Performance Sport report - Summer 2023

Photo credit: England Hockey

With another season inside the BUCS Top 10 secured and more than 3,000 points in the bank, it's been another hugely successful and inspiring season - all of which would not be possible without the commitment, dedication and energy of the students and the clubs to compete on a weekly basis in the colours of the University.

There are so many highlights to mention this year, but a few do stand out including Men's Hockey promotion to Super BUCS Prem - and with that, an unbeaten two-year record in the BUCS league competition - and our Netball first team being promoted to BUCS Prem for the first time, in coach Chani Wopara's first year To top an extraordinary story, Chani was awarded Coach of the Year at this year's Reds Awards in June - thoroughly deserved.

Participation in sport creates many special momentsand leaveslastingjoyfor ourstudents as they carry on their journeys after Bristol, safe in the knowledge that they gave their all each week The team of coaches and MDT staff have been outstanding this season, giving their time and energy consistently to support the development of students in sport and outside

This season will of course be remembered forthe devastating passing of our dearfriend and colleague Ben Dudley. The last few months have been overshadowed by this man's passing, leaving behind a true legacy of how to work with young people and make them smile, etched into the walls of the Performance office and on the Astros at Coombe Dingle We miss you, Ben

Our work in the Performance team and in this area will now hold his mantra close to our hearts in terms of his positivityin the way we approach our work in the coming days, weeks and months. This will drive us all on to all be 'a bit more Dudley’.

As the dust settles on this quite unique year, we will soon be ready to welcome new and returning students to Bristol for Pre-season on 21st August, and to start the journey all over again!

Thank you to all those who have contributed to another action-packed report, and for working hard all year to provide ongoing support and guidance to our students and clubs

Thank you to Nigel Wray and the Priory Foundation for your ongoing support. Also, to our donors and friends of the University for your continued generosity by way of gifts, donations, and words of support around the Performance programmes, students and our alumni.

Matt Paine Performance Sport Manager University of Bristol Sport

REDS AWARDS 2023

Around 80 students, staff and alumni gathered in Goldney Hall for the annual REDS Awards on Wednesday 14 June, to honour athletes and teams competing at the top of their game

This year, six students won a Bristol RED, including Phoebe Murray, rugby Scholar and Bristol Bears Women Centre, and Martin Nguyen, a powerlifter who took Bronze at the World Bench Pressing Championships in South Africa, in June

Read the University's full press release here including details on all of the award winners.

Rugby Scholar and Bristol RED Award winner Phoebe Murray

Alumna and Bristol Bears player Dr. Simi Pam during a Q&A with Matt Paine

Coach of the Year, Chani Wopara with Netball Captain and Director's Award winner, Connie Rutter

All images: FineTime Photography

Director of Sport, Matt Birch, opening the ceremony

With student teams now taking a well-earned rest from competition, all efforts turn to reflecting on the 2022/23 season; understanding what went well, what could be better, and how we can take this information and build on the success of this year.

Alongside some tremendously exciting administrative process improvements, part of the division’s Climate Action Group’s work has been a review of travel related to BUCS, consisting predominantly of travel to away fixtures. With 92 teams and 1000s of studentathletes competing in weekly home and away fixtures, the miles soon rack up, and we are looking at ways of increasing public transport use to curb the environmental effects of our programme, without reducing the amount of competitors As the largest (by area)* BUCS competitive region, transport continues to be a complex puzzle that we are looking to solve as part of the University’s ongoing pledge to reducing the climate effect of operations

*(to visit our three outermost-competing institutions and return to Coombe Dingle by road would take roughly 15 hours!)

We are now looking forward to introducing the newest cohort of student leaders to the intricacies (and fun) of BUCS competition throughout pre-season, particularly on the annual Club Captains' Day, this year taking place in our very own Pavilion on 13 September. This event offers student leaders the chance to meet the staff they will be working with for the next academic year, take on plenty of important information, and hopefully depart with the ability to recite BUCS Regulation 11.2 on demand.

As ever, the excitement and anticipation for another season builds – a great summer of sport; Wimbledon, the FIFA Women’s World Cup, and the Ashes (probably not the Men’s, accurate at time of writing) are a perfect warm-up for what we have in store once our student-athletes descend on Coombe Dingle for Pre-season 23/24.

