Performance Sport report - Autumn 2022

AUTUMN REPORT 2022

Photo credit: Aaron Sims

Welcome to the autumn edition of the Performance Sport report. I am writing these notes on a dreary day in December, as the first term ends, with so many great memories and moments flashing through my head. What a first term it was for all connected with Performance Sport.

It all began 16 weeks ago on a sunny day at Coombe Dingle for preseason and the performance squad residential, and it closes with the University sitting in 8th place in the BUCS league standings, after a hugely positive first term for our student athletes and clubs They continue to drive their clubs forward with the student-led approach, enjoying huge intakes of new members, and providing inclusive and open environments for players to come in and enjoy all the benefits that being part of a club can bring.

Within this bumper issue, you will read all about our record-breaking pre-season, hear from the coaches and Multi Disciplinary Team (MDT) staff around their clubs' stories and developments, as well as individual workings with our performance squad Scholars.

We have a very exciting group of Vice Chancellor's Scholars this season and a large proportion are at the start of their journey with us at the University. The balance of academic, sport and social, as always, is a challenge for them, and through the support of the programme, advice and guidance from the staff, they are learning to take responsibility of their own development, and learn what it truly means to be an elite athlete We are all excited to see what 2023 can bring for all of them.

One of our more senior members of the squad, Phoebe Murray, continues to play in the first team for Bristol Bears, as well as completing her medical degree at Bristol; a true case of a Dual Career playing out in her five years.

Credit: Alex James JMP

Phoebe Murray, Bristol Bears

What a year for sport 2022 was; the Lionesses completing the most perfect of triumphs in the summer, when it finally Came Home, the final of the Women's Rugby World Cup will go down as one of the greatest games, even in defeat, and the first ever winter World Cup in the desert of Qatar had its own fairy-tale ending with the greatest player getting his hands on that small gold statue, at the end of one of greatest finales against France

2023 has so much in store; the Ashes battle reignited on home soil, the Men's Rugby World Cup, and the Lionesses going for World Cup glory in Australia and New Zealand.

Thank you to Nigel Wray and the Priory Foundation for your continued support, which is critical to the programme's objectives, as well as the advice and guidance you provide along the way.

Thank you to our donors, sponsors, stakeholders and friends of the University for your continued generosity by way of gifts, donations, and words of support around the performance sport programmes, students and our alumni. Thank you to the staff who contributed to this issue and who have given everything since we began the season on that sunny day in August.

Thanks also to the coaches and MDT team in particular; your support of our students through the provision of this unique environment in Bristol is exceptional Strong foundations have been laid again this year. 2022 you were a special one and whatever 2023 has in store, we know that our students and clubs will create even more memories to take away with them at the end.

We have a very exciting second half of the season to come in terms of BUCS league and cup action, and national competition, and I look forward to seeing you all very soon, to enjoy some high-level sport with us here at the University.

Thanks, as always.

Matt Paine Performance Sport Manager

University of Bristol Sport

Following a superb summer of planning, which laid the foundations for the season ahead, term 1 of BUCS competition was, by all measures, a success We again entered 90+ competitive teams, in addition to scores of individual athletes, and currently sit 7th in the U.K in the BUCS points league table BUCS points are earned for an institution by the success of its teams.

In term 1 we introduced the long-awaited shuttle bus service to our Wednesday matchday offer, saw the return of 'BUCS bananas', and were consistently busy in Harry’s Bar, which is now also offered as a study/social area pre-match. We continue to benefit from the professionalism of our new, contracted transport operator Eagle Coaches, who have been ferrying our teams around the country with style and punctuality

My personal aim for the 22/23 year, with the opportunity to be entirely engaged with the season planning and pre-season delivery period, was to use this time to build relationships with student leaders and our coaching team Through 1:1 meetings and ‘speed dating’ sessions at the brilliant Club Captains' Day event in September, I believe this aim was achieved The rapport we now have with student leaders and coaches is much improved from my first half-year in the role, and contributes greatly to the smooth delivery of a competitive sports programme that engages thousands of athletes across the year.

Looking ahead to term 2, we move into cup season, with our BUCS Premier teams beginning their knockout competitions in early February, and our surviving BUCS Regional teams progressing towards their semi-finals and finals rounds in March There are a few tweaks to be made to Wednesday delivery, transport and facilities slots but ultimately, we have set ourselves up for an outstanding second term, facilitating success for our clubs and providing an experience that will remain the highlight of many of our athletes' student experience.

Credits: SmifSports Photography

UBBC reopened its shutters on 29 August to begin the 22/23 season After a successful summer, and with an influx of talented rowers into our senior squad, we are keen to keep our momentum and continue building on the strong results we achieved last year. First, a recap of those summer successes that we couldn’t bring you in time for last summer’s performance report...

BUCS

UBBC Men made their mark on the national university rowing scene at BUCS regatta in early May. The Men's 1st VIII posted the fastest time in the Intermediate Eights time trial, then swiftly won their A/B semi-final. In the final, UBBC dominated the field, achieving open water by the 750m mark The crew successfully held this margin to the finish line and crossed the line in first place, taking Gold!

