Sports Review 2017

OXFORD OXFORD SPORT 2017

SPORTS REVIEW 2017

CLUB SEASON ROUND-UP CLUB REPORTS - VARSITY RESULTS - BUCS SEASON REPORT

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OXFORD SPORT 2017

WELCOME

CONTENTS

University sport is an incredible thing, and Oxford, as it does to most strands of student life, puts its own unique twist on it.

As a fresher sat in a team meeting before my first ever Varsity Match, back in 2013, I was told that it was impossible to understand what competing in Varsity was all about until I had experienced it myself. My initial reaction was sceptical. Team spirit, working together, wanting it more than the opposition… I had done all of that before. Now, three years and quite a lot of Varsity Matches later, I have realised that I didn’t understand at all. Varsity Matches bring students together in ways they have never previously experienced, united by a passion for their sport, an unparalleled commitment to the team and a desire to perform at the highest possible level on one specific day out of a three hundred and sixty five day calendar.

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BLUES PERFORMANCE SCHEME

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ANNUAL AWARDS WINNERS

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BUCS RESULTS

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BUCS REVIEW

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WOMEN’S FOOTBALL

But Oxford University Sport is so much more than this fascinating series of fixtures against Cambridge. It is no less than fifty student teams participating in BUCS leagues and tournaments, where overall as an institution we finished 13th nationally in 2016-17. Then there is Cuppers, an inter-college structure that allows any Oxford student the opportunity to represent their college in a sport of their choice, regardless of ability or experience level. It is also stand-out individual successes such as national titles, squad selection, international duties and even Olympic representation.

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CLUB REPORTS

34 VARSITY RESULTS

It is the development of facilities at Iffley Road, building partnerships within the community, and creating a fitness offer than gives as many people as possible the chance to be active. Over the past couple of years the benefits that physical activity can have for mental wellbeing have grown to prominence as important considerations for educational institutions and workplaces alike. Oxford University Sport continues to work to raise awareness of this and to provide its students, its staff and its community with access to a positive physical activity experience.

Last but not least it is community of student-run, student-led and in some cases student-coached sports clubs into which some of the world’s most academically gifted minds pour their hearts and souls to create sporting and organisational miracles. In what is more often than not an environment where time goes too fast and resources don’t stretch far enough, we see living proof that a great deal of drive and a whole lot of passion can create something really quite special.

Laura Fenwick Sports Federation President 2017-18

2016-17 Sponsors Sports Federation: BP Annual Sports Awards: BP, Walter’s, Kitlocker, Atalanta’s Editor: Laura Fenwick, Oxford University Sports Federation President 2017-18 Contributors: Dan Tibbitt, Dani Ball, Renee Haver, Hannah Plaschkes Design: Crucible Creative, www.cruciblecreative.co.uk

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BLUES PERFORMANCE SCHEME

RENEE HAVER

Subject: Chemistry | Year: 4th year DPhil | College: New College Sport: Triathlon | Favourite Stash: OUTriC trackies

In 2015-16 the Blues Performance Scheme (BPS) was set up to provide additional support for high performing athletes and sports teams at Oxford University.

Over the past two years the BPS has provided a range of support including strength and conditioning coaching, injury treatment, psychology workshops and nutrition advice.

The scheme has grown considerably since it first began and as well as accessing fundamental classes such as pilates, circuits and swimming pool recovery, Oxford Blues teams can now sign up to be allocated a lead strength and conditioning coach who will create and deliver a programme specifically for their team. We spoke to two members of Oxford University sports clubs about their experiences with the BPS so far.

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HANNAH PLASCHKES

Subject: Medicine | Year: 5th year | College: Jesus College Sport: Cross Country | Favourite Stash: OUCCC puffa jacket

Tell us a bit about your sporting background…

Renee - Following three years of competitive rowing I took up triathlon whilst studying for my Masters Degree in Amsterdam. I have been competing in triathlon for just over four years now and currently I combine this with cycling time-trialling and ultrarunning. I mainly target long distance races such as halfironman or ironman triathlons and ultramarathon running events.

Although these events don’t feature in university competitions, a significant part of my preparation has been training and racing with Oxford University Triathlon Club over shorter distances.

Hannah - Before starting university I played a lot of badminton. I enjoyed swimming and running

in my own time, but was never a member of any clubs. When I arrived in Oxford I had achilles tendonitis which meant I couldn’t run, so I joined the Water Polo club. I then started swimming with the Modern Pentathlon club, began running again and ended up competing in the Modern Pentathlon Reserves Varsity (just a swim and run). It was great fun, but I started to think that I should utilise the swimming and running training I was doing in races where I could actually complete all of the disciplines. I bought a bike at the end of my second year and joined the Triathlon club. As my running got back on track I became more involved in the Cross Country club and I have now run in two OUCCC Blues teams.

OXFORD SPORT 2017

What is your approximate weekly training volume?

Renee - When training for events in the lead up to and during race season I will be doing around thirteen hours of training a week.

Currently (while writing my DPhil thesis) it’s more like seven hours.

Hannah - My average training volume is six to eight sessions per week - usually four running sessions, a strength and conditioning session, and a swim or cycle.

What is your favourite thing about sport at Oxford and/ or what has been your best sporting experience at Oxford?

Renee - It has been amazing to train with so many like minded individuals and such a wide range of abilities in OUTriC. When I started triathlon back in Amsterdam I trained by myself and the difference in my progress and enjoyment of the sport between then and now could not be bigger. Highlights of my sporting experience at Oxford have been racing with OUTriC and also being able to run an ultramarathon, something I had never imagined possible as I never considered myself a “runner”.

Hannah - My favourite thing about all of the Oxford University clubs I have been a member of over the years is how open they are to all abilities. I never felt like I wasn’t good enough or didn’t belong in a

club. My best sporting experience at Oxford was when I was part of the cross country Blues team that won Varsity for the first time in four years.

Why did you first reach out to the BPS? Hannah - In my third year I was in never-ending cycles of trying to get back to running and consistently getting injured. I had no idea why and was incredibly frustrated. I seemed to be trying everything various “back to run” programmes, S&C exercises from the internet, and trying to be very cautious and careful with my training. I wish I had known about the scheme earlier because then I perhaps would have been able to do more years of cross country running in Oxford.

What aspects of the scheme have you engaged with?

Renee - Mainly physio and S&C training.

Hannah - Group strength and conditioning training with the cross country Blues team, as well as some individual S&C support and physio treatment.

Has the scheme helped you to develop as an athlete, and if so how has it done so?

Hannah - The Blues Performance Scheme has completely changed the way I train and the way I think about training. Before the support I had no idea how to rest, recover, or

condition and teach my body how to fire properly. I had never had any formal running coaching before university, so I wasn’t aware of the demands that high level sport can place on the body or how important the additional elements of training, such as those provided by the scheme, can be.

What have you learnt from your engagement with the BPS and do you have any advice for other student athletes about the support provided?

Renee - I have learned to be patient and to be serious about prehab. My advice would be to remember that strength training is not for people of the powerlifting club alone, but that athletes from all kinds of sports can massively benefit from it. I feel that in some sports there is a fear of becoming bulky or losing speed when weights are involved.

However, you only have to look at high profile athletics stars such as Mo Farah, who incorporates strength work into his training programme, to see that this is not a valid fear. Coming from a rowing background, where weights training was always incorporated into my training schedule, it seemed natural to me to continue this strength work and it has definitely helped me a great deal to improve my overall strength and stability and stay injury-free.

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ANNUAL AWARDS WINNERS The 15th Annual Sports Awards provided an opportunity to celebrate the outstanding achievements and dedication of Oxford students in sport over the 2016-17 season. While the event recognised the success of the entirety of the Oxford sporting scene, seven prestigious awards were presented to recognise talent, high level performance and commitment from individual athletes, teams and coaches alike.

Rachel has devoted huge amounts of time to the Oxford University Judo Club in various committee and coaching roles.

KITLOCKER CLUB OF THE YEAR - ATHLETICS Club of the Year is awarded based on a club’s results and activity over the year, including their contribution to the University and to the community both on and off the field of play.

BP SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR - RACHEL WHEATLEY (BOXING & JUDO) Sportswoman of the Year is awarded to individuals who have excelled in their chosen sport and also contributed to the life of their club or to their sport in other ways.

Rachel Wheatley ended the 2016-17 season ranked 5th in Great Britain for her first sport of Judo and represented Oxford Blues teams in Judo and Boxing.

Impressively, she won individual BUCS medals in both sports and was selected to represent Great Britain at the European University Championships for Judo in 2017. Rachel was part of the Oxford women’s Judo team who claimed silver in the BUCS team championships, winning all of her fights in this competition. Amongst the 30 plus fights that Rachel won over the course of the year, her standout result was becoming the 2017 British Open Judo Champion.

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contributed massively beyond his personal talent. Membership skyrocketed and both the men’s and women’s teams placed in the top three in the UK, going on to compete at the World University Championships in South Africa.

Jamie is a great sportsman, friend, and example of where perseverance and drive can get you.

WALTERS SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR - JAMIE VICKERS (POWERLIFTING) Sportsman of the Year is awarded to individuals who have excelled in their chosen sport and also contributed to the life of their club or to their sport in other ways.

Jamie Vickers was the first ever undergraduate member of Oxford University Powerlifting Club to be awarded a Full Blue and he broke an all time club record in Hilary 2017. At the end of the 2016-17 season he held all of the South Midlands Divisional junior records and had personal bests that would challenge for medals at a senior level. As president of the Oxford University Powerlifting Club Jamie

Oxford University Athletics Club won all ten of their 2016-17 Varsity fixtures, taking the summer Varsity match 4-0 for the first time since 1999. Athletes from the club also brought home four medals from the BUCS outdoor championships, their largest haul for many years, and over the summer had two representatives competing in the World University Games. OUAC is a club open to all abilities, and supports many athletes new to the sport at university, whether they wish to progress to a higher level or come along to keep fit. Last year the club launched its very own access programme – reaching out to talented youngsters, encouraging them to consider Oxford for higher education and supporting them in the application process.

OXFORD SPORT 2017

ATALANTA’S TEAMMATE OF THE YEAR - DANIEL LOCK (ICE HOCKEY) Teammate of the Year is awarded to any University sportsperson to recognise commitment to sport and their teammates, a positive attitude, belief in themselves and others, an ability to motivate and lead, and a selfless attitude.

COACH OF THE YEAR TOMEK WALICKI (FENCING) Coach of the Year is awarded to a coach of a University sports club who has made a real difference to the club’s experience and performance.