Andrew Lanham BUCS and Competitions Administrator

Final BUCS League standings 2022/23

EUSA CHAMPIONSHIPS

Five of our clubs earned the right to compete at the European Universities Sport Association (EUSA) Championships this summer The competition attracts some of the best-performing on the continent, with teams required to place 4th or better in their national knockout competition to qualify.

Women's Football, 25 June - 2 July (Albania)

Final position: 11th

The team’s standout performance in Tirana was a 4-1 win against University of Wageningen, Netherlands.

Credits: All EUSA Sport

Men's Table Tennis, 4 - 9 July (Czech Republic)

The team performed well, progressing to the quarter finals in Olomouc following wins against University of Latvia and the University of Hamburg, Germany They were unfortunately knocked out by the University of Zamojski, Poland, who went on to win the competition.

Final positions: 5th (Team Singles), 17th (Doubles)

Men's Water Polo, 13 - 19 July (Hungary)

Final position: 6th

The team represented the University well in Miskolc - an aggregate 21-12 victory across two fixtures over domestic rivals University of Oxford, surely being a highlight.

Men's Futsal, 18 - 26 July (Croatia)

Final position: 19th

Drawn in a group with two of the competition’s strongest, University of Minho, Portugal, and Azerbaijan State Academy of P.E., the team showed no shortage of effort and intensity in Split, making the most of the opportunity they had earned, and learning a lot for the season to come.

Combat sports (Kickboxing), 20 - 23 July (Croatia)

Alex Allen travelled solo to Zagreb to represent the University in the Women's Kickboxing Points Fighting -65 She lost 10-0 at the quarter finals to Glykeria Koutsianou from Esslingen University (Germany), who went on to win the competition.

Credit: Alex Allen

CRICKET

SUMMARY

Another summer of University Cricket completed and it’s fair to say that UBCC is continuing to go from strength to strength. With now over 130 club members (up nearly 30% from last year) including 5 Men’s teams and 2 Women’s teams, there seems to be an air of excitement brewing already in anticipation for next year…

PERFORMANCE CRICKET

After a good winter program and so much excitement heading into our outdoor season, it was inevitable that the UK then faced its wettest March since 1981, with April not being much better

With many players frustrated at the lack of cricket, we looked to be as adaptable as possible, making the most of the facilities on offer; interclub games on the 4G, fielding practises on the astros, and, for a short-time (thank you Fred & Tanmay), some work on the indoor tennis courts.

But BUCS came around quickly, and thanks to the magic of the Dingle grounds team, we started our BUCS campaign.

Some season highlights: A nail-biting win for our Women’s 1st XI away at Cardiff Met. Fresher Olivia Carr struck a match-winning 73 on debut, which the ladies like to remind everybody was more than whole of the Men’s 1st XI combined that day

As the Cardiff Met number 10 & 11 edged closer and closer to the target of 141, I thought we’d lost our women’s coach as I received a phone call stating ‘I can’t do this anymore, I’m going to have a heart attack, I need to hangup’. Thankfully we still have Wilf with us as Nadia ‘Nudge’ Blackshaw took the winning wicket, as Cardiff Met fell 6 runs short

Although our Ladies finished joint on points with Birmingham and Cardiff Met, a low NRR (Net Run Rate) meant they finished bottom of the Premier League Thankfully they won that match and will continue in the highest-tier next year.

Pranav Majithia ‘mankading’ the Aberystwyth number 11 as our mighty 4th XI made it 4 wins from 5 and ended up second in the league Reluctantly, Jacob Inch called the batter back and we won the game in a more gentlemanly fashion How boring!

Finally, our Men’s 1st XI stole the headlines, winning their first league game since their National Premier League win against Oxford UCCE in May 2019. At 20-4, the lower order showed grit and determination to post a respectable 169 on a soft wicket Rowan Bascetta-Pollit showed a class bit of character to get the first BUCS 50 of the year.

Max Toohey captained the second half beautifully, as the bowlers executed their game-plans and the rate started to increase for Cardiff. Needing 6s at the halfway point with wickets in hand, enter the stage club legend Ben Griggs, who ended up with figures of 5/18 as the Men’s 1st XI could finally sing their winning song.

