Performance Sport report - Spring 2023

Photo credit: SmifSports

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TRIBUTE BEN DUDLEY, 1987-2023

Ben Dudley, our very much loved and respected Head of Hockey, passed away in April.

Ben joined us in January 2017, having previously been Head of Hockey at Kings Bruton School (2013-2015) and Master in Charge of Hockey Development at Bromsgrove School (2015-2017). Ben also coached and selected goalkeepers in the England Hockey National Age Group Squads and English Universities Sport teams

A top, international-standard goalkeeper by trade, Ben played in the Euro Hockey League and achieved international honours for England He played his school hockey for Bromsgrove School, representing the first team indoor and outdoor and representing England from U16 during this time

As a coach, Ben made a huge impact on every environment he led, leading the growth of a small school programme at Kings Bruton to national recognition, indoor and outdoor, working with some of our top international players along the way. He returned to lead Bromsgrove’s excellent school hockey programme, having previously coached there following his ‘graduation’.

As Head of Hockey at Bristol, Ben brought his wide-ranging experiences as a player and coach, and his ideas and passion for the game In the last six years, Ben achieved National League status with the University Men’s Squad and promotion to the British Universities and Colleges Premier Division twice. Ben achieved these feats with his squads despite being diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma in 2017

On meeting Ben, you very quickly got a sense of his passion, knowledge, and dedication, and his care for the game and the people around him Ben’s loss is so keenly felt by so many involved in hockey, from players, coaches and umpires to administrators up and down the country. He was an outstanding colleague. Throughout his time working at the University, he inspired many from outside the hockey world, and his caring, considerate and passionate approach made him popular right across the Sport, Exercise and Health division

Ben leaves his wife and son, 5, and an army of followers who play hockey in his memory. Ben’s legacy will go on at Bristol, and we will never forget what he has done for hockey across the area and across the country

UBMHC and UBLHC paid tribute to Ben at their recent mixed hockey match versus Sutton (pictured, left).

Matt Birch Director

University of Bristol Sport

Credit: SmifSports Photography

Welcome to the Spring edition of the Performance Sport report. I again sit at Coombe Dingle on a very wet Friday morning at the end of term, writing these notes. Cricket season is just around the corner, so I hope that the sun is waiting for that to begin to start showing its face!

What an incredible term 2 we have just had! As ever, the weeks fly by and are full with action-packed fixtures and competitions that our students and clubs have been taking part in.

Through the wind, rain and sometimes snow, the students have continued to give everything week-in, week-out to both our BUCS campaign and weekends in our National Leagues. It's credit to them all and the coaching staff that has helped us amass a huge 2765 points to date The University currently sits 10th in the BUCS league, with term 3 competitions and events still to come.

Just this week, on Wednesday 29 March, we had two teams in BUCS Play Off contention and our Netball first team beat Portsmouth and earned their promotion to the Premier League for the first time This match was closely followed by the Men's Volleyball which saw Bristol beat Oxford in the first of their two-match play off mini league Two hugely competitive games and two memorable victories.

Creating memories; that’s what it’s all about isn't it? Lifelong memories created with your friends, club members, coaches and colleagues. Sport continues to deliver on this message and it's so important that our collective focus on this is never forgotten as we search for continued and sustained success across our sports and teams at the University.

We are excited to be hosting a Vice Chancellor's Scholarship Interview Day at Coombe in early April. We received 46 applications from a range of sports this year and it will, as ever, be a very difficult recruitment process to choose Scholars for September 2023. Our current group continues to inspire, and we have a couple of school visit days to attend in term 3, to discuss all things sport and academics with some future potential athletes.

Term 3 always brings with it the assessment period for students, and the narrative of our support changes to work with them and offer flexibility to train, be with friends and get away from the books for a while We will offer a full strength and conditioning term 3 programme for the first time this year, so that students can use this off-season period to carry on training and developing. Lots of planning will begin to take shape too, as we know that Pre-Season is not far away.

For Cricket, a BUCS season awaits, Rowing enters a huge period of competitions on the water, ending with Henley in June, and the Rugby 7’s will take place in May in Leeds for our men's and women's teams So much more competitive action to look forward to in our clubs!

Thank you to all the staff, Scholars and experts who have contributed to the content and pages that are inside this Spring report; the continued hard work and effort to provide support and guidance for students and clubs is what makes Bristol a unique place to be.

Thank you to Nigel Wray and the Priory Foundation for your continued support, and all donors and friends of the University for your continued gifts, donations and words of support around the Performance programme.

I look forward to welcoming you all to Coombe in the coming weeks and months, with the sunshine as a promise and some great summer events for you all to enjoy with us! Thanks.

Matt Paine Performance Sport Manager University of Bristol Sport

'GLOVES OFF'

WITH EMPIRE FIGHTING CHANCE

The Foundation for Leadership through Sport (FLS) team ran an event on Thursday 23 March at the Empire Gym in Bristol, as an opportunity to meet the team, athletes and staff from their Fighting Chance programme.

