Blog
The End is Nigh...
I expected things to have slowed down a bit by now, but it seems to be as busy as ever and I’m really conscious of only having another 2 weeks to cram everything else in!
The first ever University Sports Strategy was launched on the 1st of June, which is a big step forward for sport here at the University of York. I remember when the process started over a year ago with consultation with the various stakeholders within sport at the University. It was quite exciting to attend the launch of something that I was involved with right from its fledgling stages. Hopefully the key strategic aims set out in the document will ensure sport is kept on the radar and that its importance to the student experience gets recognised.
The Heslington East swimming pool project has also moved on significantly in recent weeks. There are still a few hoops the project has to jump through before funding is finalised, but hopefully it will be successful and there will be a swimming pool on campus before too long. We have consulted with the clubs who would use the pool to gauge their desires and needs, to allow these to be fed into plans. I am really excited about the project and just hope it is successful in its bid for funding.
We had BUCS Yorkshire incoming sabbatical training a few weeks ago, which I organised in Leeds. Seven of the ten incoming sports sabbs at Yorkshire universities attended and got a bit of grounding on what to expect from their year ahead from BUCS and also had a chance to meet each other before the BUCS Conference.
In my last update blog I mentioned club re-ratifications and grant applications. The grants have played quite a major part in the last few weeks and the provisional grants have been sent out to the clubs and I’ve had a few meetings with separate clubs as a result of these. We used a new method to reach the figures for the grants, based on the difference between income and expenditure across the board, number of members per club and a final 20% was based on whether or not a club uses the Sports Centre. These grants are currently provisional because they are evidently dependent on the size of the overall pot of money that is available for distribution to the clubs, but hopefully this will be confirmed shortly.
We had some team photos taken last Thursday by Heslington Hall, which a few clubs took advantage of. I’m looking forward to seeing the finished products when they get sent back and hope the teams who had photos taken are pleased with the outcomes.
The York Sport Race Day took place last Friday and luckily the rain held off. Almost 150 people joined York Sport at the County Stand and enjoyed a day at the races, with some having more luck than others on the horses. It was really great to have the race day back in the calendar and I hope it will happen again next year.
The York Sport Committee also had a rather epic meeting to go through all the applications for Colours and to shortlist for the awards that will be presented at the York Sport Dinner next Friday. Preparations are well underway and I am hopeful it will be another fantastic evening. As well as all the presentations, there will be a three-course dinner, drinks reception, wine on tables, a ceilidh band and a DJ to keep everyone dancing until the wee small hours. Tickets are available until 3pm on Monday at...
http://www.yusu.org/event/2682
All Colours will be presented at the Dinner, as will the annual awards. We also have some new awards this year – Most Improved Team of the Year, College Sportsman of the Year, College Sportswoman of the Year and College Team of the Year. The shortlists are as follows:
CLUB OF THE YEAR - Netball, Pool & Snooker, Men's Rugby, York Hornets Cheerleading, YUsnow.
TEAM OF THE YEAR - Fencing Women's 1sts, Lacrosse Men's 1sts, Pool 1sts, Rugby Men's 1sts.
ROSES TEAM OF THE YEAR - College Football, Cricket Men's 1sts, Sailing 1sts, Volleyball Mixed.
MOST IMPROVED TEAM OF THE YEAR - Canoe Polo Open, Cricket Men's 1sts, Hockey Men's 1sts, York Hornets Competition Squad.
SERVICE TO SPORT - Sam Asfahani, Hannah Barwick-Walters, Thomas Chatwin, Isobelle Miller, Alex Muntus, Adam Shergold, Matt Thomas.
SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR - Charlie Bartlett (Hockey), Sarah Fisher (Netball), Katharine Gracey (Fencing), Louise Highton (Fencing), Emma Hodgson (Women's Rugby), Marlies Neuner (YUsnow).
SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR - Stephen Braid (American Football), Will Felgate (Rugby and Cricket), Ian McKellow (Football), Dave Tee (YUsnow), Michael Walsh (Pool & Snooker).
JUSTIN TAYLOR MEMORIAL AWARD - Cameron Craig (Langwith), Frankie Hall (Halifax), Tess Webb (James), Angus O'Brien (James), Chris Smith (Goodricke), Rachel Knighton (Derwent).
COLLEGE SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR - Becky Hudson (Goodricke), Cecily Cole (Alcuin), Kate Copson (James), Holly Burton (Derwent), Eva Fot (Wentworth), Beth O'Leary (Wentworth), Bethan Kay (Langwith).
COLLEGE SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR - Nick Dheir (Goodricke), Ali Prince (Vanbrugh), Dave Nalton (James), Alex Muntus (James), Bruce Starkey (Langwith), Matt Hallam (Derwent), Samik Datta (Wentworth), Nikolaos Zisis (Wentworth), Alex Harrison (Alcuin).
COLLEGE SPORT TEAM OF THE YEAR - Goodricke Darts, Vanbrugh Hockey, Wentworth Volleyball, Halifax Football, Derwent Basketball, Langwith Football.
I’ve also been continuing with my “Scott in Sport” escapades, but have 3 blogs that I need to write up – watch this space!
Finally, as I mentioned previously, I thought this would be an opportunity to re-visit my manifesto and having found my poster, it seems apt to address my six key pledges in turn, so without further ado, here goes...
1. “More transparency of York Sport” – I have tried to address this through regular email correspondence with all the clubs and have also held termly general meetings which all clubs are invited to attend. I hope I have made myself accessible and willing to answer any questions people have.
2. “Promote relationship between University and College Sport” – One of the toughest things for College Sport this year has been having so many fixtures affected by weather earlier in the year and a bit of bad feeling around college football matches being cancelled, when university matches were still played. Unfortunately, this was something that couldn’t be avoided due to the college football pitches not having as good drainage. Having said this, we have managed to secure some extra funding from the University to improve the College Sport system for next year, with various aims including opening up more beginner sessions and making one-day tournaments more professional. We have also added extra awards to the York Sport Dinner that include College Sport – College Sport Team of the Year, College Sportsman of the Year and College Sportswoman of the Year.
3. “Continue strengthening links with campus media” – Unfortunately due to a number of factors, the York Sport Show on YSTV was unable to go ahead this year. Despite having people willing to help out, there weren’t enough experienced editors to allow the show to continue. However, URY has started a weekly sports show, which occasionally welcomed club Presidents as guests and this should continue next year. Nouse and Vision have continued to cover sport on a regular basis and I have been asked to contribute to both, which has been good. We’ve also had a regular slot in the York Press, giving University sport a bit wider coverage.
4. “Encourage inclusion by having reduced membership for latecomers” – From the start of the Summer Term, York Sport membership was reduced from £40 to £25 for the remainder of the year.
5. “Bring back Varsity” – We took on York St John over the weekend of week 7 last term, which despite the weather’s best attempts at spoiling things, was a pretty successful weekend of sport and the University of York managed to retain the title.
6. “Win Roses” – This was always going to be a tricky one given the white rose had managed to be victorious for the last three years and the Roses weekend clashed with York’s main exam period. Unfortunately despite the best efforts of York’s sportsmen and women, tradition reverted to the home side and Lancaster won the Carter James. I am confident that next year there won’t be such exam clashes and that the white rose will come out on top.
Sorry this has got a bit epic and congratulations for reading this far!
As ever, any questions/comments please drop me a line at e.scott@yusu.org.
Thanks,
Emily xo