Tomek Walicki enabled Oxford University Fencing Club to have one of its most successful seasons ever in 2016-17. The women’s Blues team won the BUCS Southern Premier League, whilst the men’s team also made it to the BUCS national championships and finished in the top eight. Tomek is versatile and open minded in his coaching. He coaches some of the most high profile fencers in the world and also takes the time and patience to teach absolute beginners. The time he spends travelling from his home to get to Oxford never dampens his enthusiasm or expert coaching manner. Tomek has excellent rapport with all of his students, is a clam, reassuring and extremely knowledgeable coach, and is a greatly cherished asset of the club.

BP TEAM PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR - FENCING WOMEN’S BLUES TEAM Team Performance of the Year can be awarded to any distinct competitive team within a club. The award considers high level achievements in BUCS or other major leagues, an impressive run of victories and dramatic improvements.

The Fencing Women’s Blues team celebrated one of the most successful years in club history in 2016-17. In the BUCS Southern Premier League they remained unbeaten by any team, winning the league and going on to reach the semi finals and finish third in the BUCS National Championships. They put in a huge performance at Varsity to claim victory for the first time this decade. At BUCS individuals the Fencing women’s Blues team not only claimed the gold medal but had three competitors ranked inside the top ten. These results, alongside individual open titles and international representation from several members of the team, are a reflection of the talent, drive and dedication of this team.

Daniel Lock’s selfless attitude, commitment and unwavering leadership laid the foundation for Oxford University Ice Hockey Club to become one of the UK’s leading university ice hockey programmes in 2016-17. On the pitch he stepped up to play as goaltender for the Blues Varsity Match when the team was in need, despite not being a regular member of the Blues team at the time and this being an unfamiliar position for him. His commitment to all of the club teams extends far beyond the expected duties of the committee positions he has held.

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ANNUAL AWARDS WINNERS Dan has acted as coach, player, mentor, chauffeur, kit man, statistician, grocery shopper, meme maker and general lifesaver. He never asks for anything in return except for his teammates to share his love of the game and the club.

NORMAN BRYCE SMILEY TROPHY - ZOE THURSZ (ATHLETICS & LACROSSE) The Norman Bryce Smiley Trophy is awarded to a sportsperson who displays the characteristics most valued by Norman Smiley, both on and off the field of play. These are, “humility in one’s success, morality in one’s ambition, pride in one’s ability and willingness to add value to one’s surroundings”.

Zoe Thursz captained the women’s lacrosse teams to a hugely successful season in 2016-17, with both the Blues and seconds teams reaching their highest level in BUCS for many years. Not only is Zoe a Blues Lacrosse and Athletics team member with international representation to her name, but she has also performed above and beyond on administrative duties for both of the women’s lacrosse teams as well as planning and coaching most of their training sessions. Zoe puts effort into making sure that all players in the club reach their potential. She is patient, supportive and gives new players confidence. Her presence on the pitch is powerful not just in her own performance but also in the way that she makes others perform to the best of their abilities.

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OTHER STANDOUT PERFORMANCES CLAUDIA HAVRANEK - selected to join GB women’s Boxing

programme, training at the English Institute of Sport and targeting the Tokyo 2020 Games.

BENJAMIN SKRETTING - won Bronze representing GB in Judo at the European University Championships.

TRIATHLON WOMEN’S BLUES - finished 1-2-3 in the women’s

individual rankings and beat the Cambridge men’s Blues team at Varsity 2017.

OXFORD SPORT 2017

UPDATE FROM THE DEVELOPMENT OFFICE THE GALLIE-LEWIS-DEAN STUDIO The topping out of the new Gallie-Lewis-Dean (GLD) Studio took place on 27 June, with the room opening its doors to students, staff and members of the local community at the end of October. The new space forms part of Phase 1 of the University's long-awaited redevelopment of Iffley Road, which also incporates a stateof-the-art four court sports hall, additional changing areas, and a cafe. The GLD Studio will be used by the Oxford University Amateur Boxing Club (OUABC) in addition to providing a range of fitness classes for members of the public. It has been named in honour of former OUABC head coaches, Alf Gallie, Percy Lewis and Henry Dean.

CELEBRATING OXFORD'S OLYMPIC SUCCESS Over the summer, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Louise Richardson hosted a special event in the Blackwell Hall to honour the 15 Oxonians who took part in the Rio 2016 Olympics, producing one of the University's best ever medal hauls: 5 Golds, 3 Silvers, and 1 Bronze. If Oxford were a country, it would have placed 18th in the medla table, beating New Zealand, Canada, Greece and Argentina.

Twenty two past and present Olympians attended the evening, which was made possible thanks to the generosity of our event sponsor, Dr Aron Ping D'Souza,

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BUCS RESULTS LEAGUE AND CUP WINNERS M1 M1 W2 W1 W2 W3 M1 M1 M2 W1 W1

Volleyball Hockey Basketball Netball Squash Tennis Ultimate Table Tennis Fencing Rugby Union Fencing

Midlands 1 Winners, Playoff Winners Premier South B Winners Midlands 2 Winners Midlands 2 Winners, Conference Cup Winners Midlands 2 Winners Midlands 2 Winners Midlands 2 Winners, Conference Cup Winners Conference Cup Runners-up Conference Cup Winners Vase Winners Premier South Winners

INDIVIDUAL COMPETITION MEDALLISTS Gold Gold Gold Gold Gold

Boxing Boxing Boxing Fencing Cycling

Women’s Novice 48-51kg 5 bouts or less Women’s Novice 51-54kg 5 bouts or less Women’s Overall Team Women’s Sabre Women’s Road Race

Gold

Modern Pentathlon

Overall Team

Gold Gold Silver Sliver Silver Silver Silver Silver Silver Silver Bronze Bronze

Judo Judo Boxing Boxing Cycling Karate Orienteering Judo Ultimate Frisbee Athletics Indoor Athletics Athletics

Men Women Women’s Novice 57-60kg 5 bouts or less Women’s Novice 64-69kg 5 bouts or less Women’s Team 10m TT Male Novice Kata Men’s Individual Women’s Overall Team Division 1 Women’s Team Womens High Jump Women’s 1500m Women’s Hammer Throw

Bronze

Athletics

Women’s 4x400m Relay

Bronze

Athletics

Men’s 4x100m Relay

Bronze Bronze Bronze Bronze Bronze Bronze Bronze

Judo Judo Judo Karate Karate Modern Pentathlon Modern Pentathlon

Men’s U60KG Men’s U90KG Women’s U57KG Female Intermediate Kata Male Novice LW Kumite U70kg Women’s Individual Men’s individual

NOTABLE RUNNERS UP M1 W2 M2 M1 M2 M3 W1 W2 W3 M1 M2 W1 M1 M2 -

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Table Tennis Lacrosse Fencing Football Football Football Hockey Hockey Hockey Rugby League Squash Squash Women’s MCCU Cricket Cricket Cricket Men’s MCCU Cricket

Midlands 2 & Conference Cup Midlands 1 Midlands 2 Midlands 1 Midlands 4 Midlands 5 Premier South A Midlands 2A Midlands 2B Midlands 1 Midlands 2 Midlands 1 Midlands 1 Premier South A Midlands 2A National

Eleanor Cattle Justine Ryan Harriet Dixon Tamara Davenne Dani Chattenton, Hugo Fleming, Phoebe Baxter Alexander Bridge Claudia Havranek Rachel Wheatley Lucy Gaughan Renee Haver, Tamara Davenne Zobair Arys Jamie Parkinson

Teele Palumaa Dani Chattenton Anna Niedbala Nicole McKechnie, Rachel Skokowski, Kate Kennedy, Irene Gibson, Rosie Barker Isaac Kitchen-Smith, Harrison Steel, Alex Grundmann, Rowan May James Fowler Vidar Skretting Rachel Wheatley Moira Low Zobair Arya Dani Chattenton Hugo Fleming

OXFORD SPORT 2017

BUCS REVIEW What is BUCS and why do we care? The long history of the Varsity match still stands as the pinnacle of achievement for many Oxford athletes... but what about BUCS? Although 2016-17 was a great success and there were many outstanding performances that should, and will, be celebrated, Oxford has slipped down to 13th in the overall BUCS rankings. Our points total was similar to that in previous years but this drop in the overall standing leaves Oxford in its lowest overall finish since the start of the competition. So what is the difference and why have things changed?

We certainly cannot fault the commitment, enthusiasm and performance of our current athletes both on and off the field.

2016-17 saw record points totals for a number of sports including Ultimate Frisbee, Cricket, Hockey, Squash and Basketball. Each of these clubs collected their highest number of BUCS points since records began in 2011-12. W1 Fencing finished top of the Premier South League to be Oxford’s second highest performing team in BUCS behind Men’s MCCU Cricket who finished second in the National League. There were other stand out performances from M1 Volleyball who finished top of Tier One and won their playoff to gain promotion to the Premier League in the 2017-18 competition. W1 Netball and M1 Ultimate both did the double as they won their Cup and League competitions, so we will be looking to them for some outstanding performances next season as they make the step up in

the leagues. They are joined by W2 Squash and W2 Basketball who also won promotion this year.

Outside of the weekly leagues Women’s Boxing were crowned national champions, as were Modern Pentathlon, who can boast the best University programme in their respective sports in the country. Women’s Judo and Women’s Ultimate Frisbee both narrowly missed out on the top spot as runners up at nationals.

There were also plenty of outstanding individual performances with a number of athletes taking gold medals at national competitions. Eleonore Cattle (Boxing), Justine Ryan (Boxing), Harriet Dixon (Fencing), Tamara Davenne (Cycling), Alexander Bridge (Judo) and Claudia Havranek (Judo) were all crowned national champions.

So why are we falling down the rankings when we continue to perform exceptionally well?

In 2016-17 Oxford entered fifty two teams - the same number they did in 2015-16. Meanwhile other institutions are continuously entering additional teams. The top ten is becoming increasingly out of reach as the points difference grows. The top teams are performing better with additional and ever increasing depth and numbers. The completion of the new sports hall at Iffley Road can’t come soon enough, but will it be the catalyst for upward change?

It’s interesting to note that Cambridge also fell in the BUCS rankings in

2016-17. The focus and priority for Oxbridge clubs is arguably their Varsity competition, a long standing tradition that brings out the best in the athletes. The challenge for both institutions is to ensure that Varsity fixtures retain their high standards and profile as the pinnacle of an Oxbridge students sporting career, whilst also continuing to mix it with our competitors outside of this ancient rivalry. Will we see a shift of focus from Varsity to BUCS competitions in order to be recognised on a national level rather than simply against Cambridge?

What we can say is that our achievements to date speak volumes. The committees, captains, coaches, players and support staff are continuing to amaze with what can be done with so little. So little space, so little time and so little sleep! We look forward to seeing our teams and individuals build on the achievements of this year and hopefully push towards that top ten once again.

Oxford continues to prove that it can compete with the best of the best in both the classroom and on the sporting field, even without the sports scholarships, funding and facilities found at other institutions around the country.

