Blog
Happy New Year!
Hi all!
First off, I'd like to wish you all a very Happy New Year. I hope you had a good Christmas break not too disrupted by snow, revision or essay writing.
I for one am glad to be back and the work is picking up with plenty of exciting projects on the horizon. I am hoping that the weather is not going to cause too many disruptions (as a hockey player it is rather frustrating that the JLD Astro pitch is probably going to be unplayable until the middle of next week). Today I had a BUCS Regional meeting in Leeds cancelled as a result of the weather and the risk of travelling on icy roads. It's been rescheduled to week 3 though when I will be going to both Leeds and Bath for BUCS meetings. Normally being Sports Pres doesn't involve that much travelling though!
In terms of projects I've got planned for this term, the first big thing is a re-structuring of the sports membership structure. Thanks to all of those who completed the questionnaire I posted here about the membership structure and pricing – these responses were very useful and are being used to try and find a more equitable solution. From reading these I realised that lots of people aren’t aware of what their £40 membership fee actually goes towards, so watch this space and I will be writing another blog shortly detailing exactly where the money goes. I am working alongside the University to try and find way of providing sport for better value to all students. Unfortunately, this isn’t as easy as I would wish, firstly because of the Sports Centre lying within the University’s Commercial Services and thus needing to at least break-even, and secondly because of all the committees that a different proposal would need to be sanctioned by. Having said this, I am hopeful that a more equitable structure will be reached, allowing students to get more for their money.
Next up is YUSU FAIR 2, taking place on Saturday week 3 (the 30th January), where you will have another chance to sign up for both sports clubs and societies which you might have missed out on in Freshers’ Week. The sports clubs will be based in James Hall and will all be keen to let you know anything you want to find out about joining them. Make sure you go along!
Following directly on from that in week 4 is YUSU’s “WE ARE GOLDEN” Employability Campaign. This will be going on throughout week 4 will be packed full with information and advice to make you more employable, for example through skills gained through extra-curricular activities such as sport! We will also be reminding you that sport is accessible to all and asking that rather than making hurdles for yourself, you jump them! Keep an eye out for this one!
The next big exciting thing is VARSITY against YORK ST JOHN at the end of week 7. This is the one weekend of term that you certainly don’t want to go home or win a trip to New York or the like. In fact, you need to make sure you are in York! On Friday night, there will be an event in The Courtyard to kick the weekend off with a bang. Then Saturday and Sunday (27th & 28th February) are packed full with sport, where we will be showing York St John why we are better! Then to finish it all off there will be a massive event on the Sunday night. Remember to keep the date free and come along!
After that the organisational ante for ROSES will be stepped up. This year the iconic tournament is taking place over in LANCASTER over the weekend of week 1 next term (from Friday 30th April to Sunday 2nd May). Despite being so near the start of term, I am sure the tournament will be as exciting as ever. After last year’s verging on humiliating defeat, the red rose of Lancaster will no doubt come out fighting, but hopefully the white rose of York will battle on to come out on top and gain the first fourth consecutive victory ever in the history of the tournament! This is certainly one to grip you and it would be great to have as many York supporters as possible over in Lancaster to make a truly memorable weekend.
The other big thing happening this term are the YUSU ELECTIONS. This is the chance that you can run for any of the YUSU officer positions, including my own. If you are interested in running for YORK SPORT PRESIDENT, please get in touch with me and we can arrange a meeting to go through what you can expect of the role. Nominations will be opening in week 6 of term, with campaigning beginning in week 8 and voting in week 9. Then on Saturday 13th March, results will be announced. I’m certainly looking forward to election fever gripping campus again and can’t wait to see what catchy campaigns the candidates come up with this year.
That’s about it for the time being. As ever, please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any comments to make or suggestions or if there’s anything I can help you with. Email e.scott@yusu.org or pop along to the YUSU Student Centre.
Emily xo
