Friday 12-10-2018 - 11:44

"For those old enough to remember the old spaghetti westerns this blogs title will make a slight bit of sense, for the majority of us it will probably be associated with Toy Story.

 

As much as It sounds like I’ve been spending my recent days at the O.K. Corral, there have indeed been some 30 second shootouts in the form of successful representation for Sport Students. Wednesday afternoons have been the talk of the town at Universities for many moons, with the topic of ‘are they being kept free for students to participate in sport’ pushing front and centre. In an ideal world the answer is yes, but sadly this isn’t always the case (naughty, naughty). The past few weeks I’ve made it my aim to represent these students, making sure they can continue their passions in sport without harbouring fears that their lectures and degree will be affected. GOOD NEWS! It’s been a 100% success story so far, with a grand total of, drum roll please, (Bruce Forsyth where are ya?) 30 out of 30 students affected by Wednesday afternoon lectures now being able to represent their teams without any repercussions or setbacks to their degrees.

Students are of course at University to study, but sport as an opportunity is such an incredible tool in shaping and growing us as individuals, leading them to even more success when graduating. For this reason this type of representation is without a doubt a necessity. By going into lectures and speaking with students, I have been able to really tackle the issues they face on the ground, and I will continue this work all year — if you have any concerns about timetabling, drop by and we’ll send a Sheriff out as quick as their horse can take them.

It’s been a very busy few weeks so here are some quick fire big updates for all things Sport!

- Our Welcome Warriors went down a storm! We had activities led by Dance, Table Tennis, Badminton, Hockey, Cheer, Netball, Futsal, Football, Equestrian and Volleyball. This was our biggest bunch of Welcome Warriors yet and the sports teams put on an amazing job across campus!

- Three BIG Sport Surgeries were held with sports teams and all three have been a roaring success, with the clubs getting the solutions and decisions they deserve. I won’t say too much as these first few are for the teams themselves to announce! Exciting stuff! The doctors are definitely in.

- A huge piece of work finished recently was the Sport Feedback data survey. Since 31 July I have been collecting feedback from individuals and sports teams regarding Sports Ball, their clubs and what they feel needs to change since previous years. We had 126 individuals complete the form and I have now taken the information to Sports Management group. This group is where the Managers of MMU Sport and The Union meet together. The responses and actions of the survey will be provided to all sports members as soon as possible by myself.

- This past month I went across to the Cheshire Campus for a day of fun and fundraising led by the Football and Netball teams. This involved inflatable obstacle courses, bucking broncos and a charity Rounder’s match. Both teams did incredibly well in getting the campus together and raising both money and awareness for CRY and the Donna Louise Trust. Personal note, bucking broncos aren’t for me.

Final bit of news, our competitive season has now kicked off and is full swing! The Taekwondo team recently sent 11 athletes to the European Championships in Poland, achieving an amazing 2 Golds, 4 Silver and 8 Bronzes between them. Our BUCS clubs brought home lots of wins, for what will be a very exciting season!