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WOMEN’S FOOTBALL

BY DANI BALL (BRASENOSE COLLEGE)

In 2015 the Women’s Boat Race was for the first time held on the Tideway on the same day as the equivalent men’s event and broadcast on live BBC television.

Later that year, the Varsity Rugby Match became a double header, with the women joining the men to play at Twickenham, also televised. In 2017 Football followed in the footsteps of Rowing and Rugby, as both men and women played at The Hive Stadium on 8th March 2017.

The event was a great success, both for the Oxford women who came away with a win and for the elevation of Oxbridge women’s sport. Oxford Blues captain Maddie Hooper commented that, “the crowd was the biggest that many members of the team had ever played in front of. It meant a lot to be able to show a larger audience the result of a hard year of training, and to represent Oxford football alongside the men’s team - an opportunity that was long overdue.

It was a very special day.”

This milestone was just the highlight in what has been an exciting year for women’s football in Oxford. Much of the change has been driven by the fantastic work of members of OUWAFC and OUAFC, who have pushed for the women’s game to be treated with as much respect as the men’s. The committees worked tirelessly to ensure that the Varsity double header came together. Men’s President Wulfie Bain, who was instrumental in pushing for the change, stated

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that, “it was a privilege to be part of the committee who had the power to right a historic injustice, and to be in a position to ensure this continues. For 2018 we have already guaranteed another double header for Varsity. This is a great step forward, but there can be no doubt that there is a lot of work still to be done.”

Women’s President Louise Nolan has expressed her excitement about the new talent entering the team for the new season, commenting that, “this year around 56 players turned up to trials, a similar number to previous years, but at a much higher standard. There are girls from club backgrounds such as Watford and Leeds, along with a WSL professional who has played for Sunderland, and a Jamaican International who represented her country in the World Cup qualifiers.”

As the quality of university level women’s football has risen in line with national interest in the sport, so have the opportunities for all women at Oxford to get

involved in the game. The club run a Development Squad for players of any ability to improve their skills and push to earn a place in one of the top two teams, with a training programme run by qualified coaches and members of the Blues team.

College football caters for all ability and experience levels, ranging from Blues and Furies (university second team) players to those who have never kicked a football before. The college league gives novice players a chance to get to grips with the game in a friendly, albeit competitive, atmosphere and consists of twenty-six teams competing in four divisions. In addition to the league an annual Cuppers tournament takes place, and in 2017-18 this will be joined by another knock-out tournament, the Hassan’s Cup. Every college team is therefore guaranteed a minimum of two knock-out matches in a season, opening up further playing opportunities for everyone involved.

Not only are more women’s matches in Oxford professionally refereed than ever before, but the 2018 Cuppers final is set to follow in the footsteps of the Varsity match and become a double header. Football Sabbatical officer Omar Mohsen has pledged that both games will be played

OXFORD SPORT 2017

on the same day, at the same venue, with equal status. College team captains, Sports Officers and players alike are excited by the prospect of this change. Women’s college football has grown massively over the last couple of years and is still increasing in popularity.

A Cuppers final double header will give hundreds more spectators the opportunity to experience

and enjoy the women’s game.

With the fantastic progress of the last 18 months and the proposed action to further improve the game, both inside and outside Oxford, there is real hope for the continued growth in engagement, enjoyment and respect of women’s football.

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CLUB REPORTS AIKIDO It was another successful year for The Oxford Aikikai. Richard Martin took the helm as our chief instructor and, assisted by resident instructors Bill Jackson, Nick Belshaw, and Graham Jones, carried on the tradition of teaching the orthodox style of Aikido in Oxford.

Four of our members improved their ranking (three of them to the 6th kyu, one to the 4th kyu) after passing a grading examination held in our dojo in May, and one member reached the 3rd kyu at the summer school in Chester. We hosted a series of national courses directed by the most senior British Aikido Federation instructors with attendees coming from all over the

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UK. Moreover, we were fortunate to welcome Kanetsuka Sensei, the technical director of the BAF, at some of our regular Saturday morning classes and receive his tuition in fundamental principles of aikido.

In the year ahead, we are looking forward to events and special courses celebrating the 50th anniversary of the BAF, especially a seminar in Manchester led by Mitsuteru Ueshiba Sensei, a greatgrandson of the aikido founder and the current head of the Hombu dojo in Tokyo.

AMERICAN FOOTBALL The 2016-17 season was a new page in Oxford University American Football history. Years of hard work

had culminated in an undefeated 2015-16 regular season, promotion to Division 1 and a 49-0 destruction of Cambridge in Varsity Bowl X. Unfortunately, the loss of head coach Andy McKenzie and nearly the entire squad would prove to be a difficult challenge to overcome.

With Adam Goldstein as the new head coach the Oxford Lancers underwent a massive recruitment drive which saw the club grow to its largest size ever. This allowed the fielding of around thirty players at every game – a far cry from seasons past where games would be forfeited because of a shortage of players. Despite this, the team experienced an extremely hard-fought but ultimately winless season that ended with the Lancers unceremoniously demoted back to Division 2.

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Varsity Bowl XI presented the perfect opportunity to turn around a poor season and confidence was high in both teams in the weeks leading up to the game. This confidence was not misplaced as both teams played skillfully and Varsity finished in a nail-biting but heartbreaking 20-14 loss in double overtime.

On a happier note, the Lancers attained Half Blue status last year so the club awarded the first ten Half Blues for American Football at the end of the season. One notable recipient was Jonny Brooks, a veteran of five seasons playing both offense and defense for Oxford. Another club success was the first Lancers’ tour to Ireland, which saw a thrilling 32-30 loss to the University College of Dublin.

The Oxford Lancers come into the 2017-18 season with renewed vigour and a large squad of new and returning players, all eager to be victorious in Varsity Bowl XII.

ARCHERY The Archery Club enjoyed a promising season in 2016-17,

with membership levels rising to over one hundred and ten, while substantial investment was made in coaching over the year.

The result of this was the most successful year in recent history for our novices, who won numerous medals in our regional league and at BUCS, while retaining the Varsity Novice plate for the fifth year running. It was a mixed year for our experienced archers, losing a very competitive Varsity match and failing to hit recent heights at BUCS. However, there was still plenty of success with team victories at county championships and at OUIT, an open competition hosted by the club each March. We had further individual success, with two of our archers achieving the classification of Master Bowman for the top four percent of archers in the country.

ATHLETICS OUAC entered 2016-17 with only one win in the Men’s Blues match since 2008 and one in the Women’s Blues match since 2009, along with equally poor records in Fresher’s Varsity

matches and Indoor Varsities. The new committee, led by president Hugo Fleming, spent the summer forming a plan to turn around the club’s future and create a legacy to last for years. The club hired coaches to ensure that every event had a specialist coach and began an access scheme that encourages top-level athletes to apply to Oxford and offers them support with their applications via mentoring from current OUAC members. October saw over two hundred and fifty members signing up for OUAC, from novices to experienced Varsity veterans.

The Fresher’s Varsity Match in November saw record points winning tallies from both the men and women, as well as several individual records being broken.

Confidence within the club was growing, and for the first time in years members began to dream of big wins in the upcoming Varsities.

The indoor Varsity Field Events and Relays (FEAR) saw a strong Oxford team steam-roller the opposition, claiming victory in all four matches with several match records shattered.

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Over the Easter Vacation, OUAC athletes flew the flag in the oldest ever athletics fixture: a match between Harvard, Yale, Oxford and Cambridge, held in 2017 at Yale. There were some fine individual event wins for OUAC athletes against Americans coming through a system with much greater financial support and facilities. At BUCS in May the club took home their largest medal haul in living memory, with two individual medals and two relay medals (with all four relay teams making finals), showing the depth of the club, and ability to perform against the likes of Bath and Loughborough.

Two weeks later, the club travelled to the Fens to deliver a mighty shoe to Cambridge. It is hard to do justice to what the club produced that day. The Men’s Blues and Seconds combined won over eighty percent of the track events, whilst producing similarly dominant performances in the field. The women’s teams took on arguably the strongest Cambridge women’s teams in recent years, managing to secure victories before the final events of the day.

This famous win was the first 4-0 summer Varsity victory for the club since 1999 and completed a clean sweep of undefeated Varsity matches over the year. The 10-0 score-line across the year, the fabled ‘Decibel’, is a feat that had never before been achieved in the club’s one hundred and fifty seven year history.

BASKETBALL The 2016-17 season was a very successful one for OUBbC. Both M1 and W1 finished in third place in the BUCS Premier League South, securing them a trip to the Final Eights tournament between the top eight teams in the country.

W2 were the undefeated winners of their league and thus achieved promotion. M2 persevered in

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a highly competitive league to secure fourth place. Varsity was mixed, though it was a thrilling day of basketball with each game successively closer than the last.

The Men’s and Women’s Second teams lost by six and two points respectively. W1 triumphed in an overtime thriller while M1 went down in a hard-fought double overtime loss.

Under the leadership of outgoing president Tetyana Vasylyeva we developed a much stronger sense of shared club identity. Teams came down to home games to support one another and we had several very successful club social events throughout the year. We looked to engage more locally, working with Oxford Spires Academy to encourage young basketballers. On the international front five members of W1 were selected to represent the club and the country at the FISU 3x3 International Tournament in Xiamen, China. Closer to home, our college league and college Cuppers tournaments ran smoothly over the course of the year, with Balliol and Hertford ultimately triumphing on the men’s and women’s sides respectively.

CAVING The Caving Club saw the addition of several new faces to the club on some increasingly arduous trips as well as the usual weekend meets across the UK. Digging continues at Yellow Van in Ogof Draenen in South Wales, with the promise of unexplored caverns measureless to man forever behind the next boulder. Members new and old also represented OUCC at the Ario Caves Project in northern Spain and this year filmmaker Paul Diffley joined the team to produce, “The Ario Dream”, a chronicle of the fifty years of exploration aiming to link up one of the deepest cave systems in the world

CHEERLEADING The Oxford University Cheerleading Squad, also known as the Oxford Sirens, had another successful season in 2016-17, taking two teams to competition: Level 2 All-Girl and Level 3 Co-Ed. In total, the squad consisted of fifty Sirens: fourty four women and six men. This was the club’s tenth year since it was established, and the sport is continuing to go from strength to strength.

Following a successful showcase performance of our routines to friends and family of the club, the entire squad entered two competitions in Hilary term: Future Cheer University Nationals and the British Cheerleading Association Spring Spirit. Although we didn’t win Varsity (as judged by scores at University Nationals), we established a line of conversation with the Cambridge Cougars in order to ensure that both our clubs continue to develop in participation and recognition and that, in the coming years, we will be able to introduce a Varsity competition of our own outside of the national competition environment.

Through a fruitful collaboration with the Oxford University Gymnastics Club, this year we were able to purchase two cheerleading mats to complete our full floor set, thus allowing us to train in conditions mimicking those we face at competition in layout. This was a game-changing purchase for us, making training more safe and efficient and allowing more people to take part in the sport.

