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The University of Nottingham is looking to further establish its place among the country’s elite sporting institutions ahead of the BUCS (British Universities and Colleges Sport) Championship Finals, taking place in Leeds on Wednesday 20 March.
Having finished as the most successful English university at the London 2012 Olympic Games, with five medal winning alumni, the current generation of student athletes are now looking to cement Nottingham’s place in the BUCS top 10 for another year.
The men’s squash and football teams, as well as the male and female table tennis sides, will be rewarded for a successful season when they take centre stage at the finals, with personal glory and vital BUCS points to play for.
Impact of investment
After beating the University of West England in the semi-finals, the men’s squash team will compete against the University of Birmingham in the final, while both table tennis teams will take on local rivals Nottingham Trent.
Meanwhile the men’s football team will take on Loughborough, after Students’ Union President Amos Teshuva performed heroics in goal when a tense semi-final with Stirling was decided by a penalty shoot-out.
After the semi-final results were secured, Director of Sport Dan Tilley, explained: “It has been an amazing year for University of Nottingham sport that started with our success at London 2012.
“Having four teams reach the BUCS finals is a further indication of the impact that the investment in sport at the University is having. It is hoped that this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of future University sporting success.”
An unbelievable standard
The University has already won the BUCS Archery Championships, with five students finishing in the top 11 places, but ahead of the Championship Finals, Athletic Union Officer at The University of Nottingham’s Students’ Union Jonny Bell, is hopeful of further triumphs.
He added: “The BUCS season has been very successful so far with Nottingham, currently sat in sixth position.
“The season has been a tough one for Nottingham in that several of our teams last year were promoted into their respective premier divisions, to compete with the top athletes in the country. It was always going to be a difficult season, but students have performed to an unbelievable standard.”
To continue recent success, ‘University Sport Nottingham’ has been set up to bring resources from the Department of Sport and Physical Recreation and the Students’ Union together.
Jonny continued: “This will enable sport to become more engrained in student life at Nottingham, while student clubs will receive club development training, enhanced coaching, increased access to strength and conditioning and more.”
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Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham has 42,000 students at award-winning campuses in the United Kingdom, China and Malaysia. It was ‘one of the first to embrace a truly international approach to higher education’, according to the Sunday Times University Guide 2013. It is also one of the most popular universities among graduate employers, one of the world’s greenest universities, and winner of the Times Higher Education Award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Sustainable Development’. It is ranked in the UK's Top 10 and the World's Top 75 universities by the Shanghai Jiao Tong and the QS World 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 for its research into global food security.
Impact: The Nottingham Campaign, its biggest ever fundraising campaign, will deliver the University’s vision to change lives, tackle global issues and shape the future. More news…