Tanmay Thanawalla batting against Bournemouth 1st XI

This win seemed to be the catalyst needed for Bristol Cricket as the 1st XI went on to win the rest of their matches, including a famous nailbiting win against Oxford Blues at The Parks (Max Toohey top scoring with 75)

We finished 3rd in the Southern Premier League and just missed out on National PlayOffs on NRR

2023 Representative Honours (so far…):

Alex Quin, Suffolk C.C.C. 1st XI, 2nd Year Microbiology

Joel Brierley, Cornwall C.C.C. 2nd XI, MSc Mechanical Engineering

Melissa Story, Gloucestershire C C C 1st XI, Final Year U-Law

Sally Phelps, Cambridgeshire C.C.C., 1st Year Anthropology

Melissa Story takes 2-13 against Shropshire 1st XI in the ECB Women's County Championship T20 Final

VARSITY DAY

Our Men’s & Women’s 1st XIs took on Bath University at Bath Cricket Club, one of the best pitches in the South-West. A bank holiday to remember as a huge section of the club put their social gears on and took the 9 o’clock train to show their support Two close games but unfortunately two loses as the Home crowd had the last cheer.

I’m sure we’re looking forward to hosting both sides at our place next year

Tanmay Thanawalla, SACA Academy 1st XI, 1st Year Neuroscience

Chris Bolton Head Coach,

Cricket

UBCC #MaroonCaps

The male supporters cheering our Women's 1st XI at Varsity Day against Bath University

The summer term is the 'business' end of the season; while most sports were winding down and taking well-deserved breaks, our athletes were ramping things up to be ready for regatta season. With BUCS regatta, Metropolitan regatta, Marlow regatta, Women’s Henley regatta, Henley Royal regatta, and GB Final Trials all on the horizon, our athletes were under serious pressure to perform, whilst also having to navigate dissertation deadlines and exams

On Sunday it was the turn of the Women’s 1st viii to show us how much they had stepped on from a disappointing winter season. They would end up placing 3rd in their time trial, a superb result, unfortunately they would be unable to claim a medal in their A final and would end up settling for 5th This was a brilliant result for the women’s squad, showing them, they could compete with those crews who had convincingly beaten them earlier in the year

Things got better on the Monday as the women topped the weekend off by bringing home the silver medal in the Women’s Intermediate 4+ event, our first BUCS medal from the women’s squad since 2019

BUCS REGATTA

BUCS regatta this year was to be a return to form for the Bristol women’s squad who had their best BUCS regatta since 2019. The Saturday morning time trials saw some impressive results from our crews, including 3rd fastest for our Wint 2-, who went on to win their Semi-Final but sadly could only manage 4th in their A final. Saturday was also an incredible day for our men, electing to enter the 1st viii into Championship Eights this year, rather than intermediate, our men's crew raced superbly through the day to eventually qualify for the evening A final. Though they would finish 6th, this was a superb result that showed Bristol men are one of the top university squads in the country.

HENLEY WOMEN'S REGATTA

We were incredibly pleased to be sending two women’s eights to Henley Women’s Regatta, competing for the Ron Needs Cup and the Colgan Foundation Cup this year. After BUCS regatta, several of the novice women’s group had stepped up into the senior squad allowing us to put together the largest women’s squad we’ve had in recent years for HWR.

Our senior women had been training incredibly hard and made huge step ups in their progress since BUCS. Congratulations to those who were able to represent Bristol at Women’s Henley this year:

Women's 1st VIII at BUCS regatta Credit: AllMarkOne

Men's 1st VIII at BUCS regatta Credit: AllMarkOne

Henley Women's Regatta:

Ch 8+ : The Ron Needs Cup: Efa Wilson, Maisie Barnes, Hannah Lawrie, Lara Grant, c Ellie West, Ellie Harkin, Emily Bernhem, Georgina Parker, Chloe Busigny.

(Eliminated Round 1)

AA 8+ : The Colgan Foundation Cup: Laura James, Beth Taylor, Clara Giachino, Emily Chapman, c. Roop Chahal, Eva Barker, Izzy Jackson, Jessica Passey, Alicia Williams. (Eliminated Round 2).

HENLEY ROYAL REGATTA

UBBC had four crews, including 33 athletes, qualify for the regatta this year This is the largest number of crews and athletes UBBC has ever had compete at the regatta.