U23 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

VC Scholar Robbie Prosser won Gold in the U23 World Rowing Championships, which took place in Varese, Italy last July. Robbie and his crew set a record-breaking time of 6.02.90 in the Coxed Four, a shade under the previous record of 6:03 01

HENLEY ROYAL REGATTA

On the Saturday of Henley Royal Regatta, over 130 UBBC alumni and friends gathered together for our annual alumni drinks event. Spanning over six decades of UBBC members, it was the largest and most extended gathering of Bristol rowers at Henley in living memory.

For the first time ever, we had our very own caterers serving up wood-fired Neapolitan pizza. Despite the downpour, spirits were high as people caught up over the traditional Pimm’s

UBBC had three crews qualify for the regatta with our Prince Albert (PA) Challenge Cup entry selected by the Stewards. Unfortunately, the PA crew drew Oxford Brookes in the first round and narrowly lost The Temple VIII also drew a selected crew in the form of Durham University’s 1st VIII and lost in the first round. Our final crew, made up of open club members, was in the Thames challenge cup This crew comfortably beat City of Cambridge in the first round, but their regatta would come to an end the next day, losing to Riverside BC of USA.

The next day the Men’s Coxed Four ‘A’ crew were again fastest in their time trial. After also winning their A/B semi-final, the 'A' crew stormed to victory in the A final, winning the race by clear water By now eyes were on Bristol for the last Intermediate men's sweep event of the weekend; the pairs. In a thrilling race, the 'B' pair narrowly missed out on Bronze, with the 'A' pair battling hard with Durham right to the finish line to take their third set of gold medals.

Henley Royal Regatta

GB TRIALS

This year we have five athletes including one Cox trialling for the GB U23 team Unfortunately, Jake Birch was unable to compete in the November trials due to illness, meaning a last-minute crew change for Robbie Prosser in the 2- Fortunately, Harry Hetherington 21’ now training at Molesey BC, was available to race with Robbie. An impressive 2k ergo test within the senior cut off, and a solid water performance with Harry, has Robbie well-placed for the rest of the trialling process

THANKS

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

Efa Wilson was impressive throughout the trials weekend with a personal best of 07:05 2 on Saturday’s 2k ergo test She was able to follow this up with a solid water performance the following day, in the 1x.

Our final trialist, Freddie Woodall (VC Scholar and first year joining us from Leander) also had a great weekend A personal best on the ergo test and another good performance on the water makes him certainly one to watch in the future.

All three of our rowers who were able to attend November trials were invited to the GB U23/Development Camp in December at Dorney lake This was a great opportunity for our athletes to train with other rowers who are trialling for GB and show off what they are capable of.

Ed Bloomfield Head Coach, Rowing UBBC

BADMINTON

So the start of another term and the start of another pre-season. Looking to build on the success of last year, we seemed to increase our numbers for pre-season, which is encouraging

Once again over the summer we held three national tournaments and these proved to be a success. Another plus this year was the upskilling of some of the students to be able to run the computer on the day!

The 22/23 year has seen our first guaranteed offer students come through the system and arrive at Bristol Barney Pridmore comes with a solid background in national junior tournaments and is looking to continue his development alongside his study. Joined by Suhani Khatri, the pair will represent Badminton as our Maroon Scholars for the coming year - exciting times ahead!

BUCS

As a club we currently run five teams in BUCS. Here are the current stats:

Men's 1 – Our aim for the year is to regain promotion back to Prem but currently sitting with 3 wins, 3 defeats and 1 draw, this is going to prove difficult.

Men's 2 – We aim to maintain division and currently sit in second place, after 3 wins and 1 defeat.

Men's 3 – With an aim to maintain after promotion last year, the team currently sit in 5th position with 0 wins, 2 defeats and 2 draws.

Women's 1 – Well, what a season they are having! Currently in second place in the Women's Prem, with 7 wins and 2 defeats.

Women's 2 – A difficult season so far, the team are working really hard after some close defeats, but currently have 1 win and 6 defeats.

COACHING

Another extra that we have done as a club this term is to run our first in-house coaching course, to upskill some of the students and get them a foot on the coaching ladder These new coaches are then working within the club and different squads to gain experience.

Bex Pantaney Badminton Coordinator

Women's 1s

HOCKEY

ON THE PITCH

Following a storied promotion season in 21/22, the men have taken on the challenge in EnglandHockey National League Division One, the second tier of national competition, with even greater grit and determination, intelligence and high levels of skill. Though we currently sit bottom of the table, we are by no means out of it We now know our opponent and there have been some hugely encouraging performances in the first half of the season; a team getting stronger and more experienced each week, giving us plenty to fight for next term

After missing out on League promotion on goal difference last year; the M2s are once again up for the challenge. There were some great results this half of the season, including a late 4-4 draw with 2nd place Bristol & West, which put us top of West Division One. It's all to play for next term.