Bob Reeves hosted the day, which was spent with a wide range of people in sport, business and education from Bristol and further afield, to listen and learn from a project of theirs that has not only had a huge impact on Bristol, but more importantly on a number of young people's lives

Programme Lead Martin Bisp described the project as existing “to fight the impact of poverty and inequality on the lives of young people”. They have used boxing as the sporting driver to create a ground breaking fusion of boxing and psychology, to enable young people to overcome adversity that they face, and realise their very unique perspective

The day involved the chance to hear from some very impressive young apprentices who had joined the programme and become leaders within the gym as well as a point of support for coaches and new students who join Empire They spoke with confidence, eloquence, and passion as they told stories of personal challenges, bullying at school, and how they used this opportunity to reshape their lives, friendship groups and to create a pathway for themselves

Following on from the event, we are now in discussion with Empire to invite them to come to Coombe Dingle and visit the University, to spend some time with our staff and hear about our programmes We hope to show them that the University is a welcoming space for them. We will take our Vice Chancellor's Scholars to the Empire gym in September later this year to hear about the programme, get a chance to put on the pads and gloves and enjoy a session with their own up-andcoming athletes!

A truly inspiring day and place in Bristol that is doing so much in that space!

What. A. Season. As a year of main BUCS competition draws to a close, we have the chance to reflect on the 900+ BUCS Wednesday fixtures and 57 BUCS Events in which the University of Bristol was represented (so far).

We have; 11 league-winning teams, with 4 teams winning their respective BUCS Premierships. Four teams; Men’s Futsal, Women’s Football, Men’s Water Polo, Women’s Table Tennis, have placed Top 4 for their sport in the UK (earning them a place at the EUSA European University Championships in the summer)!

The University currently sits 9th nationally in the BUCS Points table of 164 competing institutions and we now wait with baited breath for the first ball of the BUCS cricket season to be bowled...

With the Cricket Men’s and Women’s 1st teams both competing in their BUCS Premier South leagues, and three further Men’s sides spread amongst our BUCS regional divisions, I am really looking forward to watching their performances this season

Looking further ahead, I would like to continue to see our BUCS programme offer the highest level of competitive student sport to our body of dedicated athletes, even in such challenging times as these. Through continuous review and improvement, we look to build on the successes of this season, keep our programme fresh, and offer the best student-athlete experience we can. Bring on season 23/24!

Andrew Lanham BUCS and Competitions Administrator

HALL OF FAME

We're proud to see current and ex-student athletes develop with us and succeed in their sport, at national and international level.

Phoebe Murray (Medicine, 4th year) - Rugby

Dual-career student-athlete Phoebe is playing at the highest level of Rugby Union - in the Allianz Premier 15s - for Bristol Bears Phoebe has also represented England (U20s) on 10 occasions, including 5 as Captain

Watch 'Phoebe Murray - A day in the life' on Bristol Bears TV

Image credit: Alex James JMP

Jazmin Sawyers (Law, Alumna) - Athletics, Long Jump

Alumna Jaz hit the headlines in early March after setting a national record for indoor long jump at the European Indoor Athletics Championships in Istanbul Jaz landed an incredible jump of 7 00 metres

Read more on BBC News

Image credit: British Athletics / Getty Images

Jenna de Vera (Film and Television with Innovation, 1st year) - Rugby

Jenna was selected for the Wales 6 Nations Squad in late March, at just 19 years old after captaining the under 18s Scarlets team last year, and having impressed Wales Head Coach Ioan Cunningham whilst playing in the Celtic Challenge.

Read the University's full press release

Image credit: Scarlets/Riley Sports

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S FOOTBALL

We were honoured to host the Italy Women's Football team at Coombe Dingle in February for their final training session ahead of their Arnold Clark Cup fixture at Ashton Gate stadium, against Korea Republic. Italy scored the winning goal at 90(+5) minutes to end the match 1-2 and secure themselves third place in the tournament Before they left, the team kindly signed an S E H shirt and football, which are proudly on display behind Harry's Bar, in the Pavilion

EUSA COMPETERS

Congratulations to the four University of Bristol teams who have qualified for the European University Sports Association (EUSA) Championships, for the first time

Our Women's Football, Men's Futsal, Men's Table Tennis and Men's Water Polo teams will head to four locations across Europe this summer, to compete with the best university teams on the continent

By way of a competitor support package, Performance Sport have offered each team free additional S&C and technical support at the Coombe Dingle Performance Gym at the end of their Term 3 offer, including a group Nutrition clinic with Tania Griffin and dedicated time with Sport Psychology and Wellbeing expert, Connor Grant