CONTEMPORARY DANCE The Contemporary Dance Club has come a long way from being

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known as The Broad Street Dancers to becoming recognised as a sport in 2017, ready to begin the 2017-18 season as a registered Oxford University Sports Club, entering many competitions and hosting auditions to find the best dancers in Oxford. The committee have worked hard to increase the popularity of contemporary dance and the club now has more members than ever before.

CROSS COUNTRY OUCCC prides itself on not only being a high-performing club, with many runners competing at a national level and a few on the international scene, but also Oxford’s most inclusive Full-Blue sport. We offer anyone who wants it the opportunity to participate in a Varsity Match through our Mob Match races, promoting and encouraging participation in university-level sport.

The 2016-17 Varsity Matches provided their usual thrills and spills, and while we came away from the IInds-IVths weekend on

the losing side of a 4-1 scoreline, there were no feelings of dejection or disheartenment amongst the team, as everyone had performed exceptionally well and given their all for the dark blues on the day.

The Blues matches provided a day of mixed emotions. In the women’s event the Oxford team put on a classy display of teamwork and team spirit. Led by Sophia Saller (1st), Bethanie Murray (2nd) and Dani Chattenton (3rd) they brought home the first Women’s Blues victory since 2011, captained by Helene Greenwood. The men had a equally tough task on their hands, but despite a fantastic run from Luke Cotter (2nd) and some strong performances throughout the team they were unable to overhaul a dominant Cambridge octet.

Elsewhere, we sent one of the largest women’s teams from any university to the 2017 BUCS Cross Country Championships and our men’s A team at BUCS were a mere few points away from medalling.

At the top end of the club, two of our athletes were selected to represent their countries at the

2016 European Cross Country Championships in Chia, which really highlights the level of talent at OUCCC. The club is in an extremely strong position and we look forward to what lies ahead.

Huge thanks are owed to our coach, Kyle, for pouring his heart and soul into the club and playing a huge role in our development over the last couple of years.

CYCLING 2016-17 has been another excellent year for Oxford University Cycling Club. In line with the sport’s rapid growth in the UK, our membership has grown to over eighty riders. We recruited a new coach in Andrew Pitt who has developed an excellent relationship with many of our riders. Under his guidance many individuals have made significant gains and we look forward to working with him again next year.

Despite the improvements in performance our men were unfortunately beaten in both their road and mountain bike

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Varsity competitions. Conversely our women won both of their Varsity competitions, resulting in a 2-2 draw overall. The stand out performance of this year was undoubtedly Tamara Davenne’s win in the BUCS Road Race Championships, followed by the BUCS Criterium Championships the following day. A terrific achievement against a fearsomely strong field. In the BUCS Time Trial Championships both of our teams were a mere handful of seconds shy of winning medals – an obvious target for 2018.

ETON FIVES The Oxford University Eton Fives Club enjoyed an almost perfect season this year both for the men’s and women’s teams. The season started as we intended to go on with two winning pairs in the University Championships: Rosie Parr and Hannah Pritchard in the women’s and James Piggot and Tom Kirkby in the men’s.

The men’s team had further success in the U21s with Arthur Wellesley and Sam Oppenheimer being narrowly defeated in an all Oxford final by Tom Kirkby and

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captain William Ponsonby, who somehow with a bit of graft and a great deal of luck managed to win the final in a very tight three games.

The pinnacle of the season was the Varsity Match which had not been won by the Oxford men for the last four years. With a strong desire to win we ended up clinical winners, taking all six pairs. The women’s team fared almost as well with the Blues clinching a 2-1 win.

The season also saw a large increase in membership numbers with more than double the number from the previous season. With these foundations the club aims to achieve just as much if not more in the next twelve monthsthese foundations the club aims to achieve just as much if not more this season!

narrowly missing out on a place in the Championship final by seven points to Durham, finishing third overall. The Men’s Assassins also achieved remarkable results, taking second place in Midlands 2B, and toppling the Aston Firsts to win the Conference Cup, whilst the Women’s Assassins finished fourth. The Men’s Blues had a tougher year, but took fourth place in the BUCS Premier League South and made it to the Championship Quarter Finals.

FENCING

At the Varsity Match, the women celebrated a momentous victory, with the Blues and Assassins winning 130-122 and 135-95 respectively. Despite a valiant effort, the men were less successful, with both Blues and Assassins teams losing very narrowly to Cambridge. The club’s beginners’ programme flourished, with Oxford taking home the Novice Varsity Trophy once again.

OUFC celebrated a very successful year, both in terms of team and individual results, as well as development of the club. The Women’s Blues had one of their most successful years yet, finishing an impressive first in the BUCS Premier League South and

Overall, 2016-17 membership numbers significantly exceeded those from the previous year, totaling around one hundred and twenty members. The club also benefited from many new advanced fencers, some proving to be very strong additions to the

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squad. These included Chiara McDermott, who competed at the Shanghai Grand Prix and finished 5th at the BUCS Individuals, and Zoa de Wijn who placed 6th at BUCS Individuals. Harriet Dixon, coming back from her year abroad, finished an impressive 1st at BUCS Individuals and the Welsh Open.

lead up to the Varsity match. This year, we hope to continue the squad’s remarkable successes, and fight for a ubiquitous Varsity victory on home soil at the Examination Schools.

The whole club benefited from the purchase of more advanced electrical scoring equipment with up-to-date timings. This expenditure was covered in its entirety by our royalty development fund. We also implemented more coached advanced and intermediate training hours provided by new coaches. Feedback from the squad has indicated that this additional coaching and more structured training was greatly appreciated and boosted performance. OUFC was also fortunate to receive funding from the Blues Performance Scheme, which went towards subsidising individual lessons in Hilary Term in the lead up to the Varsity match.

In 2018 we hope to continue the squad’s remarkable successes and fight for a ubiquitous Varsity victory on home soil at the Oxford Examination Schools.

The whole club benefited from the purchase of more advanced electrical scoring equipment with up-to-date timings. This expenditure was covered in its entirety by our royalty development fund. We also implemented more coached advanced and intermediate training hours provided by new coaches.

The 2016-17 season was highly successful for the Floorball Club.

There were lots of new faces, many of which ended up being an integral part of the team. With a reinforced defense and an effective offense, the season was off to a great start and the team was in 3rd by mid-season in the UKFF Midlands League. Some unfortunate injuries and a great difficulty in scoring goals led to a disappointing second half of the season, with the team dropping to 6th place by the end of the season, three points away from qualifying to the National UK Floorball Championships. Although the team did not qualify for the national championships, the league season had many positive elements.

Oxford had the third best defense in the league, having conceded only a few more goals than the second-place team. Moreover, the fact that the team was in third place by mid-season shows that it can play top-level floorball.

Feedback from the squad has indicated that this additional coaching and more structured training sessions were greatly appreciated and boosted performance. OUFC was also fortunate enough to receive considerable “Blues Funding”, which went towards subsidising individual lessons in Hilary in the

FLOORBALL

The team also became the firstever Oxford floorball team to win a 3-on-3 tournament. Oxford participated in two additional 3-on3 tournaments, ending in second place in both. Other successes included the yearly Cuppers tournament and the second Annual Alumni Match, which both took place in Trinity term. The Christ Church team won Cuppers after a series of close games against strong opponents, while the alumni team took the win in the alumni game. To top it all off, we got a wonderful new kit to replace the old one. Overall, the 2016-17 season was a fruitful one.

FOOTBALL (MEN’S) With nearly one hundred students showing admirable bravery to face the cold and wet of University Parks early on Saturday of 0th week to trial for OUAFC, plenty of talent was on show and we immediately had high hopes of a successful 2016-17 season. These hopes certainly materialised. By the time OUAFC’s newest members were being officially welcomed into the club in 3rd week, the Blues had already laid down a marker to our historic rivals in a crushing 4-2 victory over Cambridge at Iffley, whilst the Centaurs and Colts squads had also begun to shape up strongly.

As the term went on, the club unity that was growing off the pitch, epitomised by the largest turnouts at socials in years, was certainly being reflected by performances on the pitch as each of the three BUCS sides went from strength to strength. By the end of Michaelmas, the Centaurs and Colts had begun to turn good performances into results whilst the Blues had embarked on what would be a run of seven straight unbeaten BUCS fixtures.

As other university teams took their foot off the pedal during the Christmas vacation, the Centaurs ensured that they returned to BUCS playing sharp, exciting and arguably ‘total’ football as Coach Julian Pohl established his footballing philosophy in a fluid 4-1-4-1 formation, implemented and mastered during a tour of Rome in early January. Likewise, the Colts and Blues also returned looking sharp and dominant in their respective leagues with each team continuing to climb the table throughout Hilary Term.

As Varsity approached, all three teams had secured second place in the league (the Blues narrowly missing out on promotion to a strong Nottingham Trent side).

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Although both the Centaurs and Colts were unfortunate to miss out on Varsity victories in difficult conditions, Blues Coach Mickey Lewis once again masterfully guided the Blues to a Varsity victory with Thelen and Crespo delivering the goods in a dominant 3-2 victory in front of a large crowd at The Hive Stadium.

The Blues deservedly celebrated their success in appropriate style with a tour of Prague and Munich, whilst the Colts similarly reflected on a great season in the warmth of Marseille. The season ended in a return to China for the Blues, welcomed warmly once again

by Tsinghua University, Beijing.

OUAFC signed off the year in style with a fourth victory against Cambridge, this time in a nail-biting 10-9 penalty shoot-out win to secure 3rd place in the competitive ‘World Elite University Football Tournament’.

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GLIDING The Gliding Club had an excellent year in 2016-17, with more than one hundred students getting involved. Quite a few made good progress with their flight training, with both Elliot and Mylynn getting cleared to fly cross-country and explore the skies above the English countryside. OUGC now also has a qualified flight instructor in its ranks, after Dinant completed the intensive training course over summer, supported with funding from both the British Gliding Association as well as the Sports Federation. This means we can now bring our own instructor to expeditions.

The Varsity trophy was brought back to Oxford after a win against CUGC, and we also saw a total of eight OUGC members getting involved with the regional annual gliding competition at Bicester. The weather was kind, with two 300 km tasks set in the Sports Class.

Many successful expeditions were held: to Portmoak in Scotland, Sutton Bank in Yorkshire, and even a two week expedition to La Motte in the French Alps. Also, after organising two more aerobatics training camps we are now expecting to see the first OUGC pilots enter into an aerobatics competition next year!

On the maintenance side of things, much time was spent bringing our two-seater trailer back on the road, after severe corrosion was found on the frame. The Sports Federation supported this intensive and expensive repair, although all the work was carried out by our own club members. We also upgraded the instrumentation of our single-seater glider FEF, and have started replacing our aging parachutes. In 2018 we are hoping to save up enough money to buy an oxygen kit for both of our gliders and organise even more expeditions to the mountains, hopefully getting some height gain badges in the process.