We had two student eights qualify for the Temple Challenge cup this year; the 1st VIII was pre-qualified, and while the 2nd VIII was sent to qualifiers by the Stewards, they eventually qualified easily. To the frustration of both crews, our eights drew each other in the first round on Tuesday The 2nd VIII raced well and pushed the 1st VIII right down the course, but ultimately came up short. A tough draw for the 1st VIII meant they faced Oxford Brookes in the next round, who eventually went on to win the event

Scholar Robbie Prosser, unable to compete in student events at HRR due to medalling at the U23 World Championships last July, was due to race in a Bristol / Molesey composite crew in the Visitors Challenge Cup Unfortunately, a dreadfully timed case of glandular fever put a stop to his regatta before he got a chance to race.

To round off the men’s squad achievements at HRR, we had two open club crews qualify; one in the Britannia Challenge Cup coxed four event and another in the Thames Challenge Cup for eights

Finally, on the Saturday of Henley Royal Regatta, over 130 UBBC alumni and friends gathered for our annual alumni drinks event Spanning over six decades of UBBC members, it is the largest and most extended gathering of Bristol rowers each year. See a post about the event on Instagram.

THANKS

A huge thanks to all our supporters, colleagues within Sport, Exercise and Health, The Fernside Trust, our sponsors TVE Group, all our alumni and friends, and especially to the coaching team.

Ed Bloomfield Head Coach, Rowing UBBC

2nd VIII at Henley Women's Regatta Credit: AllMarkOne

HOCKEY

MIXED HOCKEY

Though traditionally a ‘winter’ sport, confined to Terms 1 and 2, this year, students have continued to dedicate to the hockey programme into spring and early summer, keen to drive for more success and to honour our inspirational late Head of Hockey in the best way we know how

Following a successful ‘regular season’ where the programme delivered three promotions across both clubs; the Men of UBMHC and Ladies of UBLHC came together as UBHC to deliver ‘Cup’ success in the England Hockey Mixed Championships (Tier 2).

Starting in November, the team dealt with a trio of challenges in round 1; the weather impacted our opportunities to play, they committed to yet more fixtures in an already strenuous hockey programme alongside their studies, and the sporting challenge of opposition came from far and wide.

Regional victories against University of Bath (B), Cheltenham (walkover) and Bridgewater, put UBHC into the ‘National rounds’ going on to face Sutton Coldfield in May in a storied and emotional match at Dingle, which followed the sad loss of the ‘King of Bristol Hockey’, Ben Dudley; the team came out 4-3 winners against strong opposition

A trip to Woking was next at the Quarter final stage in early June and. although right in the middle of our exam period, Bristol managed to secure a 3-1 win The team then drew a home semi-final facing Oxton from Liverpool, coming out 3-0 winners in an otherwise very close game This result secured us a grand final date at Lee Valley, in London’s Olympic Park

As a support match for both men’s and ladies' international fixtures, the 16 selected players (plus ‘entourage’) had a long but thoroughly enjoyable day in the sun ahead of the Final against Lichfield They met a number of people from across the West who were willing us to win.

UBHC celebrate winning the England Hockey Mixed Tier 2 Championships in June

Credit: SmifSports Photography

Credit: England Hockey

Co-Captains Amy Salmon and Archie Sansome

‘Bringing it home’ for Ben was the only acceptable outcome for this group, a number of whom were playing their last match ever with UBHC. They gave it absolutely everything they had in a tense encounter which stayed goalless until 10 minutes from time, when Bristol broke through with a penalty corner scored by co-Captain Archie Sansome, aided by a heavy deflection from the traffic in front of the Lichfield goalkeeper

Archie added his second goal just 4 minutes later; this time firing a vicious drag flick past everyone outside the reach of the keeper. Lichfield were granted a penalty stroke 16 seconds from time, but this score proved only to be a consolation as UBHC celebrated an emotional success and remembered our beloved coach and friend

The Bristol team were:

Oliver Evans (GK), Sophie Stokes, Amy Salmon (Co-Captain), Archie Sansome (Co-Captain), Robbie Jackson, Anna Elson, Oliver Izzo, Phil Barnett, Charlotte Simmers, Jake Thompson, Lily Roberts, Ben Lamb, Amy Collier, Will Jones, Gwen Manley, Mark Walker.

Honourable mentions to all those who played their part along the way including Ed Marshall, Rosie Stranack, Sophie Raymond, Alex Smink, Hannah Lee, Harry Relph, Charlotte Hart, Elin Farragher, Kincaid Ingram, James Howitt.

Read the University press release about the Mixed Hockey Championships and how the team paid tribute to Ben Dudley.