Women's Football Men's Table Tennis Men's Water Polo Men's Futsal

25 June - 2 July

4 - 9 July 13 - 19 July

18 - 26 July

Sport, Exercise and Health's Marketing and Communications team hope to engage the teams as they travel to their respective locations, supporting each of them in hosting an 'Instagram takeover' on the @bristolunisport Instagram account

The takeover will allow students, staff, alumni, partners & sponsors and the wider community to follow the teams 'behind the scenes' as they get ready to compete, and will offer the clubs an opportunity to showcase their sport to a new audience, while feeling proud to represent Bristol

Read the University's full press release

Listen to the BBC Radio Bristol: The Sports Store interview with Women's Football and Men's Table Tennis Club Captains (starts at 40 mins in)

Credit: SmifSports Photography

Credit: FineTime Photography

Credit: University of Bristol Sport

Credit: Max Dauskardt, @daus pics

The time after Christmas break is always a difficult one to manage This year, however, was extremely challenging with the weather proving to be exceptionally unkind. For most of January the entire Saltford Rowing Centre was flooded The river level rose to two and half feet inside the boathouse, it was an incredibly frustrating and nerve-racking time for the club.

Unlike our competitors, we kick off the new year with an exam period rather than a training camp, and knowing that we would be completely forced off the water for a whole month, we were very aware just how far behind we would be and the challenge that lay ahead of us

When the river level finally subsided, we were left to deal with the damage caused by the flood and had just three sessions to prepare for Quintin Head race We sent seven crews to London, consisting of our Open Club, Senior, and Development Squads. Surprisingly, Quintin Head proved to be a solid start to the year, and it was great to catch up with our alumni after the race I’m immensely proud of how the club responded during this challenging time, and how they performed at their first race of the year!

GB TRIALS

A typical grey, wet, and windy February day in Boston set the scene for the British Rowing Senior and U23 trials. Lara Grant had a superb result, coming 26th overall and 9th U23 in the W1x Efa Wilson unfortunately suffered an injury while racing, however, she was able to finish, crossing the line in 45th and 20th U23. Freddie Woodall was 29th overall and 12th U23 in the M1x Finally, Jake Birch and Robbie Prosser raced in the M2they placed 22nd out of the 33 men’s pairs.

Lara, Efa and Robbie were invited to April Final Trials at Caversham, which have a huge bearing on whether our athletes are selected for a GB Senior or U23 team in the summer.

Efa Wilson, W2-: 1st in C Final (4th fastest U23)

Robbie Prosser, M2-: 2nd in C Final Lara Grant, W1x: 3rd in D Final

Robbie and Efa have now been invited to seat racing and trials - we wish them both the best of luck!

BUCS HEAD

After a 3-year absence, UBBC made the long trip up to Newcastle for some great racing at BUCS Head this year! Huge congratulations to all who raced, and especially to our Senior Men who came away with medals in the Intermediate 4+, 8+ and Champ 4+ categories!

Unfortunately, I was unable to travel with the squads to GB Trials and BUCS Head, but I would like to say a huge thank you to Tom and Holly who supported the club superbly at both events

Lara Grant

Efa Wilson

Results:

Men’s Inter 8+ (A): 1st

Men’s Champ 4+: 2nd

Men’s Inter 4+ (A): 2nd

Men’s Inter 8+ (B): 4th

Men’s Inter 4+ (B): 6th

Women’s Inter 4x: 6th

Women’s Beginner 8+: 6th

Men’s Beginner 4x: 6th

Men’s Beginner 8+: 8th

Women’s Inter 8+: 13th

Women’s Inter 4+: 25th

WEHORR & HORR

UBBC sent two women’s crews to WeHORR this year. It was a great opportunity for our Senior and Development crews to step up and gain some more experience on the Tideway, and a brilliant way to wrap up head race season for the women.

Our women’s 1st VIII improved upon their 112th finish last year to place 71st overall and 6th Challenge Academic crew. This is a great step forward from this squad and we're excited to see what they can do later this year The Development women also had an impressive row, finishing as the 10th fastest University Beginner crew.

Results:

1st VIII: 71st overall, 6th Challenge

Academic

2nd VIII: 239th overall, 10th University

Beginner

Two weeks after WeHORR, it was the men’s turn to conquer the Championship course on the Tideway. After a day of hard racing at HORR, the men came away with the best set of results in Bristol’s History The 1st VIII placed 20th, which is the highest of any Bristol 1st VIII.

Unfortunately, the 2nd VIII suffered a steering problem and were unable to finish Looking at the results of their competitors, who they had raced at BUCS Head, we believe they could have finished anywhere between 42nd - 34th. The 3rd VIII improved on their 108th finish from last year, to place 94th

The Development men also had a brilliant result, coming in as the 5th fastest University Beginner crew

Results:

1st VIII: 20th overall, 6th University

2nd VIII: DNF

3rd VIII: 94th overall

4th VIII: 230th overall, 5th University Beginner

THANKS

A huge thanks to all our supporters, our friends and alumni, colleagues within Sport, Exercise and Health, and our partners The Fernside Trust and TVE Group.