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HANDBALL The Handball Club has enjoyed a steady participation of players in both the men’s and women’s team over the past academic year, leading to encouraging results in the competitions which the club played in this year, most noteworthily the men’s team winning the Regional Development League and reaching the semi-finals of the national cup competition, as well as the women’s team winning Varsity and reaching the semifinals of the British University Championships.

The club has purchased new shirts as well as a new set of balls, allowing for a more professional appearance at matches and a better training quality respectively. The Handball Club plans to continue its successful development over the coming academic year and aspires to exceed their performance, as compared to the previous year, in all competitions.

HOCKEY Last year was a fantastic year for OUHC, seeing the inception of a Men’s 4th team, the Sporadics, as well as several promotions, individual performances and a couple of Varsity Match wins.

The Blues remain coached by John Shaw, and both the Men’s and Ladies Blues had extremely successful seasons under his watch. The men were promoted into the South Premier Division 1 and topped their BUCS league, unfortunately losing out to Reading in the Playoffs. The Ladies ended up an extremely strong 2nd place in their BUCS league, and were a comfortable 8th in South Division 1. Both won their Varsity Matches, with the ladies easily taking the trophy home 4-0 and the men making it slightly more tense in a

2-2 game, winning on shuffles. The Men’s 2s were promoted in their Saturday league. The Ladies 2s came 2nd in their BUCS league, including an incredible 5-4 victory against Loughborough, coming back from 4 goals down at half time. The Men’s 3s finished well in both Saturday and BUCS leagues, and sadly lost out in an incredibly tight Varsity Match that went to shuffles. The Ladies 3s had a strong BUCS season, reaching the semi-finals of the cup and coming 2nd in their league. The Men’s 4s had a difficult first year as a new team, but are prepared for a much stronger year in 2017-18.

ICE HOCKEY The OUIHC Men’s Blues had a successful 2016-17 season.

During league play, the Men’s Blues finished third in the British University Ice Hockey Association (BUIHA) South Division, behind only London and Cambridge. The Men’s Blues lost to Cambridge in the 2017 Varsity Match, but managed to beat Cambridge and London during the group stage of the 2017 BUIHA Nationals tournament. The Men’s Blues would advance to the semifinals of this tournament before losing to Southampton, the eventual tournament champions, in a shootout. Full Blues were awarded to Jason Lacombe, Joseph Wenig, Patrick Thompson, Kevin Deagle, Tim Donnison, and Dan Lock.

The Vikings had a tough season in the league and suffered some heavy losses. Despite this our total membership nearly tripled and it was a very good development year for the team. After a lot of our players had improved we won a couple of games at the end of the season, although we lost to the Eskimos, the Cambridge Seconds team, in our Varsity Match.

Overall it was a strong season for development and building the club overall.

The Women’s Blues had a season of mixed fortunes. After failing to win a game in the league, the team went on a twelve-game unbeaten streak to round off the season, first winning the Varsity Match for the fourth consecutive year. Following this, the Women’s Blues won the inaugural Women’s Nationals tournament without conceding a goal. In the 2017 BUIHA Nationals, the Women’s Blues went unbeaten in the group stages, and narrowly missed out on qualifying for the knockout rounds.

JIU JITSU This year we welcomed many new novices and have seen lots of progression up the ranks, with six new yellow belts, three new orange belts, a new green belt, and two new light blues. We took a very successful team to the Randori Nationals in February, returning with medals in both ground fighting and standing fighting, including medals for some of our new novices! In May we took a team to Cambridge where we narrowly lost our Varsity Match, after winning the ground fighting component, but losing the demonstration of atemi (gauntlets & ‘V’). We’re very grateful to all the senseis that have visited our club for special “Breakfalling” and “Yellow/Orange/Green” sessions and hope to continue these visits in the coming year.

JUDO 2016-17 was another stellar year for OU Judo, as the club continued to deliver socially, technically and competitively. The club is now more represented than ever, with increasing numbers of beginners and graded players choosing Oxford as their university club.

The club kicked off the year by winning both the men’s and the women’s titles in the Bev

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Price Championships, a national team competition. As well as a multitude of individual medals in various competitions, OUJC took two golds, two silvers and three bronzes at BUCS and all three trophies at the Varsity Match against Cambridge with a score of 17-2 wins. Sam Acreman became the latest OU Judoka to progress from beginner to black belt whilst at Oxford, and provided the fastest win at Varsity (9 seconds) with a perfect foot sweep. Former president Rachel Wheatley dominated the women’s side, taking BUCS team silver and individual bronze, representing Oxford at the European University Games in Portugal, and finishing 2016 ranked 5th in Great Britain after the British National Championships. Proving he’s a force to be reckoned with, Vidar Benjamin Skretting came back from injury to win the Norwegian Championships and the Nordic Championships, a BUCS silver medal, his fourth Varsity Match, and bronze for Oxford at the European University Games. It was also an excellent year for equality, as women’s captain Emily Hampshire successfully petitioned for the women to be granted the same Blues criteria as the men, showing how OUJC’s competitive

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level has risen across both genders. Finally, in recognition of the club’s performance for all level athletes, Oxford Judo was granted the British Judo Association’s Bronze Award as Club of the Year.

KABBADI Kabaddi is a traditional Indian team contact sport, and is one of the fastest growing sports internationally. In 2016-2017 Kabaddi went through the process of becoming a registered Oxford University Sports Club and built interest and momentum with training sessions conducted on the Christ Church Sports Ground, University Parks and the Magdalen College Squash Courts. To spread the word about our new club, OUKC organised two taster sessions and a Street Food Festival outreach event in Michaelmas Term 2016. In Hilary Term 2017 OUKC sent two men’s teams to play friendly matches against King’s College London and the London School of Economics.

KARATE The Karate Club has about fourty active members with a healthy mix of students and non-students.

The club continues to thrive with weekly training at Iffley Road and competitions throughout the year, including the Varsity Match. In 2017-18 we will also have a special visit from an instructor from Japan, Ueda-sensei.

KARATE-DO-SHOTOKAI OUKDS is part of Harada Sensei’s Karate-do-Shotokai (KDS) organisation. We ran three training sessions a week throughout the 2016-7 year, and travelled regularly to weekend training courses with both UK and overseas clubs. In July the club hosted the KDS instructors’ course at the Sports Centre, welcoming many of the top instructors from the UK and Europe. Our lead instructor Minh Chung was awarded his 5th dan, the highest grade within the KDS, at this course. Two club gradings were held, and a further grading was held as part of the week long residential Summer School at the University of Kent in August.

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The KDS believes that competition karate cannot be reconciled with karate as a martial art without distorting the essence and power of karate-do. This has the unfortunate side effect that we have no competition results to report. Our training is of benefit to all ages and abilities, and we have a mix of undergraduate, postgraduate and staff members training regularly.

OUKDS would like to thank the two club instructors for their commitment and expert guidance throughout the year, and invite anyone interested in trying karate to come along to any training session.

KENDO Oxford Kendo had a prosperous year in 2016-17 with continued success in various competitions nationwide. At the University Taikai, the largest tournament for university Kendo practitioners, Oxford’s A team came 1st and the B team came 2nd. This was followed by success in the Varsity Match against Cambridge, in which

Oxford took home the trophy for both team and individual matches.

In addition, Rick Collins was selected for the GB Team in the European Kendo Championships 2017, in Budapest, Hungary.

Competitions aside, members of the club have been extremely successful in grading. 2016-17 marked a milestone for the club as its Half-Blue status was established, and we look forward to the continued growth and success of our club.

KICKBOXING Acquiring a huge number of new members in Michaelmas set up the Kickboxing club for a great year.

In March 2017 Oxford crushed Cambridge with a scoreline of 5-2.

This was the most decisive victory for either side in around five years.

LACROSSE The 2016-17 season was a successful year for the club.

Despite running without a sponsor, the club supported over eighty

members across five teams, one mixed, two men’s and two women’s. The experience of existing club members helped teach several beginners to play at BUCS standard. We presented first-time Blues certificates to many players, including a significant number of first years in the Women’s Blues team.

During a rather rainy playing season, we were fortunate to have use of astroturfs and are grateful to Magdalen College School for allowing us to train using their high-quality facilities.

Club integration has continued to improve over the past few years and the 2016-17 season was no exception. With committee members from all three sections of the club, several inter-club events and an exciting mixed Cuppers tournament, the club has developed close links between teams.

The season’s results were encouraging. The Women’s Blues reached the BUCS semi-final and drew the Varsity Match. The Women’s 2nds won their Varsity

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in a nail-biting match. The mixed team dominated their league, winning all their games by a large margin. The Men’s Blues placed 3rd in the BUCS South Premier League and 1st in the SEMLA 6s intermediate. They also retained the Varsity trophy for the sixth year after a 6-6 draw.

The annual alumni matches were played in honour of much-loved OULC member Lottie Fullerton.

This event raised money for Medecins sans Frontières in her memory. Thank you to all who supported.

During a rather rainy playing season, we were fortunate to have use of astroturfs and are grateful to Magdalen College School for allowing us to train using their high-quality facilities.

Club integration has continued to improve over the past few years and the 2016-17 season was no exception. With committee members from all three sections of the club, several inter-club events and an exciting mixed Cuppers tournament, the club

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has developed close links between teams.

The season’s results were encouraging. The Women’s Blues reached the BUCS semifinal and drew the Varsity Match.

The Women’s 2nds won their Varsity in a nail-biting match.

The mixed team dominated their league, winning all their games by a large margin. The Men’s Blues placed 3rd in BUCSs South Premiership and 1st in the SEMLA 6s intermediate. The Blues retained the Varsity trophy for the 6th year after a 6-6 draw.

The annual alumni matches were played in honour of much-loved OULC member Lottie Fullerton.

This event raised £81 for Medecins sans Frontières in her memory.

Thank you to all who supported.

LIGHTWEIGHT ROWING (WOMEN’S) Our season began on 9th September 2016 with a small, select group of athletes who

were invited to attend a training camp in Sarnen, Switzerland for four days, where the focus was primarily on technique in small boats. At the end of the training camp trialling with the full squad began on 17th September in Oxford, with approximately twenty athletes. Throughout the season we entered a number of regattas and fixtures including the British Championships and Fours Head.

Two members of our squad also trialled for the GB Under 23 team.

At the end of Michaelmas Term two boats were selected for Trial VIIIs which took place at Henley.

Following Trial VIIIs, sixteen rowers and two coxes were invited to attend our ten day winter training camp in Ourense, Spain, where we began selection for the Blue Boat and Tethys. After the training camp the process of selection continued and both boats were able to gain valuable experience in a number of informal fixtures with other clubs including Molesey, Oxford Brookes and Headington School.

