THE LION

BEN WHITELAW speaks to triathlete and Birmingham alumnus Chrissie Wellington

WELLINGTON WORLD BEATER

PER ARDUA AD ALTA - 'THROUGH EFFORTS TO HIGH THINGS'

All smiles for Brum's home grown coaches

Redbrick Sport's university sport pullout December 2009

p3 p4 p6

Brum's 'Big Events' aren't anything to

shout about

Spin galore at a table tennis

session

COACHING CLASS

'IT'S NOTHING LIKE TENNIS'

WANTED: SPORTS SPECTATORS

www.redbrickonline.co.uk

THE LION / DECEMBER 200902

REDBRICK Sport is finally living the dream… an eight page insert, dedi-cated to university sport with back-to-back sports coverage and news. As some of you may or may not know, this proposal was one of my main mani-festo pledges, which I was elected to achieve. The inspiration behind the insert was based on my personal view on the cov-erage of the BUCS Cham-pionships in March of this year. To be completely frank, I was extremely disappointed; expecting a sporting spectacle of cov-erage, something a little special to commenorate the fantastic results ob-tained during the week building up to the week-end in Sheffield. Readers came to find that only a small front-page banner differentiated the BUCS edition from the norm of Redbrick Sport articles.

With the hope of achieving a superb BUCS insert in March 2010, it was agreed to pilot 'The Lion' this term to give all readers a greater insight

into UB Sport, the results of term one, the achieve-ments of alumni and the nature of students who contribute towards the success of these organisa-tions. This edition aims to challenge the previously poor internal recognition for teams and clubs and hopefully after reading the article on page 5 re-lating to UBS' 'Big Events'; students will feel inspired to mosey on down to vari-ous matches on a Wednes-day afternoon to show their support.

This supplement acts as a stepping-stone to-wards the progression of a concept passed down from VPS to VPS called 'sport under one ban-ner'. As many are aware there are numerous guild sport societies; seven of which are BUCS competi-tive sports and UBS have taken notice of these teams and the other com-petitive sports, and are working towards housing these sports under their brand. Currently with lim-ited resources due to the sheer size of the UB Sport

departments, support would not be financial but similar to the support re-ceived for clubs who pay their club development fee; support with facility hire, nutritional advice, physio support, approval to use the UB Sport brand, affiliation fees, insurance etc. Creating a sense of unity amongst all sports has been a key objective for most VPS' and collec-tively we have contribut-ed to putting the wheels in motion.

Further to this, speak-ing on behalf of the thou-sands of students already interested in sport and who may pick up a copy of Redbrick, flicking to the back pages of the pa-per has become habit. With this in mind, Red-brick would like to see a contribution from read-ers as to how the section can develop. Take your views online to the web-site www.redbrickonline.co.uk where you can leave a comment and complete the brief survey from Red-brick Sport. This poll will hopefully give an over-

view on the idea of hav-ing a summary of BUCS results every week and a summary of fixtures for the pending week. Let us know what you think.

This insert has been written by numerous hardworking and dedi-cated students and I'd like to give a special mention to Redbrick Sport edi-tors Tom Clarke and Ben Whitelaw for their contri-bution. Inseparable, they are two of the most con-fident and driven people I know and have turned my vision into reality and I can only say thank you!

If you have any feed-back on the pullout, please get in touch with me or the editors; we'd love to here from you.

WELCOME TO THE LION

Page 3 – Home grown coaches

Jessica Blackburn speaks to three Brumcoaches who, having graduated, have stayed on to coach their teams to success

Page 4 – Do Birmingham lack support in the big events?

Mesh Johal examines the lack of support for the university's major sporting events and assesses the impact of team performance

Page 5 – The big interview

Birmingham alumnus Chrissie Wellington has won the Ironman World Champion-ship three times. Ben Whitelaw spoke to her

Page 6 – We have our say before you decide to play

Ever wanted to try out a sport but never got round to it? Redbrick Sport and Oli Sly are here to help

Page 7 – A day in the life of a sport scholar

What does it take to make it as a sport scholar at Birmingham? Dave Rudge spends a day with one to find out

Page 8 – Is it time that intra-league changed?

Michael Horrocks asks why Birmingham's intra-league sports aren't what they should be

THIS ISSUE

Katie FordVP Sport

vps@guild.bham.ac.uk

Katie celebrating BUCS success with the water polo team in March

Editorial InformationEditorsBen Whitelaw Tom ClarkeKatie Ford

Editorial teamDave RudgeJonathan GilbertSimon Hall

Editorial AssistantsNadine Baldwick

To contact Redbrick Sport: sports@redbrickonline.co.uk@redbricksport

To contact us:

RedbrickGuild of StudentsEdgbaston Park RoadBirminghamB15 2TU

0121 251 2462redbrick@guild.bham.ac.ukwww.redbrickonline.co.uk

Advertising: Contact Aimee Fitzpatrick in Guild Marketing on 0121 251 2524 or a.fitzpatrick@guild.bham.ac.uk

Redbrick is printed through www.quotemeprint.com: 08451 300667.Designed and typeset by Redbrick.

Front cover photo of Chrissie Wellington by Tim Mantoani – Tim Mantoani Photography www.mantoani.com

Copyright (C) Redbrick 2009

Redbrick strives to uphold the NUJ Code of Conduct. The views expressed in Redbrick do not necessarily reflect those of the editors, the Guild or the pub-lishers. If you find an error of fact in our pages, please write to the Editor. Our policy is to correct mistakes promptly in print and to apologise where appropriate. We reserve the right to edit any article, letter or email submitted for publica-tion.

