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The University of Nottingham has once again shown its sporting prowess after dominating the prize categories at the 2012 British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Awards in Exeter.
Securing more nominations than any other institution, the University was up for three of the six gongs on offer – PwC Sportswoman of the Year, Student Volunteer of the Year and the Diversity in Sport Award.
After winning both BUCS indoor and outdoor high jump titles, Biosciences student Isobel Pooley was awarded the Sportswoman of the year prize.
The award was the latest achievement for the Hampshire born athlete, who has also set a new personal best to move to within 7cm of the British record and represented Great Britain at the European Championship in the last 12 months.
After receiving the prize, Isobel said: “I am honoured to accept this award and immensely proud to be recognised by BUCS, an organisation which has made such a huge contribution to University and student sport. I would also like to thank The University of Nottingham for its fantastic support over the past year and to say how excited I am for the years ahead.”
Nottingham were also successful in the student volunteer category, after Will Turner was chosen for his involvement with a University badminton initiative and it’s nationally acclaimed ‘sports for all’ programme, Nu2Sport.
Although missing out on the Diversity award, Kyle Wedgewood was praised by the University’s Director of Sport Dan Tilley for his work with children with learning disabilities. The Mathematical Sciences student has been running a Dodgeball tournament with pupils from schools across Nottingham for the last three years.
Dan said: “Kyle was unlucky to be short listed against an eleven institution collaborative project. However the fact his contribution was recognised alongside this mammoth nomination is a credit to the work he has put in developing sport in the community and supporting the AnyBody programmes.”
Delighted with the nominations received, he continued: “To have three nominations at the BUCS annual awards is a fantastic accolade and a great reflection on the quality of our students.
“Their success reflects the breadth of our sporting offer – from recreational sport through to elite sports – and highlights some of the fantastic programmes we offer. These initiatives, including Nu2sport and the Anybody programmes, reflect our ‘sports for all’ ethos, while our performance in BUCS and our presence at the Olympic Games this summer highlight our ability to attract and support elite athletes.”
This year the University of Nottingham’s Athletic Union teams won BUCS competitions in rowing, table tennis, hockey, lacrosse, badminton, squash and tennis teams.
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Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham, described by The Sunday Times University Guide 2011 as ‘the embodiment of the modern international university’, has 42,000 students at award-winning campuses in the United Kingdom, China and Malaysia. It is also the most popular university in the UK by 2012 application numbers, and ‘the world’s greenest university’. It is ranked in the UK's Top 10 and the World's Top 75 universities by the Shanghai Jiao Tong (SJTU) and the QS World University Rankings.
More than 90 per cent of research at The University of Nottingham is of international quality, according to the most recent Research Assessment Exercise. The University aims to be recognised around the world for its signature contributions, especially in global food security, energy & sustainability, and health. The University won a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2011, for its research into global food security.
Impact: The Nottingham Campaign, its biggest ever fund-raising campaign, will deliver the University’s vision to change lives, tackle global issues and shape the future. More news…