Sport 29
The Saint • Thursday 13 October 2011
Saint Sport Interview: University Tennis Club
Whistleblower
THE SAINT: How well have you done in attracting freshers and new members into the club? Tori Linton: We’ve tried to change the way the club is run to get a lot more social members involved. Previously we just had one training session for non-team members and two social sessions, but those weren’t getting good attendance, it just wasn’t working out very well. This year we decided we wanted to get social members more actively involved. So we’re having more coaching available, but it’s all student coaching to build relationships between more advanced players from the team with coaching experience along with social members, so everyone is friendly and knows each other much more. We really want social members to feel a part of the club; most of the members aren’t on the teams, so we want them to be able to participate with us as well. Catherine Phelps: At the end of the day there are so many good tennis players at St Andrews, but many don’t have the time to devote to it or they didn’t really know it was there until halfway through the year when it was too late for trials. We’re just trying to make more cohesive groups, so there’s a built-in framework so people can move up to the teams, and so far socials have been going really well – it’s been really fun. TS: What was it like being a part of last year’s success? CP: It was a really, really great year. I think all of the teams did phenomenally well and a lot of players straddled two sides – it was fun to have all-round success, and last year I think we did a better job of getting boys supporting girls, etc. It’s part of what’s so fun about the Tennis team; we’re a mixed team. Hopefully we can do well enough so we can start travelling wider and extend our range.
Photo: Celeste Sloman
The Saint spoke to Tennis Club President Tori Linton and Vice-President Catherine Phelps about the changes taking place at the club and their hopes for the season ahead.
FRESH: Tennis Club looking to have another successful season with its’ new recruits
TS: What’s coming up for the club in the next couple of months? TL: We’ve got our main season coming up – the BUCS leagues as well as the Scottish League. So the teams will be travelling around a lot across Scotland in the next couple of months, as well as down to Nottingham in Reading Week. We’ll be looking to more individual tournaments in the spring semester. A lot of matches; if you come down to the Sports Centre on Wednesdays there’s always matches to watch! TS: What do you think the teams can achieve this year? CP: Well, the Women’s 1sts got second in Division 1 last year, and the year before we made it to the quarter-finals of the play-offs for the Premier League. So the dream is to make it to Premier League and I think we might be able to do that this year, it’s really exciting. Then our 2nds just moved up into Division 1 – they just need to stay fighting in there! TL: The Men, they finally made it up into Division 1, they made their breakthrough – so they
just need to stay up to the height
“It’s part of what’s so fun about the Tennis team; we’re a mixed team. Hopefully we can perform well enough this year so we can start travelling wider and extend our range.”
they got to last year, and we’ve got a couple of really great freshers that have definitely bolstered the first team. TS: And finally, do you think Andy Murray will ever win a Grand Slam? CP: [Laughs] You’re speaking to two Americans here! My heart is still set on Andy Roddick, but I think for Andy Murray this is his year. If he supports us, we’ll support him!
Sport Editor Richard Browne wonders if it’s just the ‘Luck of the Irish’...
THE DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIPS which I was fortunate to be at was ultimately decided between three men: Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy and (eventual winner) Michael Hoey. What do they have in common? Well, at the trophy presentation, the speaker felt the need to clarify that this was in fact a European Tour event, not the Northern Irish national championships. Admittedly a Scot - George Murray - performed admirably over the week and finished level with McDowell on eighteenunder. But there was no doubt which nation had come to form at this event. While it’s probably best not to mention the Northern Irish football team’s recent results to anyone of the green persuasion, they and their neighbours in the Republic have done outstandingly well in two of the last month’s big events. The Dunhill Links is one, the Rugby World Cup is another. The biggest result of the tournament so far (though Tonga beating France gives it a run for its money) was Ireland’s 15-6 win over many people’s favourites for overall victory, Australia. They have cruised into the quarter-finals; nonetheless Wales will certainly prove a test. [I set myself up for that one, didn’t I? Wales proved a test alright, a World Cup-ending test at that. Moving swiftly on...] As for Scotland, losses to Argentina and England continued our best-known tradition. Burns Night and Hogmanay pale in comparison to our unparalleled record of international sporting failure. [Though I must make the point that if rugby matches only lasted 75 minutes, Scotland would have this competition sown up.] Back to the Irish. What is it they’re doing right? Their rugby side will be sorely hit by the im-
pending retirements of the likes of Brian O’Driscoll, Paul O’Connell and Ronan O’Gara. But in Sean O’Brien and Johnny Sexton they have two stars of the future. They have benefited from a golden generation and a coach - Declan Kidney - who was finally able to winkle a Six Nations Grand Slam out of them. The golfers? Darren Clarke - 2011 Open champion - had one suggestion: “It must be the Guinness.” Before you go rushing to your local to test his theory and lower your handicap, he did add this: “We have many fine courses and a very good youth programme”. Less exciting maybe, but probably more accurate. Rory McIlroy pointed to the accessibility of golf in Northern Ireland, with people from working-class backgrounds getting into the game as well as those from ‘the elite’ and, he said, “Because it’s such a small place, you get to know people.” Sound familiar? Tricky as it might be to think of a small place where there’s plenty of golf being played, you happen to be in it. Great courses, two strong University Golf Clubs and the opportunity for beginners to give it a go at a very reasonable cost. Alasdair McDougall’s third place in the pro-am competition of the Dunhill Links was as uplifting as it was impressive. We like our heroes local, and he’s about as close to that as it gets, unless next year’s Union President decides to take on the pros and wins. But for now, congratulations Ireland on having the nerve to beat the rest of the Brits at hitting a white ball round a field. Lets face it, after all the mess they’ve had to put up with, it’s only fair. In a couple of weeks I fully expect to be moving across the Irish Sea and hailing the Wonderful Welsh after their 37-3 spanking of New Zealand in the World Cup final. Now that would take a hell of a lot of luck.
Sporting World
A selection of the funny, bizarre and downright odd from the sometimes very strange world of sport...
A footballer making headlines for the right reasons is Jone Samu-
elsen of Odd Grenland. With his team leading opponents Tromso in a Norwegian league match, the Tromso goalkeeper came up for a last-minute corner, only for Samuelsen to score with a header from inside his own half into an unguarded goal. The 57-metre effort could make the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest headed goal in the history of football. In the world of rugby, Canada captain Pat Riordan has issued a desperate call for help. Reacting to his side’s 23-all draw with Japan, he said: “The tie is a bit like kissing your cousin. It’s great to kiss them
but it’s your cousin.” The men in white coats are on their way, Pat. Ireland full-back Geordan Murphy restored my faith in rugby players the next day with some tasty humour. Before his side’s crucial match with Italy, he said that the way to deal with prop Martin Castrogiovanni was to leave baskets of chips in the corners of the pitch - “The amount he eats, it should distract him quite nicely.” Murphy would know, as he coowns an Italian restaurant with his Leicester team-mate. In the end, the chips were down for Italy, the Irish winning 36-6. RB
Photo: Hillevi Gustafson
CARLOS TEVEz’s recent troubles with Roberto Mancini and the Manchester City were offered relief from the unlikeliest of sources - a second-tier Northern Irish league club. Limavady United, from County Londonderry, faxed City the night after their Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich, in which Tevez appeared to refuse to come on as a substitute, with an offer to take the wantaway striker on loan for the rest of the season. Sadly, City ignored the offer.
MOODY McDOWELL: Graeme not amused with his tied-third finish at the Old Course.