03

Name: Jack Grylls

Club/Position: Lacrosse Club Captain

Course : Mathematics

What is the best thing about being Club Cap-tain?

The best thing is being involved in the club and helping the men's side develop into a force to be reckoned with. This year we have started a men's 2nd team and it's been great getting more people involved.

What do you most enjoy about lacrosse?

I never got to play rugby at school because I grew up in central London so being able to try and throw my weight around a bit and hit people hard is amazing.

Do you see yourself as having a long-term career in the sport?

I think there's more chance of me getting a first in my degree and seeing as I'm answering these ques-tions instead of revising for a test I have tomorrow that's very unlikely!

Who are the hardest opponent you've faced?

Either Oxford last year who seemed to decide they wanted to win by a certain amount of goals. Or Nottingham this year who have half of the Eng-land development squad playing for them.

What is your best memory of an individual game?

Last year Luke Williams, our captain, sent an un-suspecting Cardiff player sideways in the air with a check. I don't think I will ever see a better hit.

Can your teams win the championship this year?

Our men's team is in the hardest league in the country and, although we are currently some way behind Nottigham, we are still developing. Our aim is to win the Plate and if we play our best, we have a chance at that. Our wom-en's team, on the other hand, are still unbeaten and a win against Durham in two weeks time could see them crowned cham-pions! Their aim is to win everything as for the past four years they have won silver in the finals.

CAPTAIN'S CORNER

by James Phillips

BEHIND every successful sports team, there is an even better coach. This is especially true at the University of Birmingham, with UB Sport increasing funding over the last two years to improve contact between sports teams and their coaches. However, some of the University's best coaches are those that once attended Bir-mingham and have gone on to coach the sports that they competed in whilst students.

Three coaches in par-ticular have excelled in a coaching capacity after hanging up their boots. Chris Wright, in his first season as manager, led the men's football first team to the semi-finals of the 08-09 BUCS Cham-pionship. Nick Wilkins led his korfball team to regional glory in 2007 before going onto secure gold at the BUCS Champi-onship final last year. Kat Merchant, the women's rugby union first team coach, has led the team to win all six of their match-es this year and are top of their league. But why have they all come back to coach their respective sports after graduating? Nick Wilkins, the Korfball head coach, says he 'felt as though I could give so much back to a sport that had given me so much'.

Three very different coaches, each got into coaching in a different way. Wilkins 'opted to step in and start coaching the team as a player-coach' when the team's coach moved away in his fourth year. Merchant led some of the fitness sessions when she was a student and ended up as the Backs coach, which was 'a fan-tastic opportunity to work with the girls on a more regular basis'. Wright, who graduated with a 2.1 in sport and exercise sci-ence, had been coaching at a local academy before he came to university. He became more involved in coaching university sport

in his second year on the way to getting his UEFA B coaching license.

It was particularly interesting to note how the coaches believed how playing at Birmingham had directly affected their methods of coaching and their teams' style of play. Chris noted that the 'cul-ture and the environment of the University deter-mines how you play foot-ball'. He implied that, the intelligence of the players meant that they played an aesthetic style of foot-ball, as opposed to other universities, who 'play a more direct style'. He also noted the importance of facilities; 'the Track pitch is fantastic which allows the playing of open attrac-tive football'.

Nick was a little more sentimental in his re-sponse to the question. 'If I was coaching at a differ-ent university I would still coach to the best of my abilities; however, I feel as though a small part of my passion for the sport would be lost in my coach-ing, and left behind in the sports halls of the Mun-row'. The Welsh korfball international continued: 'Being an alumni, I have more of an affinity with the University and I think that that helps me take great pride in gaining re-sults, which in turn fuels me to get the most from my players.' This typifies the passion that goes into the sports at Birmingham and the time and dedica-tion required. Not only do all the players of any sport want to win, but so do the people behind them.

Wright corroborated Wilkins' need to under-stand the importance of sport at Birmingham. 'It's important to have a coach that loves the sport and the University, who un-derstands the history, where it's come from and where it's going'. He went on to say that the fund-ing the current coaches and the players coming up the ranks is just as, if

not more, important than bringing new coaches in. 'Once you fall in love with it you never want to leave. That's why Alex Merry (men's football second team coach) and I are still here after graduating'.

Rachel Shepherd, of Sport Development, said that the value of sports coaches cannot be un-derestimated. As a result, each new coach has an in-duction process whereby they are made familiar with the University envi-ronment. 'After just one year of increased fund-ing, we are already seeing great benefits of inputting this financial resource'. With new coaches to the University being given a strong support system, it seems the emphasis is on getting the coaches

settled and happy in their environment.

Such is arguably why Birmingham's graduates are excelling. 'A non-graduate of the University could, over time, start to appreciate what a uni-

versity can do to support you, but being a gradu-ate definitely puts you one step ahead early on' Wilkins noted. This seems to be a positive reason for employing more coaches from the University and supporting students who feel that they would like a chance to become more involved in the coaching side of sport. Shepherd said, 'Our coaches, wheth-er they are contracted, paid on a casual basis or volunteers, are a vital part of the development of our sports teams. More than

that, they are a fundamen-tal part of the success of UBSport'.

The bottom line is that Birmingham is whole-heartedly dedicated to putting money directly into coaching to improve the performance of indi-vidual sports. Shepherd noted that other coaches, including women's la-crosse coach, Dave Albini have been the main rea-son for the vast improve-ment in results over the last couple of years.

