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Pugwash News Wednesday 22nd September 2010
Sports
A satisfying taste of sport
Successful Sessions
Amy Baker VP Welfare and Volunteering
Joe Wilkes Sports Editor
VP for Welfare and Volunteering, Amy Baker, describes her experience of the taster sessions. On Friday 24th September Lauren Ryan the new VP Sports officer developed female taster sessions for those sports clubs who are not stereotypically seen as ‘sports for girls’, this included such sports as rugby and lacrosse. In order to explain more about the day we must firstly travel back a couple of months to the month of July. I had just myself come into office as VP Volunteering and Welfare and so met Lauren Ryan who throughout her time at University was a member of rugby. For the next two months I was told
everything about rugby until the day came when I was told that I should join. Now I must admit the thought of joining rugby terrified me not because of the girls who were part of the team but because I watch the telly and know what it involves. Being continuously slammed into the floor didn’t seem my idea of fun; however these taster days were made for complete beginners so in a moment of insanity I went along. So there I was dressed in my running kit not exactly made for rugby and a pair of borrowed boots standing on the side line ready to die. We were eased in gently with a warm up and some fun games to get us all bonding and then we went onto working on our core strength by pushing another member out of a ring, kicking and catching and then to round up a small
game of rugby netball, thankfully this was non-contact, I was definitely not ready for that yet. After the session was over something changed in me and I ended up having a taste for it. I now go training with the girls, admittedly I am not very good but it seems that they really don’t mind. If it wasn’t for these taster session I would have been too scared to join straight away and believe that many of the others girls who went along feel exactly the same. This was a great way to experience a sport without fully committing yourself and think it could be something that in the future is adopted by all activities.
The female-only taster sessions run on the 24th September by the AU appear to have been a resounding success, with the clubs involved reporting a good turnout and extra sign-ups. The sessions were designed to get more women involved with sports at this university. The clubs that ran sessions were Boxing, Basketball, Volleyball, Dodgeball, Badminton, Table Tennis, Ultimate Frisbee, Lacrosse, Rugby and Cricket. Although, considering the number of clubs in the AU is thirty five and the total amount of clubs involved with the project was just ten, how effective can they have been? VP Sports, Lauren Ryan, had this to say: “The idea of female taster sessions was to provide an environment where beginners in lesser played female sports (more intimidating sports to play) could play with other beginners at an easier pace. The 10 sports involved were highlighted as clubs that struggle to gain female participants and were potentially intimidating to play as beginners in trials. The taster sessions were also restricted as it is the first year they have been run properly and it was needed to gauge the interest in them”.
President of Dodgeball, Stephen Roberts, said: “It went really well, everyone had a laugh and a few more signed up!” Also Jennifer Ellegard, a second year student for whom the Dodgeball taster session was a first experience of sport at the university, remarked:
“
The sessions are a really good idea because it gives you the chance to see if you are good enough.”
“I didn’t think I was sporty enough and I was a bit intimidated by all the basketball, the football and the netball teams because they all looked really athletic. And then I heard about this from my housemate.” She went on to comment: “They (the sessions) are a really good idea because it gives you the chance to see if you are good enough and you don’t feel like you have to be a at an amazing level to get involved with sports. They’ve been really really enjoyable.”
NUS and BUCS’s bright future Joe Wilkes Sports Editor
Following a meeting to discuss the impact of the clash between the national demonstration against cuts to further and higher education and the weekly Wednesday afternoon sports programmes, NUS (National Union of Students) and BUCS (British Universities & Colleges Sport) have announced that they will be working together in areas of mutual interest. Future programmes of work will include exploring issues such as graduate employability and running projects leading up to the 2012 London Olympic Games. The meeting was held in response to a request from BUCS members that the organisations engage in discussion over the national demonstration being organised by NUS on Wednesday 10 November, a date which clashes with the ever increasing and competitive Wednesday afternoon sports programme. NUS and BUCS have agreed that there will be no formal cancellation of the fixtures on Wednesday 10 November, however it was agreed by
BUCS that should individual teams or institutions wish to reschedule fixtures from the day of the demo to an agreed alternative then that could be allowed within the current rules and regulations. Both BUCS and NUS have said that they are looking forward to developing a more positive working relationship in the future to ensure the ongoing enhancement of the student experience. BUCS is responsible for the delivery of sport and development in higher education and as such is not a political organisation, it encourages the playing of all fixtures as outlined at the start of the season. The organisation has however recognised these unique circumstances and has made moves to accommodate them and any sportsperson that wishes to attend the demonstration. NUS encourages students' unions that have made representations about the factors impeding individuals participation in the 10 November demonstration to encourage their sports clubs members to talk to each other, in order to see whether rescheduling is mutually beneficial.