Tethys raced at Women’s Head of the River and finished 52nd

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out of around three hundred entries. At the Henley Boat Races, Cambridge had an undeniably strong year, winning both the women’s lightweight and reserve races. However, we are pleased to report that OUWLRC also attended BUCS regatta in April, where we competed against some of the best rowing teams in the country.

We won gold at the women’s lightweight 8+ race, thereby qualifying for Full Blue status.

MOTOR DRIVERS This was the most successful season for the OUMDC in recent years, in which we were once again one of the standout teams of the British Universities Karting Championship. Our A team won two rounds of the Premier Division outright on their way to a 5th place finish overall in the National Championship. Meanwhile, our B team finished a very solid 8th place overall in the Rookie Division of the BUKC, with both teams scoring many podium finishes throughout the year. Our form in the league enabled us to comprehensively defeat Cambridge in the Varsity Race at Buckmore Park in Kent, with a final score of 62-39 reflecting our superiority in difficult rainy conditions. Special mention must go to club captain Callum Hughes, who became the first driver in BUKC history to win Male Driver of the Year two years running - a fitting tribute to his consistent performances as one of the top drivers in the country at university level for the last few years.

NETBALL Oxford University Netball Club had a very successful 2016-17 season.

The Blues sustained phenomenal victories throughout the season, culminating in their promotion into the BUCS Midlands 1A League and victory in BUCS Conference Cup. The Roos successfully maintained

their position in the Midlands 2B League, having been promoted into this division the previous year, and reached the final sixteen of the BUCS Conference Cup. The Emus benefited from a series of friendly games and achieved second place at the Credit Suisse Netball tournament held at the Copperbox in London. In 2018 the Emus will enter the BUCS leagues structure for the first time.

All three Varsity Matches were tense this year, with high standards of Netball from both sides. The combined score of 113-112 to Oxford shows what a great contest the whole day was. The Emus fought hard to bring back a halftime loss and beat the Cambridge Swallows 36-34. Despite losing to the Cambridge Jays twice during the BUCS season, the Roos were successful with a 36-31 victory.

The Blues faced a particularly tough Cambridge side and lost 47-41. Although not quite the triple shoe OUNC was after, the day was an overall success. There was such a strong sense of community within OUNC and all teams should be proud of their commitment and determination.

OCTOPUSH The inaugural Octopush Varsity Match took place in Trinity Term 2017, which saw the club’s 1st team travel to Cambridge. In the end the game finished 5-0 to Oxford, which means that we are the current champions of Octopush Varsity. The club also took part in and were the winners of the Oxford Winter Tournament, which we host annually. The competition was between eight teams from four universities and split into proper and development leagues.

The club believe these good results to be a direct result of two ways in which we managed to secure bonus training time last

year. The first of these was the introduction of a new training session on Thursdays and the second was taking part in training matches against a local team.

The club now has about fifteen members, an improvement on previous years that should help the squad quality and depth of the A team in the upcoming season.

PISTOL The Oxford University Pistol Club had a very eventful 2016-17 season. In Michaelmas 2016, OUPC was granted Discretionary Full Blue status, a significant milestone for the club. With regards to Varsity, OUPC unfortunately ended its three year winning streak in the Small-Bore Varsity match, but nonetheless convincingly held on to our title in the Full-Bore Varsity match.

During the Small-Bore Varsity match in Hilary 2017, OUPC’s ‘A’ team lost to Cambridge’s ‘A’ team.

Nevertheless, our ‘B’ and Ladies’ teams successfully managed to outdo their counterparts and clinched the win for both categories.

At the annual National Rifle Association Imperial Meeting in Trinity 2017, OUPC roundly defeated Cambridge in the Full-Bore Varsity match for the second year running. OUPC also clinched the McGivern Cup with a near perfect score and emerged champions in the Universities Team Aggregate.

OUPC’s very own star shooter Wing Nam (Coco) Yiu clinched the club’s very first Discretionary Full Blue with her outstanding performances in both Varsity matches.

OUPC has also seen much success in other competitions, with the club retaining the Overall Challenge

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Shield for the Oxfordshire Rifle Association Pistol Championship along with two other Challenge Shields. OUPC’s Thomas Bailey also bested his division in the nationwide National Small-Bore Rifle Association/Eley 2017 Competition. Four out of five of the Oxfordshire team which emerged champions in the Inter County 20-yard Air Pistol competition 2017 were also proud members of OUPC. The club has expanded its presence nationally, organising the inaugural Universities Postal League and commencing annual competitions with Imperial College London on top of our usual events with Cambridge and within Oxfordshire.

POLO The 2016-17 season was a fantastic success for Oxford University Polo Club. Our numbers increased from sixty to two hundred paying members, of which at least one hundred were playing at least weekly. Our squad

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won most matches we entered, of which highlights included the Varsity Match against Cambridge (8-1), the Atlantic Cup against Harvard, Yale and Cambridge, and the Army Tournament at Sandhurst.

Nationals were successful - we entered a record number of teams and a high number of those placed highly in their respective divisions.

We also organised the first ever Ladies Match for university students, which saw the OUPC team battle it out to win against St. Andrews and Cambridge, and travelled to Tianjin, China, in order to compete against leading international universities.

Cuppers and leagues were a huge success, and we have been working hard to increase access to the sport by subsidising squad sessions to make coaching more affordable. La Martina and British Polo Gin, the club’s sponsors, have continued to show support throughout our season, and we look forward to continuing our healthy relationship with them in order to continue to facilitate access to the sport of Polo.

POWERLIFTING Oxford University Powerlifting Club had another successful year in the 2016-17 season. Membership rose to record numbers of seventy. Eight men and eight women were sent to Varsity, which was unfortunately a loss to Cambridge. The score was 2316 for Oxford and 2463 for Cambridge, a very close match all things considered. The event had a livestream, filled a large supporters’ stand and Oxford brought a full supporters’ bus and several cars.

The next competition of the year was the British University Championships. Oxford sent sixteen male and thirteen female lifters to compete. In the UK rankings, the men came second only to UCL, while the women came in third to UCL and Bangor.

The event was vibrant, with two stages and two large spectator areas and a great supportive atmosphere. With these results both the men and the women qualified for the World University Championships, an improvement from the year before for the men,

OXFORD SPORT 2017

and a continuation of success for the women. The World University Championships were held in Potschefstroom, South Africa.

OUPLC sent three men and four women, but unfortunately failed to place in a medal position.

Seven full and six half blues were awarded within the year, and the club congratulates those members who worked so hard to achieve theirs.

The club thanks the 2016-17 committee for their efforts in organising such a successful campaign, efforts which definitely paid off. Special thanks to president Jamie Vickers for his tireless recruitment of lifters and hard work last year. Hopefully the same success can be repeated in future years.

RACKETS The Varsity Rackets Match was held at the Queen’s Club on 1st February 2017. Cambridge captain Kay used all his experience to take the first match 15/4 15/4 15/2 against Oxford debutant James Baker. Next up Cambridge’s Matt Shaw, having been knocked down a position to seed three,

took down Oxford’s Mark Fischel in three sets (15/7 15/2 15/5).

Oxford’s George Peel was beaten

by Cambridge seed two and freshman Toni Morales 15/7 15/4 15/7. With Cambridge 3-0 up, Oxford’s captain Dan Escott put up an admirable fight but ultimately couldn’t get past Cambridge’s superstar player Jamie Giddins, who took the match 15/1 15/6 15/3.

In the doubles Kay & Shaw (Cambridge) defeated Baker & Fischel (Oxford) 15/0 15/3 15/3, while Giddins & Morales secured a 6-0 win for Cambridge by winning the pairs.

2017 saw the first Ladies Rackets Varsity Match. Here Oxford triumphed, as a very strong team of Georgie Willis and Eve Shenkman defeated Cambridge’s Georgia Billings and Katherine Phillips 15/0 15/4 15/5.

REAL TENNIS We had a reasonably successful season. Membership numbers were at a record level, with the court being incredibly booked up, particularly in Michaelmas

and Hilary. We organised several socials and formal dinners, which led to a real improvement in the general vibe of the club.

We are into the last two years of our sponsorship deal, so it will be interesting to see how that affects us in the future, in terms of free courts and lessons for Blues players.

We had several victories in club matches throughout the season, against Manchester, the Old Etonians, Moreton Morrell, Royal Leamington Spa and many more.

At the Varsity Match at Lord’s Cricket Ground, the Men’s Blues team was defeated 6-0, while the Ladies’ Blues team won 6-0. At the 2nd’s Match in Cambridge both the Men’s and the Ladies’ teams won 6-0. Overall therefore, we have much better strength in depth than Cambridge, although they have a couple of world class male players that really skew the results in their favour. With a couple of talented new players next year, however, the men hope to change this trend.

The women look set to have a very formidable lineup next year once again.

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Our 2016-17 season was very sadly tarnished by the tragic loss of captain Lottie Fullerton. She was an inspirational leader, a fantastic player and a wonderful person.

Lottie will be desperately missed by the club and everyone who was lucky enough to know her.

RUGBY FIVES The Fives Club had a busy season from the beginning of Michaelmas to the end of Hilary involving a match or tournament every weekend with many midweek fixtures being played in between.

Twenty to twenty five people were regularly involved, which is about the upper limit of players to make effective use of two courts.

The Varsity Match was an enjoyable event and closer than expected but Cambridge’s heavyweight top four, starring three players who are nationally ranked in the top five, beat down the Oxford underdogs. The Men’s Seconds Varsity Match was won by a dominant Oxford side who were delighted to bring home

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the Iron Fist but unfortunately the Ladies’ IV was unsuccessful.

BUCS Fives takes the form of a knockout tournament, in which Oxford individuals and pairs proceeded to middling stages and in terms of players supplied were second only to Durham. Cuppers was won by Pembroke and Oxford edged a win in the Town vs Gown fixture.

Half Blues were awarded to Tom Owen, Alexander Cranstoun and George Muscat, who played in the Men’s 1sts with Sid Bhushan, Bertie Mills, Matthew Hale, Anthony Petrenco, and Harry Hutchinson.

the Maroons were promoted the previous season. The Blues were pushing for promotion but two narrow defeats to Nottingham meant just missing out on moving up to the Premier South League.

The Maroons’ main goal was to stay in the division but, like the Blues, some narrow losses meant being relegated. Some season highlights included the Blues winning 34-24 away to Coventry and the Maroons beating the Loughborough 2nds 50-26.

he 2016-17 season was another successful one for Oxford Rugby League. The club sets high standards and although not all of the goals for the year were reached, there was still a lot to be proud of.

Two of the biggest games in the Rugby League calendar are the Brookes Derby and the Varsity Match against Cambridge. Every year Oxford Brookes fill the Iffley Road stadium and create a hostile but entertaining atmosphere.