The argument that Wilkins, Merchant and Wright present is a con-vincing one. The idea be-ing that having a coach who once competed at Bir-mingham will be an advan-tage over a coach brought in from another university or country, however bril-liant their achievements beforehand.

Here's to hoping that the level of coaching at the University of Birming-ham continues to grow and progress and that the current crop of players go on to learn the ropes of coaching. The successful results of Nick Wilkins, Kat Merchant and Chris Wright certainly offer hope for the future.

Birmingham graduates make highly successful coachesJESSICA BLACKBURN speaks to

three successful Birmingham

coaches about swapping their

playing shirt for a whistle and

clipboard

Being an alumni, I

have more of an affinity

with the University

Nick Wilkins – Korfball Head Coach

Photos by Tom Flathers

Wright oversees a late night training session on the Metchley 3G pitch

Kat Merchant spurs on her players duringa session

’’

THE LION / DECEMBER 2009

THE LION / DECEMBER 200904 Why Brum's 'Big Events' are not that bigMESH JOHAL asks why students aren't engaging with university sport BIRMINGHAM has long been an epicentre of uni-versity sporting success. The university's position near the top of the BUCS table is evidence of the commitment of the ath-letes towards sporting ex-cellence. But with only ten per cent of the student body competing in sports teams, what are the other ninety per cent doing to support University sport?

The answer is not much. The recent 'Big Events' have shown a dis-tinct lack of support for university sport. Whilst last month's XpLosION was a success, the Rug-by 'Big Events' and most matches in the 'Clash of the Titans' series against Loughborough saw poor attendance figures com-pared to recent years. So what is it about Univer-sity of Birmingham Sport (UBS) events that are not attracting people to come and watch?

The 'Big Events' are run by UBS marketing manager Glen O'Donovan. When questioned about the aims of the events, O'Donovan was clear with what he hoped to achieve. 'The Big Events are an op-portunity to showcase sport at the University. We want to put on com-petitive sporting spec-tacles which promote the University of Birmingham Sport brand.'

In the past, the rugby union 'Big Event' has cre-ated a great deal of hype around campus. In 2007, the match attracted over a thousand spectators caus-ing stands to be erected in the Bournbrook car park to cope with the numbers. This year's game, by com-parison, saw a disappoint-ingly low turnout to watch Brum lose in a close con-test against Nottingham University.

The question is what has changed between 2007 and the poorly at-tended match in October this year? 'We were very disappointed by the at-tendance of the game.' Donovan said. 'The late kick-off was a definite fac-

tor. Maybe an earlier kick off would have been more accommodating to stu-dents. Also the game used to have the lure of the ri-valry between Brum and Loughborough which this year it obviously lacked.'

Whilst there has seen a fall in support for the rugby union 'Big Event', the annual XpLosION was a success this year. Fifteen hundred spectators came to watch BUAFL Champi-ons the Birmingham Lions, the Pussycat Cheerlead-ers, Birmingham Dance Squad and an extravagant fireworks display. An un-known quantity to most of the spectators, American football provides some-thing new with its unique spectacle of entertain-ment and sport.

With this is mind, the offering of new and dif-ferent events should be a line of action taken by UBS. A Varsity or inter-city event could be a potential concept that may see an increase in spectatorship at UBS events. The Var-sity competitions in cities such as Leeds, Notting-ham and Newcastle are huge events which attract thousands of students to watch competitive and en-tertaining sport. During the recent Leeds Varsity between Leeds University and Leeds Metropolitan University, ten thousand students came onto cam-pus to support their fel-low students whilst seven thousand went to Head-ingly Stadium for the rug-by union finale.

Although Birmingham have the 'Clash of the Ti-tans', in which nine UBS teams play against Lough-borough on one afternoon, this was something of an anticlimax when it took place in early November. Of the fixtures, only the men's basketball really captured the imagination of the event, as a bois-terous and vocal crowd turned up to support the home side.

On the potential oc-currence of a Varsity event, Katie Ford, the VP Sport was cautious about the idea. 'The problem is twofold. Firstly, Warwick already have a Varsity series against Coventry whilst the other universi-ties in Birmingham do not have the sporting strength to participate in a Var-sity series. In addition to this Club Development, BUCS and Premier League matches must take priori-ty over what is effectively a friendly.'

Birmingham's elevat-ed position in the BUCS

table justifies this focus on performance in BUCS competitions over any additional tournaments. But, if an annual Varsity match was organised, against Loughborough for example, the competition against the number one sporting academic estab-lishment in the country would not only help our athletes but may inspire students to come and support Birmingham on a weekly basis.

The result could even see crowd figures match those of Leeds Metropoli-tan University, whose em-phasis on sports has seen crowd numbers soar with thirty percent of students now engaging in sport-ing events throughout the year. If Birmingham could get ten thousand students

to support the University teams in the 'Big Events', it may be a catalyst for more people to come and sup-port the University teams on Wednesday afternoons when BUCS points are won and lost.

The worry, however, is that this problem may not be confined to Bir-mingham. With informa-tion readily available on the BUCS and UBS website, posters for events and a Facebook group, sport at

Birmingham is well ad-vertised. Is support for university sports teams therefore a national prob-lem and is Birmingham just another example of a wider problem?

On the matter O'Donovan said, 'Univer-sity sport is definitely un-der-supported and under-

valued in the UK. There is no regional or national coverage of some of the best athletes in the coun-try. From a Birmingham point of view, that is why we try and run these 'Big Events'. Sport at Birming-ham is so important to our culture and these events are provided to enhance the 'campus experience'.

