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Student athletes have kept up The University of Nottingham’s fine sporting tradition after finishing in the top ten of the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) league for the fifteenth year in succession.
The seventh place finish is a reflection of the Students’ Union team’s performances in 50 sports over the 2010/11 season, as well the BUCS Championships, where Nottingham took titles in: Archery, Canoe Slalom, Judo, Korfball, Pool, Swimming and Table Tennis.
While pleased with the overall performance, Director of Sport and Physical Recreation, Dan Tilley, was also delighted with the nominations achieved in the several individual categories at the BUCS Awards Dinner.
Commonwealth Games silver medalist Jess Sylvester was narrowly beaten in the Sportswoman of the Year award, while IWAS Junior Championship gold medalist Thomas Green was unlucky to miss out on the Sportsman of the Year prize.
A third Nottingham nominee, Gabrielle Bunn, was also commended for her contribution in making the University’s inclusive sports programmes a success in the Volunteer of the Year category.
The English Studies student, who was described as “a real asset to the University of Nottingham, disability sport and the Sports Department in particular”, was nominated for helping disabled students access sport through the University’s Any-Body Club and Any-Buddy scheme.
Dan revealed that he was delighted that the University had secured a seventh place finish, particularly as one of only two institutions in the top ten not to offer a sports related degree (with the other — Oxford — finishing tenth).
He said: “This achievement clearly indicates what well rounded students we attract. However our aspirations are to become a top five institution and therefore, although we are delighted with seventh place, our sights are very much set on moving up the table.
“The recent launch of the Vaughan Parry Williams Coaching Fund, in memory of our previous Director of Sport, is a welcome campaign that will see a greater investment in coaching for the University sides. Not only will this improve performance but it will also deliver a greater all round student sporting experience.”
Dan continued: “We clearly have significant talent in terms of our students, and we therefore hope that by having the highest standard of coaching, our students will be able to achieve their potential.
In addition success breeds success, and we hope a successful thriving sports programme will attract a higher calibre of athlete to the University.
To find out more about sport at The University of Nottingham, please visit: www.nottingham.ac.uk/sport
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Notes to Editors: With 75 Athletic Union sports clubs, Nottingham teams have consistently finished in the top 10 out of over 140 institutions competing in the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) overall league championship table over the last 15 years: www.su.nottingham.ac.uk/activities2/sports
The University of Nottingham, described by The Sunday Times University Guide 2011 as ‘the embodiment of the modern international university’, has award-winning campuses in the United Kingdom, China and Malaysia. 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. It was named ‘Europe’s greenest university’ in the UI GreenMetric World University Ranking, a league table of the world’s most environmentally-friendly higher education institutions, which ranked Nottingham second in the world overall.
The University is committed to providing a truly international education for its 40,000 students, producing world-leading research and benefiting the communities around its campuses in the UK and Asia.
More than 90 per cent of research at The University of Nottingham is of international quality, according to the most recent Research Assessment Exercise, with almost 60 per cent of all research defined as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’. Research Fortnight analysis of RAE 2008 ranked the University 7th in the UK by research power.
The University’s vision is to be recognised around the world for its signature contributions, especially in global food security, energy & sustainability, and health.
More news from the University at: www.nottingham.ac.uk/news
Any-Body Club is a University of Nottingham initiative to give every student the opportunity to play sport no matter what their ability or past experience: www.nottingham.ac.uk/sport/anybodyclub
Any-Buddy Scheme again aims to get more students of all abilities into sport. The scheme has been designed to provide both disabled and non-disabled students with the opportunity to play sport, get fit and most importantly have some fun, with the support of a student volunteer: www.nottingham.ac.uk/sport/anybuddyscheme