Martin Hicks Hockey Coordinator, UBHC

UBHC show their silverware and tribute shirts, after the match Credit: SmifSports Photography

TERM 3 REVIEW

Term 3 in rugby usual means one thing and that is: tour. But not this year; our Maroon 7s programme was in full swing, with the team playing in tournaments such as Bournemouth, Amsterdam and Hartpury The team performed well in all of these, making two finals and coming away with some silverware. This is a new concept in our rugby programme, where we push these 7s events in-calendar

In June, 52 UBRFC players did finally head on tour, and what a tour it was with a 21 hour journey to Madagascar! This tour had it all but of particular abundance were memories as the players got to experience a country that is classed as the third poorest in Africa.

The players coached in schools, donated more than 100kg of kit and met with locals, which all ended in a match verses the national side, in front of 5,000 spectatorsincluding the ambassador to the UK!

Read Olly's tour review blog

Olly Slym

Club Manager, UBRFC

UBRFC with a group of local school children who they coached, played and donated balls and kit to, in Madagascar

UBRFC team on tour in Madagascar

MEN'S FOOTBALL

CLUB CAPTAINS

April's club AGM saw Jack Bilbruck elected as the incoming Club Captain for 23/24. Jack will bring some new ideas and a visionary approach, which will develop the club over the coming seasons He is a well-respected individual, both as a person and a player His results from the GPS tracker show that he is working at an elite level and this is shining example to the rest of the club. The only downside to his appointment is that he is a very active supporter of Brighton FC!

Last year's (22/23) Club Captain, Pat Gibbs, has taken up a new role as Sport and Student Development Officer at Bristol SU Working alongside other student leaders, intramural sport and competitive sports groups, he will also encourage general physical activity within the student body

So far this summer, Pat has been undertaking an induction programme and working out on a plan of action to put his ideas and priorities into practice next term We wish him all the best and we know that he will do a fantastic job

The club have been admitted into the Uhlsport Hellenic League Division Two West. This will allow the club to play more games on a Saturday against good opposition, in some good stadiums. Hopefully, this will prepare the players for the BUCS season, increase their fitness levels and give them more opportunities to develop their skills and technical ability

REDS AWARDS

The men’s football club received two Directors awards at the recent Reds awards ceremony 2023 at Goldney Hall. Pat Gibbs and Chad Mitchell - Turner were given their prestigious awards for their contributions and outstanding performances over the past 3 years Both have held several positions within the club and have taken the club forwards with their drive and vision. They were also both awarded 1st class degrees by the University

22/23 Club Captain Pat Gibbs

Alan Tyers

Club Coordinator, Men's Football

Director's Award winner Chad Mitchell-Turner

TENNIS

AWARDS

Summer inevitably brings Awards season and this year has been another good one for Tennis

As another year closes on BUCS and National Premier League competition, it is a nice chance to look at some of the Tennis highlights of the summer term and look forward to the exciting 2023/24 season.

SUMMARY COMPETITION

For our students, summer term meant the start of the individual competition season with lots of our top players entering LTA sanctioned events around the country

Amongst the many matches and results, the standout performance came from BUCS men’s team players Jack Ritchie and Jamie Blunt The pair progressed through the Play Your Way To Wimbledon event all the way to the National Finals held at Wimbledon on 8th August.

This was an amazing achievement and allowed Jack and Jamie not only a shot at winning the competition, but also the opportunity to go and train, compete and experience fully the All England Lawn Tennis Club.

It was a brilliant achievement for our outgoing Men’s BUCS Captain George Webber to receive a Director’s Award at the annual REDS Awards ceremony in June George has been an outstanding member of the UBTC community for 4 years and the award recognised many of the exceptional achievements he has reached.

UBTC made it to the National finals of the LTA Tennis Awards, competing for University of the Year The club made it to the final three alongside Leeds Beckett and Exeter University but unfortunately lost out to Exeter. Regardless, to be recognised as one of the top 3 university tennis programmes in the country is incredible, and shows our progression from winning the Regional award in 2021

Jack Ritchie and Jamie Blunt after their Regional Final win

George Webber collects his Director's Award

Credit: FineTime Photography

3rd from right: UBTC 22/23 Captain Torin Reedman

4th from right: 21/22 Captain Finlay Perry.