With just one percent of Brum students watching weekly UBS matches, it is clear that students are not engaging as O'Donovan would wish. The success of the clubs involved in these 'Big Events' could be a reason for students staying away. In the case of the rugby union club, their disappointing sea-son on the field has seen a decline in support off it. O'Donovan believes this could be key. 'When I started five years ago we beat Loughborough in one of our first 'Big Events'. Then, we were a Premiership side, play-ing competitive rugby against the best universi-ties in the country. People want to see and support a successful team and un-fortunately the decline in recent years could well be

a factor'.Financial limitations

of UBS could be another factor preventing more extravagant events. The cost of fireworks for XpLo-sION, for example, would have been high. If more funding was available to UBS, bigger events could be produced, which could mean more people watch-ing UBS events.

The timing of univer-sity sports matches on a Wednesday is another is-sue that has been raised. Ford was realistic about the matter. 'With the na-ture of Wednesday af-ternoon sport, clubs and teams are often unable to support each other due to clashing fixtures. Further-more, students who may not necessarily compete in sports may have other commitments on Wednes-day afternoons, such as studying or society meet-ings for example'.

At the end of the day, University of Birmingham Sport is a successful brand which contains the sport-ing stars of the future. So if you're not doing any-thing on Wednesday after-noon, go down to a game and offer your support.

Photo: Laura Rainsford

The 'Big Events' are an

opportunity to showcase

sport at the University

Glen O'Donovan - UBS marketing manager’

’

November's xpLosION was one of the few 'Big Events' that was well supported

University sport participation

THE LION / DECEMBER 2009 05

CHRISSIE Wellington racks up more miles than Phileas Fogg but wouldn't have it any other way. The University of Birmingham alumnus has visited more US states in the past few months than she can care to count and capped it all in Hawaii in October by winning the 2009 Ford World Ironman Champion-ships, setting a new world record in the process. Astoundingly, it was her third consecutive victory in only her third world championships as a pro-fessional triathlete. Talk about indomitable.

Wellington is different from other world champi-ons. She breaks the rule that it is essential for an athlete to be dedicated to their sport from knee high, groomed into cham-pions by parents keen for success. Wellington did nothing of the sort, only running her first triathlon in May 2004 at the age of 27. 'I kind of fell into tri-athlons' Wellington says casually. 'Before I started I knew absolutely nothing about triathlon or Iron-man. I only got into it by chance when I was up in Birmingham visiting some friends. I was swimming at Tiverton Pool with a friend who was a member of the BRAT (Birmingham Run-ning and Triathlon) Club when a guy came up to me a said 'You're pretty good

at swimming and I have heard you run as well. You should join the club and do a triathlon'. I protest-ed, saying that I couldn't as I lived in London, but he insisted it wasn't an is-sue and I joined.'

That man, the man who spotted and encour-aged a future triple world champion, was Paul Rob-ertshaw, a triathlete en-thusiast and owner of the TriFirst store in Har-bourne. Robertshaw re-members the day he met Wellington vividly. 'I will obviously never forget the first time I met Chris-sie when she turned up to join in that BRAT Club swim session. Her love for training was immediately obvious, and I quickly got a measure of her enthu-siasm when I suggested that she should have a go at triathlon. No-one could ever have predicted how successful she would be-come but it was pretty safe bet that however far she progressed she would give it her best shot and, at the same time, enjoy the adventure immense-ly.' Wellington and Rob-ertshaw are still in touch and meet up in Birming-ham whenever she isn't navigating North America and winning World Cham-pionships.

In the three years af-ter dipping her toe into the waters of triathlons,

Wellington morphed into a world champion. In that short space of time, the Suffolk born athlete went from a position of hav-ing never run a triathlon to turning professional in 2007, just eight months before becoming World

Champion. When asked what she would put the speed of her success down to, Wellington is as clini-cal with her response as she is with her picking off her competitors during a race. 'Mainly untapped talent which required me to explore it. I believe many people have talent that they often don't have the courage to explore. On top of that a coach that believed in me and realised my potential. A healthy training environ-ment was key too as I was able to learn quickly.'

She saves the most im-portant ingredient to her success until last. 'Then there is inner drive. I am an impatient person and I didn't really want to be second best for very long. I put my heart and soul

into the sport quite early and as a result, I got to love the sport, the train-ing, the lifestyle and the masochism. It is as much mental as it is physical and I see a triathlon as a challenge rather than be-ing daunted by it.'

Just like Phileas', Chrissie's journey is one of impressive length and adventure. She came to study Geography at Bir-mingham in 1995 with a view to taking every op-portunity that came her way and was Chairperson of BUNAC, an organisa-tion which enables young people to work overseas. On top of that, she was captain of the University Swimming team but freely admits that the social side of the sport was equally important as training hard. 'The weekly Sports Night at the Union was the highlight of the train-ing week! Gary Humpage was my swimming coach whilst at university and still has great success with the club. He used to get annoyed with me a bit

as I maybe didn't concen-trate as much as I should have done during session but he is still my number one supporter.'

Throughout her time at university, aside from the odd drunken night at the Guild with her fellow athletes, Wellington's pri-orities always lay with her academic course and she was determined from the start to make her studies count. 'University was very much about the academic when I was a student.' said Wellington. 'Ask any of my tutors and they will agree I was a diligent student who was committed to the academic work. Sport was a recreation for me at that stage.' It was therefore no surprise when Welling-ton graduated with a first class honours degree and more than enough expe-rience to spur her on to achieve more in life.