Ed Bloomfield Head Coach, Rowing

Credit: AllMarkOne

HOCKEY

MEN'S SQUAD

Following a storied promotion season in 21/22, theUniversityofBristolHockeyClubmenhave taken on the highest level of challenge in our history, in both England Hockey outdoor and indoor leagues, with exceptional grit, determination,intelligenceandskill.

Outdoors, in England Hockey National League Division One, the 2nd tier of national competition, the M1s have risen to the challenge of being a newly promoted team in a high level environment, winning a total of 11 points, with three to play for After being bottom of the table on 2 points after Term 1, some excellent wins against rivals Oxford Hawks HC, Brighton and Hove HC as well as entertaining and engaging draws against league winners Southgate, and 2nd place Teddington, where the men again proved they belong at this level as well as with local rivals Team Bath Buccaneers, meant we took our chance of survival until the end While ultimately, it was not to be, we will reflect on a special season, full of learning opportunities andexcellence,inequalmeasure.

Indoors, despite only a handful of training sessions and a number of players new to the indoor game, the men won promotion from both the West Conference and Division 2 South Region in an exciting England Hockey tournament held ‘down the road’ at UWE We then took on National Division 2 at Repton, competing against some of the best indoor sides in the country, including Southgate, Beeston and Guildford all of whom include current and former GB internationals Another exhilarating experience and excellent performances from the Bristol group saw us finish 4th of 6, though we fell just two goals shortongoaldifferencetoproceedtothenext stage for 2023/24 We will once again attack the indoor game with renewed vigour next season.

Finally, and not least, 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. Top of the table after Term 1, we continued this run, remaining unbeaten for the entire campaign with 7 wins from 8, conceding only six goals all season (two of which were against our own M2s!). These including excellent, professional 10 and 2-1 wins against our biggest rivals Exeter 2sandCardiffMet,respectively Asaresult,the M1s have secured promotion to BUCS Premier Divisionforthe2023/24Season!

Despite only losing two games all season, the M2s currently sit 2nd in the England Hockey West Division 1 table, 1 point behind top with one game remaining. In a league with only one promotion slot, the final outcome may somewhat hide the high levels of consistent performance, skill, determination and dedication exhibited by the group. Once again, we will learn from all our experiences - good and adverse - and go again to be the one side to bepromotednextyear

In BUCS, following promotion to National South Division (joining our M1s), a very young M2s side have had an excellent, if challenging, season With draws against Oxford Brookes and Reading, and a win vs KCL alongside entertaining and high performance games vs our own M1s as well as Cardiff M1s, the 2s have secured survival at their first attempt at a level where few university programmes have a secondteam.

Credit: SmifSports Photography

Men's 1s celebrate promotion after their match against Oxford Brookes

WOMEN'S SQUAD

The UBHC W1s sit 4th in a tightly contested England Hockey West Premier Division with one game to play A season of transition in the squad, there have been some excellent results; notably a 2-1 win vs near-rivals Cardiff & Met and a 4-1 win vs near-rivals Isca With a young squad in an incredibly full calendar, the 1s have played some of the best hockey we have ever seen them play (at any level!), particularly in a narrow, late defeat to tabletoppers Clifton Robinsons in Term 1

Ultimately, in a game of fine margins, our number of draws put paid to our promotion ambition, not least with only one team promoted, but once again with a highly talented but young squad, we have much learning to take and renewed optimism for taking on this challenge again in 2023/24.

In BUCS, a campaign of mixed results and yet more fine margins ended with a mid-table finish for our W1s in National Division One (South).

After an excellent and thoroughly enjoyable promotion season in BUCS in 2021/22, the W2s have followed that up with (greater than) consolidation at BUCS Western Division 1 level, finishing 3rd of 6, winning three games including an excellent 3-0 win vs nearneighbours Cardiff Metropolitan W2s

Similarly, in England Hockey West Division 1, the 2s have consolidated their league position with one to play. Taking on 32 games across England Hockey league and BUCS, this has been an incredibly busy season for a group of >66% freshers

Two encouraging consolidations give this young group the opportunity to take a lot of lessons forward, to put us in the best possible place to move forward again in 2023/24

Martin Hicks Hockey Coordinator, UBHC

Ben Dudley Head Coach, UBHC

UBLHC celebrate their 4-3 win v Swindon Credit: SmifSports Photography

TERM 2 REVIEW

Term 2 is very much the business end for most sports and Men’s rugby is no different, with all five BUCS teams competing for valuable points. Term 2 also witnessed the start of a local first-year friendly tournament, where our first years played Bath, UWE, Cardiff and Hartpury in very competitive matches; our first-years had memorable victories over all sides they faced.

