Student set to play in Varsity Australian rules football match

A postgraduate student at St Catharine’s is gearing up to represent Cambridge University Australian Rules Football Club (CUARFC) in the annual Varsity match against Oxford. We caught up with Ryan Ebert, an Executive MBA student, to find out more about his studies and Australian rules football (also known as Aussie rules) ahead of his match on Saturday 18 March at St John’s College, Cambridge.

Ryan has played Aussie rules on and off from about the age of five, first in Sydney, then Perth and later London when he moved to the UK:

“I love the camaraderie of team sport and have played in my school team as a junior, my state team, and in leagues in Western Australia. It was perhaps inevitable that I’d enjoy Aussie rules because my dad, cousins, uncles and other relatives have played at state level or in the professional Australian Football League (AFL).

“When I moved to the other side of the world for work, I was fascinated to find a thriving AFL competition in London and it was a highlight of my time in the UK. It is even more fascinating that Cambridge not only has its own team, but also boasts a long history with Aussie rules.”

The CUARFC was founded in the early 20^th century and the first recorded men’s match against Oxford took place in 1911. Varsity matches became an annual fixture by 1921 and the Cambridge women’s team was established in 2018.

The connection between Cambridge and the sport goes back much further thanks Tom Wills, who played for the Cambridge University Cricket Club against Oxford in 1856, which was particularly notable because he had actually failed to matriculate (his father had wanted him to read Law). Wills is credited with being Australia’s first cricketer of significance and a founder of Australian rules football – originally devised in the 1850s to keep Australian cricketers active during their off-season.

Ryan explains that this history is reflected in the modern game:

“Aussie rules is played on an oval field recognisable to any cricket fan and is a high-energy contact sport played between two teams of 18 players. Teams score by kicking the oval ball through posts at each end of the field, with lots of kicking and running with the ball since throwing isn’t allowed. Spectators more familiar with rugby and soccer might be surprised by how many points are scored – the Varsity scores might be in the region of 30 or 50 points and it’s not uncommon to score 80–100 points in an AFL game. With this year’s match being in Cambridge, I hope lots of the Catz community will come along and lend their support.”

The Executive MBA course has enabled Ryan has been able to balance his career, studies at Cambridge Judge Business School and playing for CUARFC:

“The Executive MBA is a great way to balance your career and interests with a fully immersive, world-class education. Cambridge Judge Business School is really supportive of students’ sporting commitments and allow us to catch-up on lectures if these clash with University-level fixtures. I feel incredibly fortunate that my employer encouraged me to pursue the qualification and there was a friendly group of Australians in the 2019 Executive MBA cohort who convinced me that I would do well at Cambridge. Fast forward to today and I now hold a C-suite executive role, thanks to the course supporting my personal development and executive leadership skills.”

Further information about CUARFC and the Varsity match are available from https://linktr.ee/cuarfc.