Periods spent in Man-chester completing an MA, in London working for the UK Government and Kath-mandu in Nepal working for the Nepalese develop-ment NGO, Rural Recon-struction Nepal (www.rrn.org.np) followed but Wellington is quick to ad-mit the way in which her three years at Birmingham shaped her most as a per-son. 'University, for me, offered so much in terms of independence, a chance to live for and by myself

and to think analytically. It helped to develop my mental strength, determi-nation and drive and gave me a desire to explore and to take opportunities. It was a pivotal part of my life and I look back on it incredibly fondly.' The end of the journey led to October and her victori-ous race in Hawaii.

Despite being argu-ably the greatest female triathlete of all time, Wel-lington is still motivated to progress on the Iron-man distances of 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile cycle ride and 26.2 mile run. 'As any athlete, my goal is sim-ply to improve. I want to be stronger and faster than my last race and to not rest until my poten-tial has been filled. At the moment, I still feel as if I have a way to go before that is the case.' 'It's not about times or victories; it's about enjoying what I do and ensuring I improve with every race' she con-tinued. 'Records and times are not the be all and end all. I simply want to aim for the top and to raise the bar for other competi-tors to reach.'

With her recent suc-cess in America, life sim-ply couldn't be much sweeter for the former University of Birmingham student. It's no wonder she signs off her emails with 'smiles, Chrissie'.

Chrissie Wellington is the The Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year for 2009. The day before receiving her award, BEN WHITELAW caught up with her to talk about her success

Photos courtesy of http://www.chrissiewellington.org

Wellington the warrior

University, for me,

offered so much in terms

of independence’’

THE LION / DECEMBER 200906

BUCS update: How has Birmingham done this term?

WHEN asked a few weeks ago by the Redbrick Sport editors to whip out my short sport shorts for the evening, of course, I duly obliged. But before anyone jumps to conclu-sions, I will clarify that this was purely for sports reporting purposes. I had been asked to go and try out a table tennis session to see what all the fuss was about. Arriving at the Murow Sports Centre on a chilly Monday night, I was slightly nervous about what I might find. After all, I had reported on the men's first team on a num-ber of occasions and had struggled to write down what was going on it was so fast paced, let alone play the game myself.

But what could really go wrong? After all, I've played tennis for many years so surely I'd be able to cope with a mini ver-sion except on a table. Ob-viously there are a few dif-ferences; the racket being much smaller and made out of rubber and wood instead of the graphite frame with strings; the ball being much smaller and made of celluloid in-stead of the rubber and felt; the table being nine times smaller than the court; the serve having to bounce on both sides of the net; the sets being first to eleven points; the requirement, in doubles, to play alternate shots; if

you swing the racket to hit the ball it will end up miles outside the table…right, OK, so it's nothing like tennis. This didn't put me off, however. I was forgetting that I had dab-bled in the sport only a few years previous before being forced to retire af-ter not being bothered to continue playing follow-ing GCSE PE.

I entered the New Gym ready for battle, waiting for my first challenger…and yet no-one came over. I knew what was going on though; these savvy table-tennis players had obviously done their re-search. They knew that facing the man with a 24 out of 25 score from his P.E. GCSE table tennis was a potential banana skin and didn't want to be em-barrassed. Or it could, of course, been the fact that the waiting club members were all wondering who this loner was and not had a clue what I was doing there. Although the lat-ter was the more likely, I comforted my insecurities with the first explanation and the hope that they had heard about my sting-ing forehand.

Finally, however, I was called over to a table by someone who had ob-viously taken pity on me and we started warming up with some cross table rallies. Despite starting to get into a rhythm of shot-

making, I couldn't help but notice the pair on the table next to us, who were producing spin faster than Tony Blair. Perhaps there were reasons to doubt my abilities after all, a fact confirmed later by my old reliable service action em-barassingly deserting me in front of the squad.

However, I needn't have worried. I was even-tually partnered up with club captain Will Elliott

who could deliver some of his own ferocious top-spin, whilst I focused on just returning the ball to keep the rally going. It soon became apparent to me that this was not a team training session, but simply a social for those who wished to come and participate and to socia-lise with others who also enjoy playing the sport.

Despite being ten weeks in to the first term, there were still debutants

like myself trying out the session for the first time, and it was clear from the friendly nature of the group and their inclusive-ness that they welcome beginners whatever the time of year. Elliott ex-plained to me that whilst the first team is the focus throughout the rest of the week, the two hours put aside on a Monday night are simply for those who wish to just come and en-

joy themselves. Equipment, however,

was a problem in need of addressing, and whilst the session was not over-crowded, he admitted that more tables were needed 'We have been looking for more tables and have had two recently delivered but we've been asking for a few weeks now for them to be put up and it hasn't happened.'

On the subject of the first team, he added that

there were currently plans in place for an additional team next year. 'We would like to have a second team up and running next year but the team this year have done alright, with two wins, two losses and a match to be rearranged.; I have been to watch the side on a few occasions this season and one thing that strikes me, is the su-perb organisation of the team itself. The players have to make their own match and travel arrange-ments as well as umpire and score their own match-es as there are no profes-sionals on hand to do so. All is done efficiently and with no complaints, the team members fulfilling these duties due to their passion for the sport and the willingness to repre-sent the University.

The team have got a tough record to follow though, the club finishing 1st and 2nd in the Men's Northern Premier divi-sion in 05/06 and 06/07 respectively. However, this does not necessarily set the standard for the rest of the club. Whilst the first team is full of for-mer and current county players, the more relaxed

training sessions do not have any particular ability level tagged to them, with the club encouraging as many people as possible from all abilities to come along and participate. The Monday sessions re-quire casual commitment as there are no limits as to how long you have to stay, who you play or how good you are. Neither is it a commitment to be there week in, week out; it a case of turning up as and when you choose to.

