The Men's and Women's competitions were organised and run separately until 1978, when they became a 'combined InterVarsity' (held at the same time and venue), before becoming part of the Australian University Games in 1993.

"An invitation was received from the Melbourne University to send a team over some time during the season, which was accepted after due consideration by the committee.

The first two Women's InterVarsity contests (1908 & 1909) were played between Melbourne and Adelaide, with the addition of Sydney in 1910[note 1] and The University of Queensland after World War I in 1919.

At the 1912 tournament, it was agreed that purchase of a trophy should be arranged, and the Melbourne University Sports Union was subsequently approached to provide £5 for this purpose.

As the competition gradually expanded with the addition of the other sandstone universities, it became a simple round-robin format with the winner being the team with the most points.

With the number of competing universities increasing again from the 1960s onwards, the round-robin competition began to be split into two pools, followed by a knockout finals & classification series.

As part of the Australian University Games, the round-robin-then-finals format has continued, but whether teams are split into pools varies from year-to-year.

It was awarded for the first time in 1925, having been donated by Sir George Adlington Syme, the President of Melbourne University Hockey Club.

As the competition gradually expanded with the addition of the other sandstone universities, it became a simple round-robin format with the winner being the team with the most points.

[56] With the number of competing universities increasing again from the 1960s onwards, the round-robin competition began to be split into two pools, followed by a knockout finals & classification series.

For many years, Boat Races were a formal part of InterVarsity, with heats and finals held throughout the week, and the 'West End Cup' (men) and 'Chuckle Pot' (women) being awarded to the winners.