The rugby club also saw another prestigious fixture in Term 2 as the 1st XV and Imperial XV headed to Iffey Road to take on Oxford, which was received well by current students and alumni alike. Next season we hope to more-than double the number of prestigious fixtures we play throughout the year, as we aim to change the rugby playing offer slightly, making it more appealing and competitive.

Our BUCS season finish was slightly bumpy this year with a comfortable 4th place finish for the 1st XV, where the financially-backed Brunel University ran away with the league. However, Head of Rugby Joe Goodman and the players can be pleased with impressive wins verses Bath, Cardiff and Cardiff Met, which formed the highlight of term 2.

Sadly, teams lower than the 1st XV struggled with results this season, as well as through injuries; one Wednesday saw the team having more than 80 players injured with rugby related issues Despite this, most teams did have successful Cup runs with the 1st and 5th XV losing out in a narrow semi-finals against Newcastle and Hartpury.

WHAT'S NEXT

In previous years, the noise of spring tends to bring an end to our season, but not this year, as the 1st XV will return in Term 3 excited and ready to play, in what has been advertised as the “real West Country derby"! Both the men and women take on the Bath University respective 1st XVs in what will be a classic under-the-lights at Dings Rugby Club.

Prior to this game the Performance Squad will face the Royal Armed Forces U23s in a competitive warm-up fixture at Coombe Dingle.

It doesn’t stop there for the rugby club though, as Term 3 will see the launch of the Maroon 7 squad; a squad designed to incorporate both current and alumni students who will compete in 7s competitions across Europe The Maroon 7 kick off their campaign in the BUCS 7s tournament in early May.

UBRFC were also incredibly busy off-field last term, with the players supporting the local Children’s Hospice (CHSW) in a variety of fundraising events, pushing our community fundraising contribution to over £5,000 this year

Full Back Henry Smeed running through the Cardiff defense

Credit: SmifSports Photography

THANKS

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the facility and grounds staff who have worked exceptionally hard to ensure as much rugby goes ahead as possible

I would also like to thank Andrew Lanham and Victoria Dickson who continue to remain calm when I send them my weekly desperate emails!

Finally, I'd like to thank Lloyd Spence in the Development and Alumni Relations Office (DARO) team who has produced a fantastic online platform for our Alumni 1876 fundraising project.

Olly Slym

Club Manager, UBRFC

Scrum Half Lawrence Wise scores the winning try Credit: SmifSports Photography

SUMMARY

1.

2. 3

Consistent improvement in performance across all three teams

Retention remains high with new players still being attracted

International recognition of players shows quality of programme

We continue to be one of very few university women’s clubs with three teams in BUCS, and we showed in Term 2 that all can be competitive. Our numbers continue to grow; well over 100 players have attended training sessions, more than 80 have played in BUCS, and 35 players are taking part in the club S&C programme.

TRAINING

Following the introduction of the Coordinator role, we have been able to offer additional skills sessions to our three Maroon Scholars and have opened up these sessions to a wider group of players. Numbers are increasing, which is showing through in the accelerated learning and improved performances of individuals

The reduction of our Monday evening training session on the 3G from 90 mins to 60 mins this season has undoubtedly had a negative impact on our development of shape and structure (particularly in our less experienced 2nd and 3rd teams), but we have been trying to address this through greater use of video analysis sessions - the club were supported by RFU funding to purchase a VEO camera and subscription. We are hoping our matrix score will allow us to increase our 3G training again next season, as this is essential to improving results

RESULTS

BUCS League

1st XV finished 4th in Premier South

2nd XV finished 4th in Western Tier 2

3rd XV improved to 4th in Western Tier 3

Bath Spa 1s were so shocked by the improvement in performance they thought (erroneously) we had played our 1st and 2nd team players in the match!

2s after losing narrowly to eventual league winners USW 1s

3s after bonus point loss 20-25 to Bath Spa 1s

Cup

The 1st XV had a hastily-arranged fixture versus Newcastle in the National Vase and lost narrowly, 15-17, despite having to play a combination of 1st, 2nd and 3rd team players Although we lost, the performance showed how well the club playing structure, common terminology and coaching enables players from lower teams to step up and perform.

INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION

We had two first team players picked for the Wales Celtic Challenge training squad –Chloe Fletcher and Jenna De Vera

Jenna was selected to play and caught the eye of Wales Head Coach Ioan Cunningham. As a result of her performances there, Jenna was part of the 36-strong Wales playing squad for the 6 Nations!

Jenna has made a huge contribution to our team culture and work ethic and has excelled for the 1st XV in a number of positions, so it was no surprise to see her continue her progress with Wales in the Celtic Challenge, and then the full Wales squad.

7s

We travelled to the International 7s university tournament in Lyon in early April, playing amongst the top French, South African and Spanish teams We placed 7th of 12 teams, finishing top of the overseas teams!