The big boys from Brookes were tough to put down and Oxford lost another tight encounter.

However, the Varsity Match against Cambridge followed a similar pattern to the last seven years with an 8th Oxford win in a row, a 48-10 victory.

The club’s two teams, the Blues and the Maroons, both competed in the Midlands 1A division after

The future looks bright and as the saying goes, the sun always shines on Rugby League.

RUGBY LEAGUE

OXFORD SPORT 2017

RUGBY UNION (WOMEN’S) OURFC Women have had a highly successful season, winning Blues Varsity at Twickenham and lifting the Vase Trophy at BUCS Finals Day in Bath. Playing in the BUCS Premiership South division, we have gone from strength to strength, threatening even the best of sides. Several hard-fought victories and a successful Vase campaign has meant that the Blues have sealed their place in the league for another year, making it a ten-year unbroken run in the top division. Combining the fantastic instruction of World Cup winning coach Gary Street and forwards coach Ali Mortimer with an exceptionally hard-working group of players, OURFC as a whole has come together to build their most successful season to date.

In order to maintain a BUCS Premiership side and a 2nds team who also compete in Varsity and a merit league (the Panthers), OURFC relies upon the students within the university

and developing newcomers into skilled athletes. To do so, sessions such as BBQ+Basics and Cuppers (an annual inter-collegiate tournament) have proved essential to drawing people into the sport and building from a grass-roots level. This year over sixty players took part in the tournament, with many participating having been trained using weekly development sessions run by Gary and the Panthers coaches. From newcomer to skilled rugby player, OURFC offers an environment to improve and flourish at every level and the OURFC family is a widely acknowledged support network which makes university life even more enjoyable.

SULKIDO Our membership numbers increased greatly compared the 2015-2016 season, despite some senior members moving away.

A massive intake of white belts allowed unparalleled progress within the first few months - getting through gradings incredibly quickly as a team. Our first January grad-

ing saw every member of the club pass! Instructor seminars continue to be held in London, attended by instructors and senior students (red belt and above).

SWIMMING OUSC had a very successful season last year, with a strong intake of new swimmers in October, taking us up to twenty seven members. The season got off to a great start with a friendly gala in October and BUCS Short Course in November. Both events had some excellent swims and early season Blues times, setting us up nicely for Varsity.

We travelled to Spain for a training camp in January ready to start off our Varsity training and preparation, which paid off as we took a strong Varsity victory.

The event started off with Oxford winning seven out of the first eight events, a fantastic start that really boosted morale. The competition finished with the relays where the Oxford women won both the

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medley, setting a new club record, and the freestyle. The men’s medley relay was won by Oxford by an outstanding ten seconds.

A 56-34 victory in the Women’s Varsity Match and a 45-45 tie in the Men’s meant that Oxford won back the overall Varsity title by an impressive 101 points to Cambridge’s 79, Oxford having won thirteen out of the eighteen events. The fantastic win was a product of all the hard work and team spirit throughout the year.

Our season finished at the BUCS Teams competition, where a number of strong swims meant we placed second in the South Division, securing a place in the final where further strong swims meant that we were promoted to the top league for future BUCS events. This ended an incredibly successful season for OUSC. Here’s to another year of hard training and many more Varsity victories in the future!

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TAEKWONDO

OUTKD took a strong and well supported squad to Cambridge in 2016-17 and won Varsity for an impressive tenth time in a row.

The score was 4-1 in the Men’s A, 3-2 in the Women’s A and 5-0 in the Men’s B, and Oxford brought back all three shields once again.

Four men and two women were awarded discretionary Full Blues, with the rest of the squad earning Half Blues.For the first time this year, an alumni Varsity match was held between Oxford and Cambridge, with five Cambridge alumni men fighting five alumni men from Oxford, and three Oxford alumni women fighting three current Oxford women. The Cambridge men beat the Oxford men 4-1, whilst the alumni women beat the current students 3-0.

TABLE TENNIS OUTTC has exploded in popularity in the past couple of years mainly due to the revamping of training sessions, an inaugural abroad training camp to Hungary in December 2016 and some highly advanced new members!

Since buying a new table and fixing the old robot, training sessions now focus around match play, multiball and fitness work - previously an unprecedented structure. The captains, Alison Cheung, Abe Ng and Xi Dai, deserve a special mention for organising this and their performances in BUCS have been outstanding. The 2018 season is expected to be the best yet with an expanded squad, a 2nd place for the Men’s 1sts in BUCS last season and some promising national women joining the team.

To crown the 2016-17 season our team trip to Bounce in London

OXFORD SPORT 2017

lead to some strong team bonding and challenges from Westminster TTC. Hopefully the new season will bring just as much positivity and awareness of table tennis.

TRIATHLON The 2016-2017 season will go down as one of the most successful seasons in OUTriC history. At Varsity Duathlon, with many of the club’s strongest athletes unable to race, Oxford left the door open for a 3-2 win for Cambridge, but knew this was just he warm up for great things to come.

At BUCS Sprint Triathlon four OUTriC athletes achieved the Full Blue standard of finishing in the top 10% - David Pearson (19th), Tom Lewin (25th), Renee Haver (10th) and Lucy Farquhar (12th).

These strong performances set the scene for Varsity Triathlon. At the top end of proceedings in the men’s race Tom Lewin retained his second Varsity title of the year in convincing style to secure an incredibly well deserved Full Blue. James Walker (3rd) and

Alex Bradley (4th) completed the victorious Men’s Blues team with James and Alex achieving Half Blues. An unfortunate crash and puncture early on the bike course left BUCS star David Pearson out of contention for the Blues team, but he went on to heroically finish the race in the Seconds team.

On the women’s side Sophia Saller, Lucy Farquhar and Laura Fenwick took Varsity domination to the next level, achieving an individual 1-2-3 for Oxford and in doing so beating not only the Cambridge Women’s Blues team but also the Cambridge Men’s Blues team. Lucy secured her Full Blue on the day, thanks to her strong BUCS result, whilst Sophia and Laura added theirs later in the season. The success of Varsity 2017 was so much more than just the Blues teams, however.

Going one up on 2016, OUTriC won all of the Varsity categories (Blues, Seconds and Mob) on offer, and in claiming both Blues match victories for the third year in succession Oxford took the lead in the overall Blues standings for the first time since the inaugural event in 2003 (was 14-14, now 16-14).

Records were broken wherever

you looked as, to name a few, 2017 saw the most Oxford triathletes at Varsity ever (47), the biggest Oxford women’s team ever (26, doubling the previous best), the OUTriC Women’s Blues beating the Cambridge Men’s Blues (unheard of), six Oxford men’s teams beating the Cambridge’s Seconds (up from five last year), and the list goes on…

These achievements are a reflection of an overall fantastic year of training, socialising and racing for the club, although the 2016-17 season certainly wasn’t all plain sailing. The club overcome coach disasters, coaching disasters, kit disasters and more to finish the year in a stronger position than ever before – these achievements being testament to the hard work put in by club president Laura and everyone else involved.

WATER POLO The Water Polo Women’s 1sts have a great 2016-2017 season, with a large squad and two fantastic coaches. The team didn’t win Varsity 2017, but played their

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best game of the season against Cambridge and were very proud of the 3-10 result. They also finished fourth in their BUCS division, Midlands 1A. With a developing squad with a lot of players who were new to the sport, Tilly and Andrea (Captain and Vice) made the team a cohesive, positive environment that helped to maintain numbers for the whole year.

The 2016-17 season saw the Men’s 1sts continue to establish itself as a top team both in the BUCS South Premier and in the country as a whole. Finishing third in the South Premier the team narrowly missed out on automatic qualification to BUCS Super 8s due to an unfortunate last minute loss to Bristol in the away game, meaning a qualifying match was required against Loughborough, which Oxford lost in a very tight and competitive game. Oxford also continued its trend of losing away Varsity games, losing 11-8 to Cambridge. In terms of individual successes both Joe Ortiz and Alex Wilson continued to represent their clubs, London Penguin and Exeter respectively, in National League and Seh Woon Neo continues to train with the Singaporean national side when not in Oxford.

The Men’s 2nds had mixed results, with victories sadly interspersed with narrow loses, especially against Cambridge. The team finished fourth in Midlands 2A, with one win from five, but the team improved over the year, with the last few games far tighter. There was a cup run in to the second round of the cup, with a win over Surrey 2nds.

Come Varsity the team was playing its best polo all year, but Oxford were edged out 14-11. History was made

by Naomi Vides who became the second woman to play in a Men’s 2nds Varsity Match.

WINDSURFING Oxford University Windsurfing Club continues to be a friendly, fun club with a mix of members from undergraduates through to academic staff. As a club, we focus on providing training for all levels and exploring the windsurf world

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beyond Oxford: both of which make being a member of our club a genuinely enjoyable experience.

We run a beginners day each term, where we introduce people to the sport that we love. We have had a good turn out to these this year and it was great to see the improvements. Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to make it to any student windsurfing events this year, due to academic commitments these weekends, but are looking forward the attending in the future.

We had a promising Varsity Match in 2017, where we won the Second Team Trophy for the first time since it was introduced! Though our First Team narrowly lost, we hope to also bring that trophy back in 2018 when, excitingly, we will be hosting the Varsity Match in Oxford.

UNDERWATER EXPLORATION During 2016-17 the number of active OUUEG members doubled to around eighty people. We ran several successful training courses, with a bumper intake of around fourty Ocean Diver and Sports Diver trainees and a strong progression of advanced training. We trained and passed out new Dive Leaders, Assistant Instructors and Full Instructors, ran well attended Drysuit, Nitrox and Boat Handling courses, and passed out new Boat Handlers and Diver Coxswains.

We ran our Ocean Diver training as a block course for the first time this year and were chosen by our national governing body, BSAC, to trial a new syllabus and feedback into the national training scheme.

We had our biggest ever Easter Training trip to Cornwall in April, in which fifty two people completed over four hundred dives, and organised expeditions throughout the UK and abroad.

These ranged from the very local – including diving the Isis river in Oxford and the lake in Worcester College – to the international, with a warm water trip to the Red Sea at Christmas. We ran many trips accessible to our newest divers

including a summer expedition to Jersey, weekends in Plymouth, Pembrokeshire and Portland, and day trips Swanage, Vobster, Stoney Cove and Eastbourne. We also had lots of opportunities for more advanced diving, including a summer expedition to Scapa Flow in Orkney to enjoy some of the world’s best wreck diving and – with the help of a Sports Federation grant – a trip to locate and dive a previously undiscovered wreck of a German submarine at Great Yarmouth.

We continue to benefit hugely from use of our club RHIB, Seahorse, for both training and diving, and have strengthened relationships with other diving clubs, particularly the Oxford town BSAC club and the Imperial College Underwater Club.