Whether looking to start out in the sport, have a knock-about or test your abilities for the Birmingham side, Monday nights at the Munrow are the place to start. And af-ter taking away an almost unbeaten record myself (helped significantly by the much better standard of partners I was landed with), only ruined in the final minutes by a 3-0 singles hammering, I may well be returning to have another go next week af-ter thoroughly enjoying the experience.

Sessions begin at 5:15pm and last approxi-mately two hours, no kit is required and bats and balls are provided.

The club 'producing spin faster than Tony Blair' OLI SLY learns that table tennis is not just tennis on a table

I focused on just

returning the ball to keep

the rally going’’

Photo: Tom Flathers

AFTER slipping to fourth in the BUCS Championship table last year, Birming-ham have started strongly in their quest to re-turn to the top three sporting institutions in the country.

Notable perfor-mances so far include the women's rowing team. Their lightweight pair and lightweight double skulls picked up four BUCS points each at

the Small Boats Head meet at the end of October.

In addition to this, the women's swimming

team earnt Birming-ham four cru-

cial points in the women's 200m back-stroke at the Short Course s w i m m i n g

meet at Ponds Forge in Shef-

field two weeks

ago.Birmingham were also

helped by the strong per-formance of the ju-jitsu team who picked up two points at Atemi National Championships at the Tel-ford International Centre in November.

It can only be hoped that these strong perfor-mances continue and that Birmingham have success in the BUCS Finals week-end at Easter.

Sly lets fly with a measured forehand during a table tennis session at the Munrow

Overall wins at home

6%

55%39%

Win

Lose

Draw

1st 2nd 3rd 4th

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

Overall wins by teams

THE LION / DECEMBER 2009 07ASK the majority of Eng-land's population about Gaelic football and the re-sponse will likely be one of bemusement. Venture over to the Emerald Isle though and the Irish of-fer up a very different re-sponse. Believe it or not Gaelic football is Ireland's number one sport. It gar-ners thirty four percent of sport spectators in Ire-land, with football reciev-ing sixteen percent and rugby union just eight percent.

Gaelic football is a bi-zarre concoction of foot-ball, rugby and Aussie rules, melded together to create a physical and fast paced sport of which the Irish are fiercely proud. As in Aussie rules, the ball can be passed with the palm of your hand or with your feet and, simi-larly to rugby, points are scored by kicking the ball between posts. The differ-ence with Gaelic football is that, like football, it is possible to score by kick-ing or throwing the ball into the goal, which is re-warded with three points.

The game is more physical than football but less so than rugby, with players permitted to slap the ball out of other play-ers' hands. Where Gaelic football differs substan-tially from other sports, however, is dribbling. Players are forbidden from running more than four steps without bounc-ing the ball or kicking it back into their hands, a skill known as 'soloing'.

You needn't travel as far as Ireland to sample Gaelic football though. Thanks to the hard work of Joe Hopkins, the Uni-versity of Birmingham now has its own Gaelic football team. The team trains every Wednesday at 2:30pm at Selly Park, with matches played on Sundays at Eringobrach in Erdingtion, Birming-ham. It costs £20 to join the men's team and £10 to join the women's. At pres-ent, the men's team play in the regional Wales and Midland league along with Aston, Newman College, Aberystwyth and Worces-ter. Come February, they will switch to the BUCS Championship.

In terms of funding, Hopkins, who began the club in March 2009, com-mented that he thought the Guild had been 'very generous in giving over £1000 to the club to date'. However, he also expressed dismay that the club are unable to be

recognised as an AU mem-ber. Funding from the AU, he said, would mean the 'Guild wouldn't have to fund the club and money could be spent on other Guild societies'.

Hopkins, who is the club's chair, spent last summer searching for sponsorship, and after a series of knockbacks, he finally agreed a deal with Posh Pavings whereby the players drop off leaflets advertising the business's services in return for com-mission on any sales in Edgbaston and Bournville. So far the club have been given close to £1000 and this has allowed them to purchase the balls, kit and equipment they need.

It certainly hasn't been plain sailing for the club. They have had to contend with archaic Gaelic rules, which forbid any club from wearing kit made by anyone other than an Irish manufacturer. This rules out Kukri, and as a result the club have been forced to wear kits emblazoned with a different Birming-ham badge.

Despite the various setbacks, the team are lucky this year to have the services of Birmingham student Shane Waters, a qualified Gaelic football coach currently playing St. Kierans, London under-21's and now Birmingham. The club has also been helped out by Ger Noone, an Irish coach who set up the Newman College team and also works for the GAA in Warwickshire (the English Gaelic football equivalent of the FA).

The club welcomes new members especially those with no prior expe-rience of Gaelic football. Indeed, Joe noted that, 'most of the players hadn't seen a full size pitch be-fore.' The club are aiming to make the game more accessible and are trying to set up a six-a-side ver-sion which they hope will be up and running by the start of next year.

When quizzed on his reasons for taking up Gaelic football as op-posed to the traditional football, Hopkins said that he enjoyed 'the indi-vidual battle element of the game'. He stated that he 'wasn't great at foot-ball and it was nice to do something different'. For those also keen to try something different, contact gaelic_football@hotmail.com or UBGAC@guild.bham.ac.uk.

TWO weeks ago I trailed judo scholar Diego Scar-done to gain an insight into his lifestyle and the pressures of balancing work, training and social-ising which are faced by all sport scholars.