Men's 1s, half-time analysis

In BUCS, following promotion to National South, a young M2s side had an excellent, if challenging, season. Following a draw with Oxford Brookes and a first win vs KCL, the 2s have given themselves more than a fighting chance at a level where few university programmes have a second team

During the Christmas ‘break’ we were dedicated to an indoor hockey programme; aiming to progress, on a national level, further than ever before

Off the pitch, the men once again took on the Movember challenge, raising money for good causes This year, the total raised was another awesome £8k - well done all! The M1s have also continued to go from strength to strength in BUCS competition, not allowing the ‘off-field’ disappointment of last season to deter us We are top of the table, unbeaten in 6 and conceding only 5 (two of which were against our own M2s). Those wins including excellent, professional 1-0 and 2-1 victories against our biggest rivals Exeter 2s and Cardiff Met, respectively The M1s need one win from our two remaining games to win theleague.

Men's Squad

Men's 2s proudly support the Poppy Appeal

Credit: SmifSports Photography

Women's Squad

The W1s currently sit 5th in a tightly contested West Premier Division with all to play for in the second half of the season The 1s have had some excellent results to date including a 2-1 win vs near-rivals Cardiff and Cardiff Met, and big scores against Gloucester City 2s (9-0) and Gwent (6-2).

With a young squad and in an incredibly full half-season of 10 league and 6 BUCS fixtures, the 1s have played some of the best hockey we have ever seen them play (at any level) This particularly exhibited in a narrow, late defeat to table-toppers Clifton Robinsons, demonstrating the levels we can reach. Our challenge is now to reproduce this consistently in the second half of the season.

Similarly, in league hockey, W2s sit midtable in West Division 1. Taking on 32 games across both the England Hockey League and BUCS, this has been a busy and impressive start for a team that are made up of >66% 'Freshers'

Term 2 will be an opportunity to build on a very solid base of squad connections and deliver more great hockey and excellent results to give us the best chance of pushing the club on again, next season.

Women's 2s following a sunset win at CD

In BUCS, a tough campaign of very fine margins - including very late goals in two of our games - has not gone our way so far Our recent win vs Reading, and the upcoming games against those nearest to us in the table, give the W1s all to fight for in term 2

After an excellent and thoroughly enjoyable promotion season in BUCS 21/22, the W2s have given themselves a great chance of consolidation this term, winning 3 of 6 matches, including an excellent 3-0 win vs Cardiff Met in their last game. The W2s currently sit in mid table and will look to maintain this in term 2.

Ben Dudley Head Coach, UBHC

Martin Hicks Hockey Coordinator, UBHC

More information regarding our Supporters Club can be found on our website

Women's 1s team huddle

Credit: SmifSports Photography

PRE-SEASON

With new team branding as UBRFC 1st XV Maroons, a new playing squad and new leadership, the 22/23 season started with a culture reboot in early May ahead of kicking off our pre-season in the sweltering heat of August.

With a cut down training group, captain Sam Hill-Cousins and the coaching team welcomed some 12 Maroon Scholars, 4 Vice Chancellor's Scholars, and some 40+ aspirational performance players, to six weeks of intense triple day training, with plenty of education, conditioning and social networking thrown in, to build a new performance squad.

VISION FOR 22/23

The vision created for the season is to ‘Entertain,’ with the goal of driving our behaviours, training, tactics and beyond, towards making sure we, as a playing and coaching group, are entertained in every training session and match, whilst also entertaining all those who kindly support us Quite simply; to play a brand of rugby that the players enjoy and engage in, whilst recognising what is required of them to achieve this, and win.

With paintball, archery, orienteering, our traditional sand dune run, and plenty of onfield graft under their belts, the students were looking fit, fresh and hungry to play their September pre-season fixtures with Bath, Nottingham and the Navy The players and results showed we had prepared to a good level, as we looked organised and on course to have an entertaining start to the BUCS season - winning two out of the three games

The Southern Premiership rugby programme becomes tougher every year thanks to BUCS Super Rugby (BSR) creating a beast at the top, where every school boy wants to play for a BSR team, therefore their 2nd and 3rd teams are full of physical monsters and technically very capable young players

With this in mind, the senior players and coaching team created a vision as to how we want to negate the opposition strengths whilst making sure we focused on our own unique assets and enjoyment

Pre-Season, Scholars' Day

Credit: FineTime Photography

UBRFC v Cardiff Met

Credit: SmifSports Photography

Round one of BUCS brought a tricky tie away to Cardiff Met 2s which was won thanks to some solid defence and smart kicking. An element of the game that is becoming more and more prominent, which UBRFC teams more often neglect and need to be far better at.

This was certainly true for the next two games against Hartpury at home and Cardiff away. Both opponents' 2s were stacked with size, power and smart Half Backs, meaning the Maroons had to out-run and out-think them We fell short after a solid first half display against Hartpury, however we learned our lessons and won well away in Cardiff on their new multi-million pound playing ground Dominant scrummaging and set piece providing a solid platform to outmanoeuvre the Welsh team and take home the points.

We were hugely proud of the players' efforts, and this game set a performance benchmark for the rest of the season

It took a massive effort to win in hurricane conditions the following week at Exeter; a huge testament to the way the Maroon group had trained and tactically adapted from their natural predisposition to run the ball.