We will use this experience as preparation for the BUCS 7s in May, where we will enter teams in the Championship and Trophy.

Steve Gazzard Head Coach, UBWRFC

1s after losing 15-17 to Newcastle in the National Vase

Jenna De Vera at an early morning UBWRFC skills session at Coombe Dingle

7s squad in Lyon

MEN'S FOOTBALL

SUMMARY

April saw the conclusion of the BUCS campaign for the Men's Football club. The 1s finished second in the league behind Cardiff Met 1s, and reached the semi- final of the Men's National Trophy, though sadly lost 2-0 to Loughborough 2s

Our 2s had a great season and stayed well and truly in the Tier 1 division, drawing with UWE 1s in their final game The 3s did not fare so well and were relegated from a very competitive division 2B – but we will regroup and come back stronger in the new season.

The 4s and 5s consolidated their places in Division 4B – with the 5s narrowly missing out on promotion. The 6s were comfortably placed mid-table, and we will be striving to achieve some promotions and Cup runs next season

As ever, the S&C programme was instrumental in the success of the club, and Will and Dan worked hard to keep the players fit and healthy.

VEO CAMERA LIVESTREAM

The VEO camera was a great success, allowing us to livestream the matches to Alumni It was also beneficial for post-match analysis and preparation for upcoming return fixtures.

GPS TRACKERS

This season we were presented with the opportunity to use the GPS trackers These identified the statistics for individual players, including top speed, distance covered, acceleration, sprints etc

This presented the players with vital information to help improve their performance, and we are hoping to extend the use of GPS trackers into the new season

VEO camera livestream on the 3G pitch

Men's 1st team

OLISA TOURNAMENT

The second Olisa tournament takes place on Sunday 30 April at Lockleaze Centre. This is in memory of former student Olisa who sadly passed away in 2022. 20 teams have entered, including a staff team, for the first time

Alan Tyers Club Coordinator, Men's Football UBAFC

TENNIS

BUCS Cups and Trophy

Women’s 2nd R/Up Western Conference Cup

SUMMARY COMPETITION

Term 2 has been an incredibly exciting and successful term for UBTC, specifically our BUCS and Maroon Scholar players PostChristmas season was full of important matches with our Men’s 1s competing to get into Southern Premiership playoffs and five teams still involved in Cup or Trophy runs at the start of the term

Our Women’s 2nd team have had a difficult league season due to players regularly having to be ‘bumped up’ into the 1st Team However, we manged to put in some incredible Cup match performances, specifically the semi-final fixture versus top-of-the-table Cardiff 2; players Georgie Pearch and Zoe Body clinched crucial singles matches in 10-point tiebreak third sets, resulting in a 4-2 win. Unfortunately the final got just out of our reach, with a 2-4 loss to Exeter.

After a hard fought season, all teams remained in their respective leagues with strong finishes from our Women’s 1sts and Mens 2nd and 3rd Teams.

BUCS Leagues

-Womens 1st: 3rd Western Tier 1

-Womens 2nd: 5th in Western Tier 2

-Mens 1st: 4th Western 1

-Mens 2nd: 2nd Western 2B

-Mens 3rd: 3rd Western 2B

-Mens 4th: 5th Western 2B

Women’s 2nds Conference Cup Runners Up

Image front row L-R: Angelique Trinder, Georgie Pearch, India Henke and Zoe Body, supported by the rest of the Women’s Squad.

Men’s 2nd R/Up Western Conference Cup

Men’s 1st Team, last match of the season

Image L-R: Alex Matthews, Captain James LiTremble, Captain George Webber, Maroon Scholar Victor Wiles and Maroon Scholar Stan Ntchouissi. James, George and Stan will graduate this year.

The Conference Cup final was a culmination of a fantastic season for our Mens 2nd team The final kicked off to an amazing start with Bristol taking both doubles rubbers; a testament to the hard work and improvement that the lads have made in their doubles’ games Unfortunately the experienced Exeter team proved too good on the singles court, sweeping all four singles.

Despite the disappointment of the final the team finished the term on a 5-1 winning record!

BUCS Individuals

On the weekend of March 4th/5th we hosted the BUCS Individuals Western Qualifier where we had 8 University of Bristol players competing. Wins came from Maroon Scholars Victor Wiles, Chaaya Malik and Jess Holloway Unfortunately these 3 players alongside Ella Walker all lost out at the last qualifying round

Intermediate, Advanced and BUCS players to all be part of the same tournament. We had some excellent matches at Finals on 22 April and it was a fantastic way to bring the club together to mark the end of a brilliant season

Results:

Men’s Final: Victor Wiles won 6-4 6-2

Women’s Final: Ella Walker won 6-3 6-4

Plate Final: Desmond Martin won 6-4 6-1

Saucer Final: Ollie Binnie won 6-0 6-2

CLUB DEVELOPMENT

Advanced and Intermediate matches and Team Challenges

Maroon Scholars Ella Walker and Chaaya Malik; both competed in the BUCS Individuals Singles Western Qualifier held at Coombe Dingle

National Premier League

Term 2 saw the end of both Men’s and Women’s NPL season. The level of opposition was incredibly high and our players fought hard to pick up results against some of the strongest club and university teams in the country. Both men’s and women’s teams finished a respectable 6th in their leagues.