EVENTS

The club received 10 tickets to the first Friday of the Wimbledon Championships; a great opportunity for the students to see the best players in the world!

For the first time post-covid, UBTC organised a tour, this year to Amsterdam The event had nearly 30 players head out to enjoy the sites and take on the local university in a friendly competition - which UBTC won!

Mid-April brought the 24-hour Tennis event and UBTC fundraising for WaterAid led by Fundraising Officer Josh Wierzsycki. Josh played tennis for the whole 24 hours, with players and coaches joining him on court for various slots of time; a big innings of 10 hours was put in overnight by coach Max! It was an excellent event, for a great cause, with UBTC raising £840 for WaterAid; donations are still welcome - via this GoFundMe page

In June we had our Alumni vs UBTC Hobson Cup face-off and, like every year, it did not disappoint The event welcomed 50 past and present players, plus coaches, to compete in tennis, netball and football The event is held in memory of past BUCS team member Jack Hobson, and this year was the first time since its inception (2019) that Jack’s parents and brother attended, which was wonderful

Despite some hard-fought competition both on court and pitch, the Alumni team took home the Cup and remain unbeaten in the event The Hobson Cup remains my favourite event in the UBTC calendar; it sums up the heart and nature of our club and the importance of everyone who has been part of this family. This year we linked the event with the Healthy Minds programme and currently have raised £230.

You can view the Cup lifting ceremony and event photos on the UBTC website, as well as offer a donation, should you wish, to Healthy Minds.

LOOKING FORWARD

We have many things to be proud of and to look forward to in the 2023/24 season. Our newly resurfaced back courts are now playable all year round, and will allow all of our home BUCS matches to be played on site

I am over the moon to confirm that we have reintroduced our Women’s 3rds team which we have not had since before Covid The opportunity to get more females competing at this level is both exciting and a responsibility of ours, as a club and programme.

THANKS

It's been a brilliant year and I can not wait to see what is to come in 2023/24. Thanks as ever to the wonderful staff and committee that make everything happen and are an absolute pleasure to work with.

Ali Blackett

Head Coach, Student Performance Tennis

Visit the Club website or follow our progress on Instagram (@uniofbristoltennis)

UBTC and Alumni at the Hobson Cup event

NETBALL

SUMMARY

The Summer term is the quietest term for netball, but players have enjoyed having the opportunity to continue training and have now started the summer programme ahead of preseason for the new academic year. I have personally enjoyed having some time to reflect on the year and to continue with future recruitment

ONE TO WATCH - PHOEBE MASLEN

Phoebe made her senior Super League debut for Team Bath during the VSNL season 2023 During the season Phoebe trained exceptionally well, earning herself a call up into Team Bath’s 12 player, game day squad. Playing in her second ever Super League game, and home debut, Phoebe was voted the Most Valued Player. Phoebe played a dominant role in Team Bath’s midcourt, getting her hand to so much ball, taking a total of 2 interceptions, 2 deflections and 2 turnovers She was a joy to watch

BRISTOL SU SPORTS AWARDS

We are super proud to have won the ‘Most Improved Club’ at the SU Awards As a club we have been working hard all season to embed a team culture, making sure we are a club that feels like a family from home, but also a place where players can push themselves and each other to do and be better We are delighted to have received recognition for this and will strive to continue to grow as a club.

REDS AWARDS

Along with 1st team Co-captains Connie Rutter and Lizzie McGechie, I enjoyed a wonderful night at the Reds Awards in June The night was full of inspiration and celebration, and was topped off with Connie receiving a Director’s Award, which was a pleasure to witness The award was truly deserved for the work she has done for the club, both on and off the court. Congratulations Connie, you will be sorely missed!

Phoebe Maslen and Chani Wopara following Team Bath v Manchester Thunder in May

Players attending the SU Awards

LOOKING FORWARD

All returning players have started their summer programme and are looking forward to pre-season starting at the end of August. With the 1st team playing in the hardest division next season, and other teams with promotion aspirations, it is key to return prepared. I am pleased the players are all pumped and keen to put in the hard yards ahead of what should be an exciting year.