Coming away with another bonus point from a challenging away trip was also a testament to the strength of character and leadership coming through in this young group.

Unfortunately the next two losses against Bath 2s and Exeter 2s were born from a lot of injured senior players and a naive team, in the depths of learning what is required of them regarding good decisions under pressure and both how and where to play the game against well organised opponents

Cardiff Met 2s visited next with a new look monster forward pack pinched from their Saturday side. We fronted up well and had learned our lessons from the previous two games, with some superb tries scored from an ever-improving back line of dynamic and skilful players; Maroon Scholars Jake Williams and Fin Campbell standing out

League and competition favourites to be promoted to BSR, Brunel University (better recognised as Ealing Trailfinders academy) were next to visit Dingle. Having started their pre-season in June, similar to a professional team, they had not failed to score 50 points in every one of their previous fixtures, including beating two Super Rugby teams, so we knew we were in for a fight We employed some new tactics, made sure we fired some shots early and placed huge emphasis on the mental challenge of the game, sadly coming out second best, losing 10-35. This despite being the first team to score, first team to keep them under 50 and the first to challenge them tactically.

Continuing the rollercoaster season though a disappointing loss away at Hartpury followed. Where yet again a lack of focus, discipline, some individual errors and a tough time at the set piece found us undone However, a tired squad stood tall in freezing conditions, stepping up to win convincingly against Cardiff 2s at home in the final game of the term with James Barry and prop Ted Gibson leading from the front Some outstanding team and individual tries were scored, with a lot of fierce defence and no shortage of flare in attack on show at times.

UBRFC v Hartpury

Credit: SmifSports Photography

DEVELOPMENT

The key development during term 1 was the growth of the Maroon players' grit and togetherness, of which we are hugely proud It has been evidenced in every game, in one form or another Our goals for term 2 are to go unbeaten and to replicate the mental toughness shown to date, as we look to elevate our focus and tactical awareness in games We hope to seek out more wins, as the overriding opinion from the playing group from term 1 was that they let themselves down on too many occasions, and are capable of more

THANKS

It's been a huge effort from all involved so far; we sit with 5 wins and 5 loses, at 4th in the BUCS league table.

I would like to thank captain Sam, my fellow coaches Shane and James, club physio Sean, analyst Chris, our new-look S&C team, the Club Committee, my right-hand man Olly Slym, and the S.E.H staff for their continued help and support in providing UBRFC Maroon 1st XV the opportunity to enjoy their learning and representing this unique club. Onwards and upwards in 2023!

Joe Goodman Head Coach, UBRFC

22/23 Performance Squad

Credit: Platinum Photography

SUMMARY

Great work by committee to set vision, mission and standards to take club forward

Fantastic retention and recruitment numbers mean the club again has over 100 members, making it one of, if not the, biggest Women's clubs in the UK Solid performances on the field across all three teams

The positive and supportive culture of the club has never been stronger, reinforced by values and standards which are being led by players and supported by club and S.E.H investment in the new Club Co-ordinator position.

COACHING TEAM

The Coaching / Physio team was retained from last season and offers a wealth of experience of performance and development rugby, including three coaches who have coached local Men's / Women's teams, four who are currently working in the Bristol Bears Junior Academy, one who has coached at a Women's World Cup, one alumni and two current students!

The coaching team has dedicated first, second and third team coaches, plus a skills coach, and all supported by two current, injured students who are taking their qualifications.

Weekly sessions include 2x S&C , 3x team rugby, and 3x Maroon skills sessions, plus a free physio clinic

SUCCESS IN NUMBERS

We are one of only two women’s’ clubs in BUCS to have three teams; the 1s focused on performance, the 2s transitioning from development to performance and the 3s focused on development of players; most of whom have never played rugby before joining university Well over 100 players have attended training sessions and more than 80 have played in BUCS. 35 players are taking part in the club S&C programme.

1s played 7, won 4 and sit 3rd in Premier South 2s, playing against all 1s, played 2, won 1 and sit 3rd in Western Tier 2 3s, playing against a combination of 1s and 2s played 4, won 1 and are currently 5th in Western Tier 3

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

The 1s started the league season with a bang, winning 65-0 away at Cambridge, with a feast of running rugby; 39 players have featured in the 1s with 21 making their debut, showing the depth of talent we are building through the programme

Despite close losses to Oxford and an away defeat at Cardiff, it was good to see the autumn campaign finish with an away win at Swansea

The 2s beat a powerful Aberystwyth 1s 31-12, before later losing to a strong Marjons 1s.

ALUMNI

We have purchased a VEO camera to support the development of players and look forward to sharing livestream matches with the alumni to strengthen our bonds, and appreciate many of the alumni supporting us at BUCS games across the country.

UBWRFC 2s

The 3s lost extremely tough fixtures against Hartpury 2s and Cardiff 2s, and recovered to play well, but sadly lose narrowly, 35-32, to Winchester 1s. They later got the win against Southampton 2s.

