Welcome to my may UGM report. Read below to find out about what I’ve been up to since the last UGM back in early February.
BUCS nationals
On Friday 24th February I joined Felicity, our team of trained Keele physiotherapists, Mike Huss from Sport Keele, and our photographer Lee William Hughes and our team of athletes as they competed in BUCS National competitions. We had a hugely successful weekend, our Mountaineering and athletics teams performed incredibly, one of our badminton men's doubles teams reached the quarter final, and one of our swimming relay teams placed 7th in the finals of the freestyle relay an incredible achievement after having spent the event competing against world-record holders, Olympians, and Paralympians. I had a great time supporting our teams and was honoured to be able to celebrate their achievements during the weekend.
Keele v Staffordshire Varsity 2023
We held our annual Varsity competition against Staffordshire university back in March. For this year's Staffordshire Vs Keele Varsity, their Vice President Choto and I developed a Varsity Pledge. These pledges were signed in person by our Team captains before their competitions. The pledge was created to recognise that regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation, everyone is entitled to play sport and be able to play in a safe and inclusive environment without the fear of discrimination.
Our sports teams were joined by KUBE radio, who livestreamed and ran commentary and interviews for the entire event. They kept engagement up during the 4-day-long event on their twitch stream and provided some insightful and informative information to viewers on each sport.
Unfortunately, despite some incredible performances from all our sports team, this year sadly marked our first loss since 2008. Losing on a single penalty in the final game, it was a close competition for the trophy, and I hope to win it back next year to start another 11-year streak.
Disabled student experience in sports survey
In early April I launched the Disabled Student Experience in Sport Survey asking students to inform us about their experiences within the AU, Active Keele and general sporting activities at Keele as well as asking about the accessibility of the campus sports facilities. This survey will highlight areas of improvement for accessibility and inclusion in sports and will be used to address and highlight some of the hidden experiences of disabled students at Keele. My hope is that as an outcome, sports at Keele will become more accessible, inclusive, and our disabled community feels welcome within the Keele sports community.
The survey results will be shared with Students’ Union and University staff to highlight areas of improvement for inclusivity at Keele.
Summer Past Vs Present:
On Saturday 29th April we had our first ever summer PvP (Past Vs Present) event. This event was a great success, American Football were able to participate in their first PvP as the date of the event was after their BUCS season finishes, it was lovely seeing over 20 players return to compete. Despite poor weather and some technical issues, the BBQ went well, with a profit turned and positive feedback from the addition. Having received feedback from students regarding the event, this is something I want to continue in future years. I will review the date of the event for next year to try to avoid assessment-heavy periods.
Harper Adams Varsity
On Thursday 27th April I visited Harper Adams University and met with Vice President of Harper Adams SU Thomas Carmona and their Activities Coordinator Mike to discuss creating a Keele v Harper varsity event (previously titled Harper V Keele Summer games) starting in the 23/24 year. Due to the limited crossover in our sports clubs this varsity event will start with a limited roster of events, similar to how our Staffs vs Keele varsity began. The Harper Adams team are on board with the idea and are keen to plan the event for next year. We are currently reviewing our sports teams' rankings and if our teams are ranked closely enough for a viable match.
Keele v Staffs v Harper Adams sporting competition
I have written a proposal and presented this to VP Thomas Carmona and the Staffordshire University SU VP Choto Anesu about organising an inter-university sporting competition, a competition that will take place at Keele Sports Centre between Harper Adams, Keele, and Staffordshire. I suggested this competition initially to both Thomas and Choto and they are on board with the idea. Since the proposal has been sent and I had my meeting with Thomas, I have a couple of different structures optioned for the event proposed, I am currently waiting on a response from Choto regarding dates for the event and having an in-person meeting to go over everything with all 3 teams. The hope is that this will be set up to take place in the next academic year.