Brazilian-born Scar-done moved to the UK four years ago. The 22-year-old first year political science student trains for 2-5 hours a day, six days a week. He attends lectures and seminars whilst near-ly all of his free time is de-voted to personal study. He kindly took time out of his packed schedule to meet me in the Avon Room where we discuss sports injuries, parties and politics.

Diego begins by explain-ing: 'Judo is an Olympic

sport with an oriental phi-losophy. The main objec-tive is to get the highest score, like the knockout in boxing. Through standing techniques you can throw the person so they land on their back; that is the maximum score in judo. In ground work, to get your opponent to tap out, you can either strangle your opponent or use arm locks where the person can't cope with the pain in their joints so they tap.'

He indicated physi-cal strength is an intrin-sic part of the sport: 'I go to the gym once a day. I'm doing muscle build-ing three or four times a week. I never enjoy going to the gym. I can't under-stand why people do. For athletes, we don't go to the gym to enjoy it; we have to go. Gym training and endurance training are really hard. Though judo training is harder, I prefer judo.'

Scardone revealed he has been out of action since February this year after injuring his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). 'I had to have ACL recon-struction in my knee. At first, the doctor said my ACL was damaged by

about 50 per cent and my coach said I should have the operation right away. But my doctor and physio said no; try to strengthen your quads and hamstrings and hope-fully avoid the operation. One year later I was in the New York Open and I rup-tured my ACL. It's frus-trating but it's something you have to expect in high performance.'

On the subject of diet, Diego talks at length about the strict eating re-gimes of professional ath-letes. 'My diet is really re-stricted because I have to weigh less than 66 kilos. Usually I am two or three kilos over. I always have to push my muscle mass as high as I can and in or-der to do that, I can't eat saturated fat.'

Scardone added that getting a good night's sleep is just as important as what he eats. 'I had a few problems when I ar-rived in Birmingham be-cause I was sleeping in halls. I couldn't cope with the parties and I've moved from the halls because I couldn't sleep. I live in Selly Oak now with other athletes and things are better. Usually I go to bed at 11pm and get up at 7am for gym sessions, so I get about eight hours sleep.'

Due to his rigorous training schedule, Scar-done doesn't socialise as much as other students. 'We have to have strong commitment. That means sometimes I won't be able to go out with my friends. But that's fine. Since I was twelve, I couldn't go to friends' birthday parties because I had competi-tions. And I can't drink during competitions oth-erwise I won't be able to fight. That doesn't mean I don't drink. I will drink a glass of wine, but I wouldn't compromise my performance.'

Diego says that his greatest achievement was winning his first gold medal when he was nine. 'It wasn't prestigious but

it meant a lot. I was eight when I started competing, and for a year I didn't win a fight. The year after, I started winning all the competitions.'

'I started judo because my teacher couldn't con-trol me. I was hyperactive and she advised my mum to take me to judo class. My parents pushed me a lot, sometimes too much. There were times when I hated judo. But looking back, it was amazing what my parents did.'

We stop at Di-ego's request outside the

Aston Webb Building in order to attend the protest against the Department of Sociology's closure. The weather is miserable but Diego's enthusiasm isn't dampened as he hands out fliers to the raucous crowd. We stay and sup-port the demonstration for a good hour.

It becomes clear to me during the course of the afternoon that Scardone is something of an idealist. Despite the fact that he would not be personally affected by the review of the department, the cause is one that's clearly very close to his heart. He told me: 'Students have a con-tract with the University. That is a legal contract and it should be an ethical contract. They have stud-ied for years to get here and from the moment they're paying, the insti-tution has to serve them as they said they would. The fact that they may close Media, Culture and Society is very sad. I think the process should be re-viewed with participation from students, staff and the University.'

We return to the Avon Room for the

conclusion of the inter-view. I ask Diego what he enjoys most about his

course. 'Studying politi-cal science is like looking through special lenses. You understand why peo-ple behave the way they do; you can read between the lines. I would like to be involved in politics and judo after I gradu-ate. I would like to try to change people's lives through sport.'

Scardone speaks high-ly of his coach Fitzroy Da-vies. 'Fitz is a world class coach. He pushes me and I'm the kind of athlete who works better under pres-sure. He's committed and makes a lot of sense.' The interview comes to a close with Diego expressing his love of the UK. 'I think British people are really special. I don't really miss Brazil. My sister is grow-ing up here, my parents live here; I feel like this is home.'

I go to watch Scardone train at the Dojo at

the back of the Old Gym. He looks to be moving freely and doesn't appear to be in any discomfort as he repeatedly flips his sparring partner over his back. Now and then Fitz goes over to school Diego who listens intently.

I leave the Dojo with Di-ego telling me

that he plans to go straight to the library and read for three hours. At 10pm he will make his way home, eat and go straight to bed. The following day he'll wake up bright and early at 6am for training.

Scardone is hoping to return to full training by January when he will be-gin his preparation for the British University Champi-onships in March. A very likeable, level-headed young man, Diego, with his talent and profession-alism, has what it takes to become a future judo star.

A day in the life of a sports scholarHow do sports scholars fit it

all in? DAVE RUDGE spent

the day with judo scholar

Diego Scardone to find out

by James Mckelvie

11:00am

1:00pm

2:15pm

4:30pm

5:30pm

I started judo because

my teacher couldn't

control me’’

Focus on...Gaelic Football

THE LION / DECEMBER 200908

THE University of Bir-mingham's sports teams are some of the finest in the country, consistently finishing in the top three of the British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) championship table, but equally important to many students and staff is the Intra League, bring-ing competitive, orga-nized sport to over 2,000 members without the commitment and pressure of playing for the Univer-sity.