Thanks to all who have supported, sponsored, donated to our club, the latest addition being UBER Eats Everything that you have done is very much appreciated and very important in enabling this fantastic club to continue to grow and to deliver its ambition to be a performance club with inclusivity and well-being at its core

3s

PARTNERSHIPS

We have continued our partnership with Bristol Bears with Dave Ward supporting the performance day for potential 2023 scholars, and we are looking forward to a joint training session at the high performance centre in January

Steve Gazzard Head Coach, UBWRFC

UBWRFC

MEN'S FOOTBALL

PRE-SEASON

29 August saw UBAFC return to the fortress of Coombe Dingle to start a gruelling three-week pre-season programme. With over 60 boys joining for at least one week, and most completing the full three weeks, we were extremely impressed with the dedication and intensity shown at this early stage. We can only wait and see where this will take us throughout the season.

Our weekly schedule for the duration of the programme was one of the most intense we have put on to date, including 1 hour S&C as well as 2 5 hours of ball work and fitness every day The work with the S&C coaches prepared the players well for the season and gave the coaches the opportunity to employ different tactics and high-pressing options.

Pre-season friendlies results

1-4 Wednesday 14 Sept, 1s vs Bath 1s

2-3 Wednesday 21 Sept, 2s vs Bath 2s

4-0 Wednesday 21 Sept, 3s vs Bath 3s

1-1 Wednesday 28 Sept, 1s vs Gloucester 1s

6-1 Wednesday 28 Sept, 2s vs Gloucester 2s

6-3 Wednesday 5 Oct, 1s vs 2s (inter-club)

1-1 Saturday 8 Oct, 2s vs Warwick 2s

1-1 Saturday 8 Oct, 3s vs Warwick 3s

BUCS

The season has since developed with mixed fortunes for the six teams that play in the BUCS league. The 1s are placed 2nd and are still in the cup, with Cardiff Met being the team to catch – but they still have to come to Coombe Dingle for the last league game of the season

The 2s are putting in some good performances and both teams are now playing in Tier 1, which is a tremendous success The other teams are finding their respective leagues challenging but are putting in some positive performances. The 3s are still in the cup after a great win in their last game

VEO CAMERA LIVESTREAM

Following the success across the board for UBAFC last season, and thanks to some very generous donations off the back of our last newsletter, we have purchased a VEO livestream camera for the upcoming season This camera will allow us to record valuable footage of our games for analysis and to share live to those at home, whether a relative of one of the players, one of our alumni re-living the glory days, or just a UBAFC superfan!

The camera will predominantly be with our 1s, though on days that they do not have a fixture we will be filming other teams The VEO has also given the players the means of assessing and analysing their own match performances, which has develop awareness on the pitch

Club Coordinator Alan, with student Tom Aitken

'EXTRA-CURRICULAR'

Movember

Movember was once again a big success with the club raising £1,200. Of this, £500 was raised with a netball game versus UBNC and the rest was raised by the players growing facial hair [with varying success!]

Spinning class

With no BUCS game at the beginning of the December, the 1s employed the considerable expertise of Spinning Instructor Jo Pirrie and met up at Tyndall Avenue to undertake the challenge that awaited them. After a 45 minute workout, the players were feeling much more positive and ready for the next game

Introduction to Football Coaching course

The club have, with huge support from Game Changers, arranged for this to be undertaken in February 2023 It is an online course that will enable students to get onto the coaching ladder It is a fantastic opportunity, for which Game Changers provide 70% of the course funding.

The club will also be offering a Referees course in the new year, and this will provide BUCS teams and the Intramural games with qualified referees.

MAROON SCHOLARS

Men’s Football now has three Maroons in the programme

Matt Greenwood Reuben

Faniki Deche

All three are now benefitting form the extra S&C sessions, coaching and nutritional input that are all part of the package. We look forward to seeing how they progress throughout the rest of the season

Alan Tyers Men's Football Club Coordinator UBAFC

Credit: SmifSports Photography

TENNIS

The 22/23 season kicked off to a great start with brilliant engagement in pre-season from the Performance Tennis Squad All players who were invited to attend joined us from 1 September, setting up a great start to the competitive year with pre-season fixtures versus both King's College London and Exeter

MAROON SCHOLARS

This year we welcomed seven Maroon Scholars These Scholars are motivated to build on our performance culture and have led in building a better programme for the future. The 22/23 Scholars are:

Ella Walker (Women’s Performance Captain)

Alice Taylor (Women’s Performance Captain)

Chaaya Malik (LTA Ambassador)

Jess Holloway (LTA Ambassador)

Victor Wiles (Social Sec)

Stan Ntchoussi (Treasurer)

Alexander Stannard

This group of players continue to benefit from a free Active Connect membership, additional small group Head Coach Skills sessions, Scholar S&C sessions and MultiDisciplinary Team workshops and funding towards individual tournaments, such as the BUCS Championships

The Tennis team support with costs on restringing and UBTC support these players financially, through membership to the club and funding towards external tournaments

COMPETITION

Women’s Captains Alice Taylor and Ella Walker have been phenomenal at leading a young squad of women who are continually improving, and the prospect of the next couple of years with this group is very exciting.

