34 : SPORT yorkVision
June 20th 2001
Internal
SPORT
College Sport Round-up
Combined results 74.5pts
Goodricke Wentworth
68.5pts 64.5pts
Vanbrugh James
61.5pts
Derwent
59.5pts
Langwith
56pts 34.5pts
Alcuin
AS THE academic year closes, it’s time again to wave farewell to the year’s crop of sabbatical officers. In terms of York sport, given the popularity of the departing Owen Rodd, the AU hankies could be particularly moist this time around. As Owen heads off to work “in the field of events, communication and media - anything people centred!”, now seems the time to look back on his year in charge. The Rodd era encompassed an enormously successful Roses and the first use of an AU charity of the year, alongside occasionally disappointing sporting results and frustrations over proposals for the development of sports facilities. When asked what he would consider his legacy, the instant response is the success of Roses, “which I put the bulk of my energy and enthusiasm into. Most of what I did was admin, which was sometimes quite worrying! York doesn’t traditionally get so involved outside of the sporting community, but this time there was a real feeling that everyone wanted to be involved. Also, the local residents had expressed reservations beforehand, so to
get complementary letters from some of them was a real bonus”. Incoming AU President Martin Styles concurred, stating that “it was certainly the best of the three Roses I’ve been involved with. It sets the standard for next year, and if we’ve any chance of winning there needs to be a good liaison between the AU and individual clubs”. Martin sees Owen’s impact more away from the sporting field, in the form of raising the AU’s profile via the new practice of collecting for a charity of the year. All clubs have been raising funds for the Federation of Disability Sports Organisations, earning national press coverage in the process. Owen sees much work to still be done on this, given that “as it was the first year, this was always going to be a slow burner. But it’s clearly been a success, and helps promote the idea of the AU as an organisation working together”. However, there have been problems along the way. The development of plans for improved sports facilities have taken several twists and turns, often over the head of the AU Presidency. Since a bid for
Alcuin
Derwent
Goodricke
James
Langwith
Vanbrugh Wentworth
INDIVIDUAL SPORTS
Basketball
Pts Pld
-1 4
4 3
8
-1 5
5 6
Badminton
Pts 12 Pld 4
18 4
5 4
24 4
21 4
38 32 5 5
Squash
Pts Pld
6 5
8 5
31 24 5 6
33 6
19 28 5 5
Table Tennis
Pts
-1 14 4 4
11 22
Pld
11 4
5
5
9 16 4 4
Volleyball
Pts Pld
2 3
2 2
5 4
10 5
-1 3
7 4
2 3
Cricket 1sts
Pts Pld
-1
10 5
4 4
4 4
0 3
4 3
6 5
Cricket 2nds
Pts Pld
0 3
4 4
4 4
4 4
2 5
6 3
6 3
Tennis
Pts 13 Pld 5
30 5
25 4
28 5
24 5
Softball
Pts Pld
2 4
3 5
7 5
1 4
4 4
Darts
Pts 16 Pld 4
16 10 4 4
9 3
11 4
11 25 4 5
Pool
Pts 19 Pld 6
20 5
24 6
21 6
14 5
17 18 5 5
Swimming
Pts
5
3
7
2
6
1 4
10 5
4 4
21 24 4 6 6 4
6 4
games in hand. These could immediately erode Goodricke’s lead by three points. Alcuin continue to trail, with their cricket 2nds failure to score a single point from three matches particularly notable. With the upcoming sports day counting double for points, the current tallies are still very much subject to change. Thanks to AU vice-President-elect for comppiling these tables.
www.yorkvision.co.uk
In Rodd we trusted Gareth Owens meets the Owen Rodd and Martin Styles to discuss the past and future of the AU Presidency
Overall Table
AFTER LEADING the field for the entire year, Vanbrugh have been overtaken by last year’s champions Goodricke, who are now sporting a six point lead after having been two and a half at the end of Week 6. Crucial points have been accrued through victories in softball, pool and swimming, alongside strong showings in vitually every other category aside from badminton. Vanbrugh’s hidden trump card could prove to be their cricket team’s
sport@vision.york.ac.uk
Owen Rodd preparing to step down
lottery money failed, a £1.5 million plan has been proposed and then quietly dropped, with the current preference seemingly being for having building work done for free and then paying rent for several decades. “There doesn’t seem to be any clearly thought through plan for
The development of plans for improved sports facilities have taken several twists and turns, often over the head of the AU Presidency
development. The new proposals should lead to better facilities, but from the AU’s point of view, there’s a real feeling of isolation, given that we weren’t told when negotiations changed”. Given that it would seem next year’s fresher’s will see the fruition of whatever plans emerge, the onus is clearly on Martin Styles to try to ensure the AU is represented. So, on to the future. The future President is clearly full of enthusiasm for the year ahead, with more focused plans than when Vision met him on election night. At the forefront are plans to set up coaching and refereeing awards, meaning students earn qualifications and simultaneously produce a pool of referees. At universities such as Nottingham Trent, over five years such schemes have developed into serious commercial businesses. Owen encouraged such plans, saying “If Martin targets specific ‘problem’ sports, such as hockey and football, then problems over referees in college sport could be significantly eased. He’ll have to be prepared for it to take a while to catch on, though”. Another aim is to improve actual results, as York teams have frequently failed to shine this year. Martin is, however, confident that this can be turned around, particularly given the success of several smaller clubs this year. “There’s a really positive vibe among the clubs at the moment, and I’m confident that we’ll be able to aim for the same goals next year”. The final word should go to Mr Rodd. “I’ve been more of an organiser than previous Presidents, and I think that’s paid off in terms of bringing the AU together as a body. If it only exists to provide transport and insurance, it becomes dull; the AU needs to be more than that. It sounds really cheesy, but I think we’ve become more of a family”.
College talent too damn good? Ryan Sabey QUESTION HAVE been raised as to whether the Athletic Union is forbidding players to play in college sport because the are deemed ‘too good’. Several players have been banned because they have either played for a University side or the equivalent level outside the University. The AU has responded to criticism that You Basoah and Tim Wall were banned because they had representative honours at national and county level respectively. Basoah was aggrieved to be left out of the Rugby 7’s tournament despite having never played for a University team. “I was disappointed not to have played because we had a good team and we had a chance of winning,” he said. Basoah went on to criticise those who banned him from playing. “The claims were not substantiated because I hadn’t played for a University team.” But Brendan O’Donovan, in charge of college sport said that there was a need for college based sport to be played ‘in the spirit of the game’. O’Donovan told
Vision: “Rugby is a special case and there is an element of danger. There was a list give to Martin Styles (his predecessor) as to who was banned and he had the final say.” Vanbrugh College’s Sports Rep Tim Wall was also aggrieved with the possibility of being left out of the Inter-College Sports Day. “They were going to ban me because I was a recognised 3A’s runner. But as there were three of us who had been recognised in this way there was thought to be an even spread across the colleges,” Wall told Vision. Wall had reached the required standard for his age group via the Amateur Athletic Association in the 100m and 200m. O’Donovan explained why Wall was allowed to run today (Wednesday). “He has not been rated in the last year so we allowed him to run. We did not want to spoil the spirit of the day if someone was too good for their event.” Current rules state students who have played three games for the University’s respective first team are currently not permitted to participate in College Sport.
Basoah (right) battles at Roses 2000