OXFORD BLUES AND
RUNNING SHOES: Somerville’s Sport & Wellbeing Fund by Niamh Walshe
F
rom rowing in the Boat Race to rugby at Twickenham, Oxford sport is famous around the world. Now a new Sport and Wellbeing Fund at Somerville will extend the benefits of sports and wellbeing to more staff and students than ever, writes Niamh Walshe (2015, English and Italian). Whether students participate at the highest levels of international competition, chase glory in Blues
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and Cuppers or seek a little light relief from the stresses of term, sport plays an integral role in the University experience of many, providing fond memories and friendship for life. Of course, exercise and getting outside are also fundamental ways in which many of us look after our wellbeing, even if organised sport doesn’t appeal.
across year groups and subjects – as well as spirited inter-collegiate competition! Recent highlights here include the highly anticipated formation of a Somerville-Corpus women’s rugby team and Cuppers success in swimming, netball, and the “Corpusville” men’s rugby team. The unavoidable conclusion is that giving students access to sport not only enhances their enjoyment of College life, but also helps build vital attributes such as resilience, teamwork and grit – all of which will help students succeed in their academic work and life after Somerville.
Somerville is no stranger to sporting excellence and continues to produce student-athletes who excel both on and off the pitch. Recent graduates and current Somervillians have represented the University in sports as diverse as lacrosse, rowing, powerlifting, fencing, tennis, and judo. Inspired by her own experience of Oxford sport (see inset, below), alumna Judith Buttigieg (Physics, To compete, these athletes manage 1989) has supported the creation of the time pressures of training a new Sport and Wellbeing Fund. alongside academic commitments Created in part to assist students with and the financial cost of high-level the costs of competing at a high level sporting participation; kit, coaching in specialist sports, it is also intended and club membership do not come to extend access for the many to the cheaply, not to mention the cost of general benefits of sport and active competition entry, travel and physio. wellbeing. For some, there may even be the additional cost of the coveted Blues blazer, should the season go their way! The first awards were distributed just before the March lockdown, assisting athletes in a variety of disciplines Alongside its teams, Somerville is from trampolining to powerlifting, also home to a number of sports amateur boxing to Blues swimming. societies that foster friendships