There are eight dif-ferent sports on offer in the Intra League this year, men's and women's six-a -side football, men's 11-a -side football, men's bas-ketball, mixed hockey, mixed netball and two new sports, men's futsal and mixed touch rugby.Birmingham's Intra League offers not only a variety of sports but is also grow-ing in size with the statis-tics showing significant growth over the last three years.

Mixed hockey in the 2007/2008 season had 112 members but that number has since grown totalling 256 for the current cam-paign. Growth has also been seen in men's 11-a-side football currently displaying 420 members, meaning 90 more stu-dents are involved than last year. Even the new sports have proved popu-lar in their first year, touch rugby with 70 members, futsal with 50. The rapid increase in Intra League

participation poses many questions including why it is so popular, and what motivates people to play?

Men's six-a-side foot-ball has held the vast majority of Intra League members in recent years, with 1,000 staff and stu-dents playing in each of the last three seasons. With leagues running at 12pm and 1pm every weekday the Intra League provides ample oppor-tunity for footballers of any ability to get involved whatever their reason to partake, truly providing

something for everyoneThe variety of rea-

sons to get involved with Intra League is displayed by the Medieval Battle Re-enactment' team, who find themselves sitting atop one of the leagues with six wins from as many games. Their cap-tain, Tom Jones, explains 'I entered the team with a group of friends for fun, but being competitive as I am, I want to win every game'. Fred Clarke, anoth-er member of this success-ful side is kept interested for different reasons say-

ing, 'For me it is a great way to keep fit, and gives me something to look for-ward to at the end of each week', before adding 'of course it's much more en-joyable when you win'.

Students make up the bulk of the six-a-side league teams but Intra League is also open to staff from the University, an opportunity many are grateful for as it gives them a role in university sport. Catherine Adams, the Intra League co-ordi-nator, says 'from research we've done, staff take part

to get them out of the of-fice environment during lunch, and also to improve teamwork and meet new members of staff from other departments'.

A large number of first years initially get involved through their halls of resi-dence teams which are or-ganised each year by their Sports Representative, but there is not always space for everyone. James Carroll, the current Sports Representative for Tennis Courts says, 'football has generated the most inter-est this year and I've had

to turn people away from the 11-a-side team which is a shame, especially as many of them were unsuc-cessful in the University trials'. Tennis Courts have also been over subscribed in Mixed Hockey which shows there is enough in-terest to expand the Intra-League further.

Mixed hockey is the most consistently ex-panding sport in the Intra League over the last three years, with a large range of ability on display al-lowing anyone to get in-volved. Graham Hulbert, captain of the 'Engineer-ing Eagles' and repre-sentative for the entire league has played Intra League hockey for five years and speaks highly of the role it plays in uni-versity sport. He says 'the standard is so variable. Many of our players left the University team for a variety of reasons whilst other members are just looking to try something new which makes it pretty special'.

Intramural hockey of-fers the chance not only offers the chance to play mixed ability but also mixed sex sport, which Hulbert says 'takes the nasty edge of competi-tiveness away for games, though people still want to win'. The 'Engineering Eagles' train weekly and hold regular socials giv-ing students in the team an experience not too dis-similar from a local club.

Women's six-a-side

football is where you see a lot of students taking up the sport competitively for the first time. Harriet Bur-ford played for her halls team in her first year say-ing 'I had always enjoyed watching football, but this was my first chance to play competitively, I have great fun'. The sad fact is that many students do not get involved with the Intra-League again after their first year. 'We looked into entering this year, but it was too expensive' said Burford, a view that is re-flected in the number of participants this year fall-ing by 30 to 90 members, the lowest it has been in the last three years. Per-haps in order to keep ex-panding intramural sport should be made cheaper, though this is unlikely to happen when demand for places in other sports is so high.

The issue of sports-manship is important to the Intra League, particu-larly in six-a-side foot-ball where the games are self-refereed. Adams says 'sometimes there can be an issue when there is a discrepancy about a foul or goal, but generally it's not a problem. Everyone is aware when they sign up to Intra League, it's more about sportsman-ship and fair play, rather than serious competition'. 11-a-side football uses FA affiliated referees and the mixed hockey games are umpired by university team members a benefi-

cial arrangement for both parties as it improves umpiring skills. Intramu-ral Sport at Birmingham University is certainly in-creasing in popularity and needs to keep expanding to satisfy this growing de-mand. Adams describes how 'every year we have more demand. Unfortu-nately, we have to turn teams away each year be-cause we can't accommo-date them due to facility shortages. We have ex-tended leagues this year to involve more teams, but it's still not enough'.

Although Birmingham is currently running one of the biggest Intra League's in the country it is along way behind those of York and Newcastle. Intramural 11-a-side football reports regular feature on the back page of these univer-sities' newspapers with Chris Barnett, a student at York saying, 'it's good motivation to know that if you play well your name could make the back page of the paper'.

In order to appeal to a wider audience, and gen-erate similar interest lev-els as Newcastle and York, intramural sport at Bir-mingham needs to become less informal and take on a more competitive edge. Though, it should be re-membered that the fun-damental aim of the Intra League at Birmingham is to include everybody; an aim that should not be forgotten as it seeks to expand.

Intra League: time to get seriousMICHAEL HORROCKS examines why Birmingham's Intra League sport lacks the competitive edge seen at other universities

We looked into entering

this year, but it was too

expensive

Harriet Burford

’’

Photo: Tom Clarke

Photo: Tom Flathers

Photo courtesy of UB Sport