7 minute read
Sports and Societies
Sports and Societies Round up
2021-2022
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2021-2022 has been a brilliant year for Team Cuth’s. Our Sports and Societies have gone from strength to strength, with incredible events, sporting successes and memories made. With ever-relaxing COVID-19 regulations and guidelines, Cuth’s Sports and Societies have been able to grow and evolve, enhancing the lives of Cuth’s Students. Following a successful Freshers Fair all the way back in October, Sports and Socs welcomed a new intake of ‘keen fresh’ (as well as students from across all years) - all eager to get involved in everything Cuth’s has to offer.
Our Societies have run some incredible events this year. CRACAS have linked with the SCR for their Ale and Cheese evenings, which have been a great success. FemSoc ran a highly engaging series of talks and socials, ArtSoc ran some good creative sessions, and Book Club met to discuss some incredible reads - to name just a few. This year we welcomed many new societies - with the additions of Music Appreciation Society (MAS), Adele Society, and Cuth’s Goes to the Movies - taking our numbers to 40+. These new societies have started to increase their membership and run events, and we look forward to seeing what the next year brings.
We also enjoyed a brilliant year in sport. Our Mixed Lacrosse made it the furthest they have in recent memory in the Floodlit Cup, coming second only to Collingwood. Our Men’s Hockey won their league and represented Team Durham in the college varsity against Loughborough, alongside our men’s Futsal Team. Our Women’s Rugby and Football teams both made it to the Floodlit semi-finals, and Wildcats Cheer (joint with Hatfield) performed incredibly well at the inter-collegiate Cheer Competition. This does not take into account the vast numbers of individual matches won by our incredible teams, or the incredible achievements of Cuth’s students representing Team Durham - anyone who has taken part in any matches this year should be proud.
Looking ahead - we still have an exciting summer of sport, so stay tuned to see what’s next for the incredible Team Cuth’s! #bleedgreen
Abi Fisher Stop Press - Cuth’s at The Henley Regatta
At St Cuthbert’s Society we are extrememly proud of the Senior Women’s IV + who were able to compete at The Henley Women’s Regatta on 17th June 2022 with funding from the Student Development Award.
They rowed alongside some of the best crews in the country and performed magnificently!
St Cuthbert’s Society Boat Club 2021-2022
We knew this year would be challenging given the drop in membership following the pandemic and a year of characteristically awful Durham weather, so we were really keen to introduce as many new people to rowing as possible. We recently passed a motion restructuring the pricing and subscriptions model of our club - resulting in Novice membership dropping from £65/yr to just £25/yr, with race licenses and equipment included. Hence we were able to welcome 48 novices, completely new to rowing and a total of 71 members back to SCSBC after difficult year.
Our season started off the same as always, teaching the novices how to row before the first race of the year, Novice Cup, held in week 7/8 of Michaelmas term. We had some great success: the first women’s novice IV+ coming second in the time trials out of over 25 college crews, with a strong performance in the erg relay the next day - hosted by Cuth’s due to poor weather conditions. Following this, the senior squads got themselves back up and running - both the Men’s and Women’s squads fielding strong top coxed IV’s. We had
The women’s IV consisting of the women’s captain, Sarah Orr, the two novice women’s coaches, Bella Craddock and Antonia Stulz and newcomer 1st year Ella Andrews coxed by Annika Hanson the captain of coxes have had great success throughout the year. Winning their bands in Durham Small Boats Head, and coming second at senate cup to a strong Collingwood IV. As part of a composite VIII’s crew with Grey College, the women won their band at Rutherford Head in Newcastle, and went on to compete at Women’s Head of the River Race (WeHoRR). The reverse Oxbridge boatrace course on the Thames, with some of the best crews in the UK. They finished as the third fastest college crew.
The men’s IV have also got in their race experience, made up of Tom Hurrell (Vice-Captain), Stan Bates (Men’s Captain), George Patterson (Treasurer) and Robbie Goodwin (Sponsorship Secretary) coxed by Scarlet Barras. Together they competed We had a fantastic start to Epiphany term with the return of our annual Ceilidh dinner, hosted in Durham city. It had a great turnout of just over 55 rowers and their friends. We are looking forward to welcoming back alumni with our awards dinner on the Saturday, 25th of June during SCSBC weekend.
This term is about integrating the novices into the senior programs to form the base for our squads next year, and getting ready for our biggest race of the year: Durham Regatta. The women have formed a full Cuth’s VIII, consisting of 3 novices who started this year, and a novice 4 who will be racing at both Hexham, and Durham Regatta this June. The original women’s IV also plan on competing at Women’s Henley Regatta down south for the first time since 1982, with costs largely funded by the Cuth’s Student Development Fund. Overall we’ve really enjoyed rebuilding the senior squads this year, and we’re very busy running intense training weeks to make the most of everyone’s free time post exams to get race-ready. Personally I’m really excited to see how the club gets on next year with the new Co-Club Captains Tom and Stan.
Jack Reeves Captain of Boats June 2022
12 South Theatre is Back!
Meg McCubbin President
The famous Cuth’s Panto made a dazzling, post-Covid return for two sold-out performances at the end of Michaelmas term with the Cuth’s version of Peter Pan. The characters Peter Pres, Tinker Boop and the Hatfield Pirates went on a wonderful adventure to the Bailey, Brooks, and Beyond!
After an AGM held in epiphany term, I am pleased to announce that 12 South Theatre has a full exec once again with exciting plans for the future of the company.
Preparations for a Cuth’s Cabaret are currently underway to showcase Cuth’s talent, and we are in the process of assisting Outreach with their 24-Hour Musical project.
We are really looking forward to producing more shows in Michaelmas term and would encourage anyone, with or without experience, to get involved!
Gardening Society
Gardening society has grown a lot this year (pun intended). We began the year with a mini plant pot painting social in the conference room whilst the autumnal weather was too gloomy for gardening. We also gathered pots that were donated by the generous Durham locals which will be used for future projects. We have worked closely with college throughout the year to plan multiple events and gain access to a cupboard to keep our supplies safe and organised. In November, we tidied the House 12 gardens for the annual remembrance ceremony, which was extremely rewarding. Since then, we have held two further garden clean-ups thanks to Susan Warren which have proved successful in providing an opportunity for volunteers to relax from academic stress with some light gardening. The dining hall very kindly provided free brunch for the volunteers after these events, which we are extremely grateful for!
We have also been granted permission to use the Wendy House Gardens for our own projects, where we intend to plant flowers and a range of produce for members of the society to share. This garden will be maintained over the summer, providing students with something to do during the break if they happen to be staying in Durham. Thank you to Dr Jon and Mrs Susan Warren and all our lovely gardeners who have joined in this year! We will continue to garden and encourage plant-related activities in all forms, hopefully hosting a herb planting session and a balsam bashing social in the next few weeks post-exams!