On the Men’s side, James Li-Tremble and George Webber have continued the legacy of inspiring the men to play to the full extent of their skill level, and growing the culture of an increasingly competitive and supportive community

BUCS League and Cup

The players have worked extremely hard to perform to the best of their ability. It has been motivating for me as a coach to watch the determination and enthusiasm of individuals playing up into higher teams, often excelling in competing to their full potential; something for us to be very proud of.

Men's standings

M1s - 3rd Western 1A

M2s - 4th Western 2B

M3s - 2nd Western 2B

M4s - 5th Western 2B

Women's standings

W1s- 3rd Western 1A W2s – 4th Western 2

In Cup competition we still have five out of the six teams in their tournaments. Most notably, the M4s will take on the M2s team in the Western Conference Cup!

Victor Wiles, Maroon Scholar

BUCS Individual Doubles Championship

The BUCS Doubles Championship was hosted in Shrewsbury on the weekend of 19-20 November We had one women’s entry; Ella Walker and Chaaya Malik The pair fought hard in the round of 32 but unfortunately lost in a third set 10pt tie-break.

On the men’s side, Stan Ntchouissi and Alexander Standard lost out to a University of Stirling pair in the round of 64. Victor Wiles and James Li-Tremble faced first seeds and a world-ranked doubles pairing from Stirling, losing out after a huge effort

CLUB DEVELOPMENT

Summer Programme Offer

S.E.H ran a summer tennis offer that included a social session, beginner coaching and even a brand new Pickleball session

Workforce

We have teamed up with Game Changers to heavily subsidise the LTA Level 1 coaching assistant course for UOB students only The course takes place early this year.

B:Active

National Premier League

The NPL opposition has been incredibly tough with the women losing all three to the University of Bath, Millfield School and Winchester The men’s team are currently 2-1 with a loss to Cardiff Met, but wins over Millfield School and Lansdown.

Club Championships

This year held the first whole UBTC Championships - an extraordinary effort from Performance Men’s Captain George Webber, who delivered the event and set the blueprint for this tournament for many years to come.

Advanced Friendlies

The club have managed to play five matches this year, to date. It’s been great to give a host of players outside of BUCS the opportunity to showcase their skills on the match court

We have increased our offer from last year, allowing our student coaches to earn money delivering a range of weekly sessions.

Learn to Tennis

We have continued our success of the LTT sessions from last year, by creating a recurring weekly indoor course at Coombe Dingle.

Girls Only

We created a themed indoor Saturday session on one of the club's peak days. The 2-hour early evening session allows for a girls-only session to take place on a fortnightly basis

Ella Walker and Chaaya Malik, BUCS doubles

Men's 3s | Women's 1s

THANKS

A massive thanks to those directly working with the students on court; Ollie, Max, Ross, Ravi and Dom, you are creating such a special environment for our players

Thanks to our Multi Disciplinary Team, specifically the S&C team and Will and Dan for doing such a great job.

Lastly, our club would not be thriving as it is without a brilliant committee; a special mention to Torin (Club Captain) and Lotte and Amwene (Vice Captains) and, as ever, to the incredible Performance Tennis Captains James, George, Ella and Alice, who continue to push this programme and our developing performance culture forward.

Ollie Bendall

University Tennis Coordinator

Ali Blackett Head Coach, BUCS Tennis

NETBALL

SUMMARY

I was so excited to join UBNC as its first coordinator this year The club had been without a coach for several seasons but coming into this post, you would never have known. The players and committee have done a fantastic job catering for a wide range of students, providing netball for all abilities as well as having their first team competing at a high level. The club as a whole is fantastically run and the pool of talent is exciting; I am really looking forward to being a part of the future of Netball at the University

FIRST TEAM

This first term was used to embed a new culture and training environment for the club. Excellent commitment and effort at training and fantastic performances on court have led to the 1st team breaking for Christmas in a great league position, focusing on finishing as high as possible and pushing for a Premiership playoff position A Cup fixture on 1 February against likely opponents Portsmouth University will give the team the perfect opportunity to test themselves, should they reach the playoff stages.

MAROON SCHOLARS

It is with great pleasure I introduce the club's first Maroon Scholars, Ife Danso, Connie Rutter and Lizzie McGechie. These players are fantastic role models to the wider group and have all expressed their joy in being on the programme The additional S&C sessions are so beneficial and the psychology workshops have also been incredibly useful to the players, who share their experiences with the wider group. Hopefully we can continue to grow as a club and increase the number of Maroon Scholars in Netball

NPL PLAYERS

Amongst our talented group of players, we have several who have been selected to play in the National Performance League this season. Congratulations to Phoebe, Ife and Isla - we look forward to watching them play for their respective franchises.

TERM 2

I am excited to get going again We will start the term using our training sessions to work on fitness levels, and to re-focus on the league. All six teams are in great positions in their respective divisions; with the 1s, 3s and 6s all pushing for promotion and the 1s, 2s and 6s all still in cup competitions, it is going to be an exciting and busy end to the season!

Chantelle Wopara Club Coordinator, UBNC

UBNC 1s vs Cardiff Met 2s team (31-25)

CRICKET

SUMMARY

After a rollercoaster summer, full of highs and lows, we have started putting the pieces in place for a new and improved cricket programme capable of matching our competition as the ‘Best in the South West’.