A big thanks to coach Ross Gilbert for playing in the Men’s team for the majority of fixtures; his inclusion has helped the students learn and progress with their doubles play phenomenally

Club Championships

Designed and delivered by Men’s Performance Captain George Webber, the Club Championships allowed approximately 100

Our Advanced men played Team Bath away and despite a good fight, lost 6-2. Our Intermediate men fared better to Cardiff Met, with a 7-3 win. Both Intermediate men and woman drew 5-5 with Birmingham in a tightly fought contest Back home at Coombe Dingle, we have had 35 players engage in our internal Team Challenges.

Workforce

11 of our students completed their LTA Level 1 Coaching Assistant qualification at Coombe Dingle this term This is the first qualification we have offered on-site to our students since 2018 and, working with Game Changers, we were able to provide it at a considerably reduced cost Our current student coach workforce are helping to support and deliver a total of 26 student sessions across four University of Bristol sites.

B:Active programme offer

Alongside the UBTC tennis programme, University Coordinator Ollie has worked with the B:Active team to ensure there are opportunities for new students to access tennis. Since the start of the academic year, we have had 494 sign-ups for B:Active sessions on the Tennis timetable; this includes social sessions, cardio tennis and pickleball.

THANKS

As ever, a huge thanks to the coaching team and staff working with the students; specifically Ollie for creating opportunities for the players in the wider club outside of BUCS, and of course coaches Dom, Max, Ross, Ravi and student coaches Jess, Toby, George, Claudia, Lotte, Jack and Torin for the work on court with these players Thanks also to Strength and Conditioning coaches Will, Tom and Dan for all their efforts with the teams in the gym.

A special mention goes to Torin, as Club Captain, always supporting our drive to get better. Lastly, my biggest thanks goes to the Performance Team Captains Alice Taylor, Ella Walker, George Webber and James Li-Tremble for flawlessly leading our squads this season They have done nothing but model the highest levels of standards, both on and off the court, and have grown into outstanding ambassadors for our club and sport.

Men’s Performance Tennis Team Captain James Li-Tremble James completes an incredible four years of tennis with us this season

Ali Blackett Head Coach, Student Performance Tennis

NETBALL

SUMMARY

Its been another fantastic term, with all 6 teams finishing off the season in strong league positions. The term was full of exciting fixtures both in the league and cup competitions. The 2nd team narrowly missed out on reaching the Western Conference Cup final, losing the semi final to Bournemouth Women’s 1 by just 1 goal. They then finished the season off in style with a 62-23 away win against USW. The 3rd team had a fantastic season, cruelly missing out on promotion on goal difference

1ST PROMOTION TO PREMIER SOUTH

The term was topped off with the 1st team coming out victorious against Portsmouth in a winner-takes-all playoff fixture We had played Portsmouth in the Cup, and although we were unsuccessful, this provided us with the perfect opportunity to learn all we needed to know about the team that stood between us and BUCS Premiership netball next year.

We carried out our pre-match analysis and approached the game fully prepared. The team were focused, and executed the game plan perfectly, finishing the first quarter with a healthy 14-3 lead Portsmouth are a quality team, a team we knew would come back fighting, but we had answers for everything they threw at us, and took the game 50-29.

It was a perfect team performance with every single player playing their part, both on and off the court. I am incredibly proud of the group and cannot wait to start getting prepared for the next chapter!

WESTERN CONFERENCE TROPHY FINAL

The 6s have had a great season, finishing 3rd in their division and going on an incredible Cup run Some fantastic results along the way - including a fantastic 59-39 win against Bournemouth Women’s 3 - helped them reach the Conference Trophy final verses Bath 5s.

The players were pumped and ready to go for the original fixture date in March, but it sadly got cancelled due to the snow and was rearranged to 19th April, at Bath University. Unfortunately Bath got the win, with a final score of 45-58

Credit: SmifSports Photography

UBNC 1s draw 40-40 v Bath 2s in the final League match, and secure a place at the playoffs

1s v Portsmouth 1s (Prem play off) 50-29 win

WHAT'S NEXT

The club are looking forward to training continuing in Term 3 for the first time. With a final to look forward to and a place in the highest league next year to be ready for, the group are aware that there is still lots of hard work to be done.

