 The 44 sports teams of the Varsity Blues represent the university in intercollegiate competitions.The two main leagues in which the Blues participate are U Sports (formerly known as Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS)) for national competitions and the auxiliary Ontario University Athletics (OUA) conference at the provincial level.The athletic nickname of Varsity Blues was not consistently used until the 1930s; previously, references such as "Varsity", "The Big Blue", "The Blue and White" and "The Varsity Blue" also appeared interchangeably.