Although these things take time, there has already been a big cultural shift from both the Men’s and Women’s sections of the club. Both Poppy Bell and Rowley Wing have led their respective committees brilliantly, with successes currently including:

30% increase in club memberships

An improved Performance Cricket programme, through self funding and a £6k investment. Securing a new club sponsor for 2023 Introduction of weekly ‘sober-socials’ Raising £1,600 for Movember Charity.

INDOOR CRICKET

Our men have re-entered the BUCS National Indoor Competition for the first time in five years. 4 wins and 3 losses sees us currently sitting in 4th in the regional qualifying group. Skipper Max Toohey ended up highest wicket taker in the Western Competition

After a whitewash of defeats last year, we improved dramatically to secure 2 wins as well as 2 losses Debutant Sally Phelps was top run scorer at the competition, averaging over 70 across 4 innings.

Regretfully, neither team have qualified for the National Finals

PERFORMANCE CRICKET

We have invested into a newly introduced programme which now includes up to 12 hours of weekly squad sessions, weekly 1-1 and small-group technical sessions for our highest performing players, mental skills support with Connor Grant and an S&C program led by the brilliant Will King & Will Sparks.

New additions to the coaching team, include:

Wilf Brooke - Women’s Lead Coach An exstudent and UBCC graduate, Wilf will be managing the Women’s 1st XI and 2nd XIs this summer, as they compete in an evergrowing programme and fixture list.

Theo Gordon assisted with the Men’s Performance Squad in their pre-Christmas preparations. Theo is the current Head Coach of the Bristol ACE Programme and works closely with Gloucestershire C C C

At the top end, it’s been fantastic to see how the Men’s 1st XI bounced back after a disappointing relegation from the National Premier League A fresh start for our new leadership group, as the brilliant young leftarm spinner, Max Toohey, takes on the Captaincy this summer Ben Woolnough and Alex Quin have been named as ViceCaptains.

Men's 1st XI

After only just staying up in the Premier League last season, our Women’s 1st XI have really upped-the-ante. Training with a new fire in their eyes, the girls have looked unstoppable at times. First-years, Sally Phelps and Olivia Carr, have been particularly impressive.

Women's Club XI

A2 SPONSORSHIP

The club has agreed a new club sponsorship for the 2023 season A2 Cricket is currently one of India’s newly-established Premium Cricket brands. It was founded by UBCC Alumni Arindam Aggarwal, who graduated in 2017 in Mechanical Engineering.

A2 will be sponsoring the club across the summer in a joint effort to improve the cricketing experience for students and staff at the University.

CLUB REPRESENTATIONAL HONOURS

- 2022

Alex Quin, 2nd year – Suffolk C.C.C. in the N C C A

Jamie Treasure, 2nd year – Oxfordshire C C C 1st Team Squad

Rowan Bascetta-Pollitt, 1st yearBedfordshire C.C.C. 2nd XI

Tanmay Thanawalla, 1st yearConference XI & Surrey U18s

Vikas Kokkiligadda, 1st year - Kent U18s

THANK YOU

A big thank you to all the hard work of our coaching team, committee members and staff behind the scenes on a successful term I’m excited to see what 2023 has in store for us!

Bolton Head Coach, UBCC #MaroonCaps

Chris

Max Toohey, 1st XI Captain

PERFORMANCE PSYCHOLOGY & WELLBEING

CLUBS AND HEAD COACHES

SCHOLARS

The Autumn term brought new faces, energy and aspirations onto the Vice Chancellor's and Maroon Scholar programmes. The late Summer residential on the River Wye proved the perfect catalyst for groupthink, programme values and term intentions / checkpoints

From the consulting space, I have been privileged to support and educate our varied group on campus, pitch / river-side and through the use of our new sponsor, Amber Resourcing, on Park Street.

This term brought the full gamut of performance and wellbeing-related challenges and opportunities, from serious injuries and illness, to personal bests on the ERG, national representation at camps and emergent leaders within BUCS first teams

A continued, integral pillar of psychology within the performance environment is my interactions with the new and established Head Coaches within the division. Throughout December, I worked closely with Head Netball Coach, Chani Wopara and her player leadership group, to build upon an impressive culture and motivational climate within the club. I have also started supporting Head of Men’s Football CoachCo-ordinator, Alan Tyers, as they navigate and continue to thrive in a fiercely competitive BUCS league

Grant Sport & Exercise Psychology Consultant & LTA Tennis Coach

Connor

UBAFC 1s take a spinning class

PRE-SEASON

Pre-season began on 22 August and we got straight down to some hard work to prepare for the season ahead. All students were provided with programmes over the summer to return to pre-season in the best condition possible All clubs were supported with four sessions a week, including strength, sprint, mobility, and conditioning based sessions, with the content adjusted according to the sport’s needs. Over the course of pre-season, we coached over 150 S&C sessions, supporting 15 clubs and totalling over 2,000 S&C attendances.

