A bit of rivalry is healthy, especially if it’s between friends. For the National Union of Greek Australian Students, their university rivalry is about to get a little bit more heated, as students get the chance to play in an indoor soccer tournament.

The inaugural NUGAS Cup will encompass all nine Victorian university Greek clubs, with each university told to set up a team and prepare for the October tournament.

The idea was born years ago, and finally is coming to life.

Victorian NUGAS president Tass Sgardelis is very excited to be hosting the event and bringing the clubs together through sport.

“It’s been in the pipeline for a while, and now is the right time, we finally found an appropriate venue for it,” he tells Neos Kosmos.

“We thought we’d make it a bit more professional this year and take it to the next level at the Sports and Aquatic centre with trophies.”

It’ll be a change of pace for the group, which is known for its booze cruises and BBQs.

The cup will be a chance for all university Greek clubs to better collaborate and mingle while keeping fit.

It’s also a chance to create a bit of healthy rivalry between the university clubs.

“People get really into it, it’s good healthy competition,” Mr Sgardelis says.

There are ground rules to make sure no one is left out. Mr Sgardelis says each team must look to sign two females to their team.

“We’ve made it mandatory that there is a minimum of two females to a team out on the field at all times, that way we found that it’s far more inclusive,” he says.

Some of the larger universities like Monash and Melbourne University will have more than one team to field, making the total teams competing in the cup 16.

The initiative is something NUGAS wants to bring back for future years, and will use the inaugural cup in October to see if it will be viable. “We are looking at extending it too, to make it more of a summer thing and include different sports,” Mr Sgardelis says.

The event will hopefully pay homage to the already existing indoor soccer tournaments between universities around Australia, but add a uniquely Greek flavour.

NUGAS will be calling for friends, family and all football lovers to come to the matches and try and recreate the atmosphere at a Greek Super League match – maybe sans the flares.

“Spectators are welcome with a gold coin donation, and all profits from the event will go to a nominated charity,” Mr Sgardelis says.

The NUGAS Cup is open to all Greek Australian students and members of ACUGA, DUGS, LUGS, MHSS, MUnGA, PAM, RUSH, SUGA, VUGS Greek university clubs.

It will be a very busy couple of weeks for Greek Australian students, with NUGAS Victoria hosting their annual ball on September 28 and a special VIP party night with Nikos Ganos.

The NUGAS Cup will be on October 4, starting from 12.30 pm at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.

For those interested in joining a team, contact your affiliated university Greek club or visit www.nugasvic.com.au