UNDERWATER HOCKEY The inaugural Varsity match took place in Trinity term and saw the club’s first team travel to Cambridge.

In the end the game finished 5-0 to us which means that we are the current champions of Underwater Hockey Varsity. The club also took part in and were the winners of the Oxford Winter tournament, which we host annually. The competition was between 8 teams from 4 universities and split into proper and development leagues.

The club believe these good results to be a direct result of 2 ways in which we managed to secure bonus practice/pool time last year. The first of these was the new training sessions on Thursday’s which we were kindly given by the University pool. The second of these was the training matches against a local team that we started to play within the last year.

The club also now has about 15 members, an improvement on previous years, and thus should help the squad quality and depth of the A team in the upcoming season to get better. There was also a good numbers of people who gave UWH/ Octopush a try at both the Fresher’s sessions at the start of the season (~40) and Cuppers in Trinity term (~20).

OXFORD SPORT 2017

VINCENT'S CLUB Vincent’s Club is proud to run the largest Sports Award Scheme for Oxford University students. Created in 2013 to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Club, in 2017 seven scholarships and two bursaries worth a total of £17,000 were awarded.

Applications are encouraged for the 2018 awards from all members of the University, and those who are about to come up. Awards are worth up to £3,000 p.a. and are available to both undergraduate and postgraduate students who display qualities including exceptional sporting achievement and potential coupled with strong academic attainment, strength of character, fellowship and leadership potential, an interest in participating in broader activities including outreach and promoting sport at Oxford, and a commitment to helping those less fortunate. Evidence of financial need is also considered.

Details can be found in the application material on the Vincent’s website: www.vincents.org.

The 2016 award winners with the Vice Chancellor, Professor Louise Richardson; the Chancellor, Lord Patten; and Sir Roger Bannister CH, CBE, Vincent’s President in 1950.

Bursaries, support, networking, and social events for the elite sportswomen of Oxford. https://www.atalantas.org president.atalantas@gmail.com One off £50 membership fee.

Please apply via our website.

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VARSITY RESULTS 2016-17 CLUB

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MATCH

RESULT SCORE

American Football Archery Athletics Athletics Aussie Rules Badminton Badminton Basketball Basketball Boat Boat Boxing Boxing Canoe and Kayak Canoe and Kayak Cheerleading Clay Pigeon Shooting Clay Pigeon Shooting Cricket Cricket Cricket Cricket Cricket Croquet

Men Mixed Men Women Men Men Men Men Women Men Women Men Women Men Women Mixed Men Women Men 4 Day Men 1 Day Men T20 Women 1 Day Women T20 Mixed

Lost Lost Won Won Won Won Won Lost Won Won Lost Won Lost Lost Draw Lost Won Lost Lost Won Lost Won Lost Lost

Cross Country

Men

Lost

Cross Country

Women

Won

Cycling Cycling Cycling Cycling Dancesport Equestrian Eton Fives Eton Fives Fencing Fencing Football Football Gliding Golf Golf Gymnastics Gymnastics Handball Handball

Men Road Men MTB Women Road Women MTB Mixed Mixed Men Women Men Women Men Women Mixed Men Women Men Women Men Women

Lost Lost Won Won Lost Lost Won Wo Lost Won Won Won Lost Won Lost Lost Lost Lost Won

Hockey

Men

Won

Hockey ice Hockey Ice Hockey Jiu Jitsui Judo Judo Karate Karate Kendo Kickboxing Korfball

Women Men Women Mixed Men Women Men Women Mixed Men Mixed

Won Lost Won Lost Won Won Lost Lost Won Won Lost

14-20 3325-3260 115-96 101-99 80-28 10-5 12-3 72-74 57-52 11/4 lengths 11 lengths 5-4 1-2 0-2 1-1 91.30-110.73 260-247 114-120 216 runs 9 runs 10 runs 8 wickets 2-7 45-33 (lowest score wins) 21-34 (lowest score wins) 11min 34sec 19sec

DATE

VENUE

6/5/17 13/5/17 14/5/17 14/5/17 11/5/17 4/5/17 4/5/17 26/2/17 26/2/17 2/4/17 2/4/17 10/5/17 10/5/17 13/5/17 13/5/17 19/2/17

Coldham Commons Fields, Cambridge Pembroke College Sports Ground, Oxford Wilberforce Road, Cambridge Wilberforce Road, Cambridge Cambridge Cambridge University Sports Centre Cambridge University Sports Centre Cambridge Cambridge The Tideway, London The Tideway, London The Corn Exchange, Cambridge The Corn Exchange, Cambridge Port Meadow, Oxford Port Meadow, Oxford Genting Arena, Birmingham

4-7/7/17 23/6/17 16/6/17 23/6/17 16/6/17 12/6/17

Fenner’s, Cambridge Lord’s, London Fenner’s, Cambridge Lord’s Nursery Ground, London Fenner’s, Cambridge Hurlingham Club, London

3/12/16

Wimbledon Common, London

3/12/16

Wimbledon Common, London

22/4/17

Cambridge

22/4/17

Cambridge

15/5/17 75-38 penalties 6-0 4-2 124-128 130-122 3-2 3-1 496-642 10.5-4.5 3-6 302.80-311.00 196.05-201.40 26-38 27-21 2-2 (won penalty shootout) 4-1 3-8 7-1 1-2 7-0 4-1 36-66 33-69 3-0 5-2 9-15

4/3/17 4/3/17 11/3/17 11/3/17 19/3/17 20/3/17 18-20/6/17 24-5/3/17 21/3/17 5/3/17 5/3/17 5/3/17 5/3/17

Eton College, Windsor Eton College, Windsor Guildhall Cambridge Guildhall Cambridge Barnet FC, London Barnet FC, London Bicester Airfield Ganton Golf Club, Yorkshire Ganton Golf Club, Yorkshire Marriots Gymnastics Club, Stevenage Marriots Gymnastics Club, Stevenage Cambridge University Sports Centre Cambridge University Sports Centre

12/3/17

Southgate Hockey Club, Barnet

12/3/17 4/3/17 5/3/17 13/5/17 4/3/17 4/3/17 5/3/17 5/3/17

Southgate Hockey Club, Barnet Peterborough Ice Rink, Cambridge Peterborough Ice Rink, Cambridge Cambridge Cambridge University Sports Centre Cambridge University Sports Centre Cambridge Cambridge

5/3/17 25/2/17

Iffley Road Sports Centre Cambridge

OXFORD SPORT 2017 CLUB

MATCH

RESULT SCORE

DATE

Lacrosse

Men

Draw

6-6

25/2/17

Lacrosse

Women

Draw

10-10

25/2/17

Lacrosse

Mixed

Lost

5-15

25/2/17

Lawn Tennis Lawn Tennis Lightweight Rowing Lightweight Rowing

Men Women Men Women

Lost Won Lost Lost

6-15 16-5 1 3/4 lengths 3 1/3 lengths

Modern Pentathlon

Men

Won

25624-25272

Modern Pentathlon

Women

Won

24512-22324

Motor Drivers Netball Orienteering Orienteering

Men Women Men Women Mixed Small Bore Women Small Bore Mixed Full Bore Mixed Men Pool Men Snooker Mixed Men Women Men Women Men Women Men Women Men Men Women Men Women Men Women Men Women Men Women Men Women Mixed Men Duathlon Men Triathlon Women Duathlon Women Triathlon Men Outdoor Women Outdoor Men Women Men Women Mixed Mixed Dinghy Women Dinghy Yachting

Won Lost Won Won

Pistol Pistol Pistol Polo Pool & Snooker Pool & Snooker Powerlifting Rackets Rackets Real Tennis Real Tennis Rifle Rifle Rugby Fives Rugby Fives Rugby League Rugby Union Rugby Union Ski & Snowboard Ski & Snowboard Squash Squash Swimming Swimming Table Tennis Table Tennis Taekwondo Taekwondo Trampolining Triathlon Triathlon Triathlon Triathlon Ultimate Ultimate Volleyball Volleyball Waterpolo Waterpolo Windsurfing Yacht Yacht Yacht

VENUE St. John’s College Playing Fields, Cambridge St. John’s College Playing Fields, Cambridge St. John’s College Playing Fields, Cambridge

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames

62-39 41-47 2hr 39min 18sec 1hr 17min

26/3/17 26/3/17 30/3/17 1/4/17 30/3/17 1/4/17 27/2/17 25/2/17 25/3/17 25/3/17

Lost

2129-2160

4/3/17

Cambridge

Won

1959-1945

4/3/17

Cambridge

Won Won Lost Won Lost Lost Won Lost Won Lost Lost Lost Lost Won Lost Won Won Won Won Lost Draw Won Lost Lost Won Won Won Won Won

1523-1499 5-1 44-46 33-31 2316.42-2458.92 0-6 2-0 0-6 6-0 1466-1526 738-760 94-293 6-180 48-10 18-23 3-0 2.52sec 17.42sec 5-0 2-3 45-45 56-34 4-6 1-9 9-1 3-2 431.4-424.7 11min 11sec 15min 23sec

16/7/17 3/6/17

Bisley, Surrey Guards Polo Club

19/2/2017 1/2/17 1/2/17 24/2/17 24/2/17

Cambridge Queen’s Club, London Queen’s Club, London Lord’s, London Lord’s, London

18/2/17 18/2/17 3/3/17 8/12/16 8/12/16 6/12/16 6/12/16 18/2/17 18/2/17 25/2/17 25/2/17 16/2/17 16/2/17 19/2/17 19/2/17 4/3/17 19/2/17 14/5/17

St. Paul’s School, London St. Paul’s School, London Honourable Artillery Company Twickenham Stadium, London Twickenham Stadium, London Tignes, France Tignes, France Royal Automobile Club, London Royal Automobile Club, London Parkside Pools, Cambridge Parkside Pools, Cambridge Cambridge University Sports Centre Cambridge University Sports Centre Cambridge Cambridge Iffley Road Sports Centre Dorney Lake, Windsor Emberton Park, Milton Keynes

Lost

12min 39sec

19/2/17

Dorney Lake, Windsor

Won

33min 4sec

14/5/17

Emberton Park, Milton Keynes

Won Won Won Won Lost Lost Lost Lost Lost Lost

9-6 11-2 3-1 3-0 8-11 3-10 19-26 0-4 1-4

18/2/17 18/2/17 18/2/17 18/2/17 25/2/17 25/2/17 25/2/17 6-7/7/17 6-7/7/17 8-9/4/17

Cambridge Cambridge Cambridge Cambridge Parkside Pools, Cambridge Parkside Pools, Cambridge Graftham Water, Cambridge Itchenor Sailing Club, Chichester Itchenor Sailing Club, Chichester The Solent, Southampton

Tonbridge School, Tonbridge Tonbridge School, Tonbridge Buckmore Park, Chatham Cambridge University Sports Centre Fontainebleau, France Fontainebleau, France

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