Pre-Season, Scholars' Day

ATHLETE EDUCATION

Towards the end of pre-season, every club received an in-person presentation from me, discussing our S&C philosophy and pathway, detailing the how, why and what we do. This gave students a greater understanding of why we do what we do and the feedback from this was very positive.

GYMAWARE FLEX

Over the summer, we invested £3,500 in nine GymAware Flexes The technology allows the user to track the speed of the bar during execution of lifts, which informs how the athlete is completing the exercise. This feedback provides a tangible metric to the outcome of each lift, which can be used to educate athletes and massively improve the quality of their training. The technology provides an opportunity to spark a conversation, for example if an individual doesn’t hit the required boundary for speed. When asked “Your speed is ‘X’ - why do you think that is?”, we've found that athletes often inherently know the answer, through responses like; “I loaded too much / didn’t load enough weight”, “I'm feeling tired today; I didn’t sleep well last night”.

Credits: FineTime Photography

And if the athlete doesn’t have a sense of what influenced their reading, this provides the perfect opportunity to explore why, to improve their education and quality of training.

GymAware Flex in use

TERM 1

Following a busy, yet incredibly fun pre-season, we settled into our term time structure. We continued to deliver S&C sessions within our ‘Training Model’, whereby S&C precedes technical training This makes our timetable streamlined and efficient for the students

This year our primary aim was to increase the average attendance per session, to improve the efficiency, athlete consistency and impact of our support Over the first term, our average attendance per session increased to 17 students, up from 12 last year In total, we averaged over 550 attendances per week in the 32 sessions we coached each week. The impact of this on athlete development and performance has been massive.

PERFORMANCE SQUAD

We continued with the same structure of support from last year for our Performance Squad, offering four options for sessions, on Monday and Friday. These are bespoke and targeted sessions, in line with their academic flexibility.

We meet as an MDT (S&C, Physio, Psych, Nutrition and Head Coach) biweekly to review each Scholar’s training and development This conversation helps to align our support, to have maximum impact on the individual’s development, and means that we can proactively put plans in place within a short time frame. This has continued to get better each week as we refine the process, building on its successful introduction at the end of the 21/22 academic year

Credits: FineTime Photography

Credits: FineTime Photography

Both Aiden Sharp and Gareth Webber left us in the summer, to gain their next roles with increased hours Both Aiden and Gareth had a huge impact with us during their time Due to the part-time nature of the S&C Coach roles, we have had more turnover of staff than we have liked in recent years – a victim of our own success in developing staff. Gareth and Aiden leaving presented an opportunity to restructure; we amalgamated two part-time roles and increased the hours of our third part-time role This, plus increased funding, means we now have the highest S&C staffing levels in five years

We welcomed Will Sparkes and Dan Newman to the team in term 1. Will joined us after returning from the USA where he worked with LA Galaxy and Dan joined us from his previous role as Head of Academy for Colchester FC Both Will and Dan have had huge impact so far and I’m looking forward to the influence of their skillset on the programme, going forward.

REHAB SESSION

With the increased staffing hours, we now support a rehab-focused session for injured athletes. This is the first time in our history that we have been able to offer this, and is a huge step forward Each Wednesday, we offer a drop-in session for all injured athletes to train, providing rehab and programmes bespoke to their injuries, to support their return to play.

PATERNITY LEAVE

On a personal level, we welcomed Cassie, our second child, to the RuscombeKing clan just before Christmas, so I am now taking a bit of a break, with Paternity leave until Easter Will Sparkes has been seconded to the Lead S&C role and will be taking over the reins - I'm sure he will do a great job This term has had a real sense of putting the puzzle together and this has had huge impact on athlete engagement and delivery. Our frameworks, processes and structure are now in place, and we are really starting to reap the rewards come match days

THANKS

Thank you again for your continued support.

Will Ruscombe-King Lead Strength & Conditioning Coach on behalf of the S&C team

TASS DUAL CAREER ACCREDITATION SCHEME

ABOUT

The TASS Dual Career Accreditation Scheme recognises an education institution’s commitment to dual career support for talented athletes who are in full-time education

A University may be invited to apply to become a TASS Dual Career Accredited Site. These sites are assessed based on their ability to support talented athletes on the academic side of their development.

The Dual Career Accreditation Scheme acknowledges an enhanced level of academic flexibility and understanding within an institution, allowing talented athletes to balance their studies with a hectic sporting schedule.

Achieving the Accreditation benefits the institution by formally recognising their commitment to supporting gifted student-athletes and subsequently giving them the potential to attract future talent

UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL - A DUAL CAREER ACCREDITED SITE

As a Dual Career Accredited Site, University of Bristol will be an important extension of the network of universities that already partner with TASS, delivering core support services to more than 600 student-athletes each year

These support services include physiotherapy, nutrition, lifestyle support, psychology strength and conditioning and a private medical scheme

While some of the existing services delivered focus solely on developing the young person’s sporting performance, a dual career support structure and academic flexibility policies are central to the help available to athletes based at an Accredited Site.

For University of Bristol, the recognition of becoming a TASS Dual Career Accredited Site is expected to be beneficial by attracting a greater number of talented athletes and building connections with other local sporting institutions.