s soccer team has tasted success, winning gold at the Northern University Games for the last few years,” he added.

Close to 10,000 competitors, volunteers and staff will converge on Sydney’s sporting fields and courts from Sunday to Friday, October 3.

 Also, a team of 10 UNE students is in Perth this week competing in the National Indigenous Tertiary Education Student Games (NITESG).

Team captain is Larissa Ahoy.

“This is my second time competing and I’m really proud to be part of the Games again,” she said before leaving last week.

“Last year was a great experience for me, in particular seeing so many indigenous people studying and competing at a tertiary level.”

In its 19th year, the annual event started Sunday and runs through to Thursday at the University of Western Australia. 

It will include the four core sports of netball, basketball, volleyball and touch football as well as a traditional indigenous game. 

Every team participating  competes in each sport as a united team. 

The Games began as a joint project between a small group of students at the University of Newcastle in 1996. 

The first Games were attended by 30 students and have since grown to host hundreds of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tertiary students from universities all around the nation.