Co-captain Connie Rutter receiving her Director's Award at the REDS

Credit: FineTimePhotography

Chani Wopara with Captains Connie Rutter, and Lizzie McGechie

Credit: FineTimePhotography

TERM 3 REVIEW

For the first time, due to increased investment in staffing levels at the start of the year, we were able to provide a full S&C timetable for Term 3 This provided a great opportunity for students to develop physically without any matches to worry about, put in some good foundational work ahead of the year and provide a release as academics and exams started to build up

Of course, some clubs entered their season with competitions ramping up which we also supported and put the finishing touches on after a year of training in the gym This Term 3 was by far the most supported, attended, and impactful we have had in the last 6 years

Term 3 in numbers:

1574 attendances – our busiest term 3 by far!

170,000 reps completed!

8.7 million kg lifted.

22/23 SUMMARY

With the year now concluded, all final stats are in And in summary, we are now back to pre-COVID levels, which is a huge achievement, especially given this has been achieved through improving the efficiency of our programme, increasing attendance per session, which was a key aim ahead of the year

22/23 season in numbers:

14,000 attendances

1327 sessions across 40 weeks of the year

Average session attendance 10.6 people per session, up from 7 the year before 1 5million reps completed 47million kg lifted!

Its an understatement to say a lot of hard work has gone in over the course of the year by all involved!

We’ve seen huge improvements from students in the gym over the course of the year and despite some questionable music at times (no names mentioned), had a lot of fun along the way. The impact of this come match day, but also in student wellbeing and mental health, has been profound

WHAT'S NEXT

We are now in the thick of planning for the year ahead and excited to implement some key pieces going ahead We have invested further into staff support, and are in the process of recruiting for a full-time role. This will mean, for the first time in our history, we will have two full time S&C positions

Secondly, we have invested £15,000 into a team GPS system. This will allow us to analyse technical training so that we can understand the loads and intensities from this, and adjust accordingly if need, to maximise pitch time. These is a huge piece to add to our programme and I'm excited to see the impact play out

In parallel with the GPS system, we are adjusting and streamlining our S&C programmes to include sprint training in term time.

Its been an incredible year (again!) and I'm still in awe of the energy, passion and graft that goes in the gym week-in, week-out by our students wanting to improve. Our programme has also never been better, with our structure of support rivalling that of any university in the country, and a lot of professional sports teams!

I can't wait to see this all come together next year, but first: a well-earned break over the summer.

THANKS

Thanks again, on behalf of the S&C team, for all of your support in our programme

Will Ruscombe-King Lead Strength & Conditioning Coach

PHYSIOTHERAPY X MOVEWELL

Through my Performance Physio work at the University of Bristol, I have noticed a really positive growing trend in Higher Education (HE) and attitudes to Sustainability Top sports universities, like us, are looking into sustainable ways to support and empower their students to look after themselves and perform at the highest level, whilst also looking to minimise environmental impact Self-aware, robust athletes who are healthy, happy and looking to perform at elite level are the goal for many (HE) institutions across the sector.

Matt and his team have created an outstanding hub for performance at Bristol, where student athletes can continue their education and work to develop and perform in their chosen sport. Many have taken this pathway on to careers in professional sport and international competition; just look at our very own Phoebe Murray and Ella Lovibond in rugby, or Robbie Prosser in rowing as current examples. Equally, among their peers, a quick glance at the BUCS league table or the National leagues shows you that Bristol are doing good things

I've gained valuable insight over the years into what works and what's important when it comes to rehabilitation and recovery; more ecoconscious products to speed up recovery was a frequent ask, so this trend led me to start MoveWell, a business that designs and manufactures sustainable rehab and recovery products.

It's the combined drive and mindset to support students and reduce impact that has led Bristol and other HE institutions to work with MoveWell. MoveWell have provided bespoke packs to the likes of Bristol, Exeter and Hartpurty, which promote and facilitate self-care and athlete-led wellness - sustainable health habits with sustainably made products - now that's got a nice ring to it!

"We chose to work with MoveWell for our Performance Scholars because the packs provide a great toolkit for promoting athlete wellbeing, and open up lots of useful conversations".

"As an institution, we are committed to improving sustainability and reducing environmental impact, and MoveWell products are second to none in that respect."

Matt Paine, Performance Sport Manager

It seems the symbiotic link between human health and the health of our planet is getting ever clearer, and therefore to recognise and value the importance of promoting sustainable health habits with sustainably sourced products as Bristol do, is paramount

Henry Abrahams

University of Bristol Physiotherapist and Co-founder of MoveWell

A MoveWell peanut in use at Scholars' Day 22/23

Credit: FineTimePhotography

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