I am personally enjoying the recruitment process and really enjoyed interviewing possible future VC Scholars, giving me a chance to meet talented athletes looking to join the University of Bristol, where they can continue to excel both in their sport and academically

Preparing to face Bath 2s in BUCS

Credit: SmifSports Photography

Chantelle Wopara Club Coordinator, Netball

6s following a 59-39 win against Bournemouth 3s

CRICKET

SUMMARY

Our new performance programme carried on into Term 2 as we prepared to finally ditch the indoor facilities for some much needed sunshine.

SUMMER PRE-SEASON

The club has benefitted from two pre-seasons this calendar year, starting with a ‘Power-Up Pre Season’, designed to get our studentathletes into winning habits as they return from the Christmas break.

With a desire to improve on last year's preseason and play more fixtures, the committee organised a summer pre-season schedule comprising nearly 15 fixtures across our five teams, with some highly reputable sides featured, including Gloucestershire Academy and Cardiff UCCE

Inevitably, the UK then faced its wettest March since 1981, and April wasn't much better. With all pre-season games cancelled, and a severe lack of practice on grass, we have adapted well and still put on a high class fulltime pre-season schedule, catering for over 60 student-athletes in the week.

Highlights included:

Competitive nets, skills work, and fielding on

the 3G and Astros

S&C delivered by Dr Will Sparkes

Mental skills and sports psychology with Connor Grant

Team-building workshops, teambreakfasts and a whole-Club curry night.

As BUCS finally gets underway and our season begins, let’s pray for sunshine! I am highly optimistic that it won’t be long before we are sitting on our beloved Coombe Dingle Pavilion balcony watching some high quality Bristol cricketers enjoy so much of the success that they have worked so hard for

We have begun the early stages of developing a long-term partnership with our local proside, Gloucestershire County Cricket Club

This has involved taking a mixed group of our most talented players to use the Bristol Indoor Centre, to train in a professional environment. It is one of the best indoor cricket facilities in the West

Both our Men and Women Seamers have also benefitted from sessions with Robbie Josephs, the Gloucestershire 1st Team Bowling Coach

Our Women’s player/Assistant Coach, Melissa Story (who is unfortunately not eligible for BUCS this year), made her debut for Gloucestershire Women’s 1st XI, taking 2 wickets on debut as they won the game against Shropshire.

Women's 1st XVII

THANKS

As always, a huge thank you to everyone involved in supporting cricket at the University of Bristol. From support staff to groundsmen operations to the coaches; we appreciate all the hard work you do in making this Cricket Club so special Bring on the summer!

Chris Bolton Head Coach, Cricket UBCC #MaroonCaps

Performance athletes in S&C, visited by UBCC alumni Arindam Aggarwal (Managing Director of A2 Cricket) and Tom Milsom (Owner and Managing Director of The Cricket Boutique and Arytek Cricket)

PERFORMANCE PSYCHOLOGY & WELLBEING

VC SCHOLARS AND MAROONS

The winter term proved to be a busy one across the Scholarship programme. The bulk of my support was geared towards helping the Hockey and Rugby clubs continue their upward trajectory in the respective BUCS/weekend leagues

My touch points with Scholars included small focus group discussions and workshops looking at team dynamics, psychological skills in performance, and match reviews I also continued to provide 1:1 mental skills training for our Boat Scholars.

CLUBS AND HEAD COACHES

This term saw me continue to support the Performance coaching staff, with continued 1:1 work with Alan Tyers (Club Co-ordinator, Men's Football) and Chani Wopara (Club Cordinator, Netball) I was fortunate to be involved both in key training sessions and some clutch match performances, as both environments worked towards promotion.

My focus in the summer term will shift to the Cricket club and Coach Chris Bolton, as well as working with Ed Bloomfield, Holly Stead and Tom Selby to prepare the Boat club mentally and physically, for a busy regatta calendar

Connor Grant Sport & Exercise Psychology Consultant & LTA Tennis Coach

Working with Chani as UBNC faced Bath 2s

Credit: SmifSports Photography

SUMMARY

The second term of the academic year has proven to be another successful and positive period for us Building upon the great work that started back in pre-season last year, squads continued to work hard on their physical development right through to Easter. With some exciting new elements also added, our squads continue to build and expand on our delivery beyond the gym.

TERM 2 REVIEW

After a well-deserved Christmas break, during which teams were given remote training programmes to maintain fitness, Term 2 started in early January.

During the early exam period, the programme provided flexibility where S&C sessions were offered as an opportunity for students to take a break from the books if they wished.

Exercise and movement are not just limited to improving physical fitness, but also have wide-reaching beneficial effects on cognitive performance, concentration, memory, mood, and mental health In addition, everyone knew that there were some key fixtures just around the corner, so proactive preparation was key.

The fixtures soon came thick and fast, with some unbelievable results across the board The S&C delivery was continuously supporting the performance of our squads in the background, keeping our student-athletes healthy and injury-free, while developing key physical qualities that underpin successful sporting performance

All squads had access to a minimum of 2 – 3 coached sessions in the S&C suite per week, with additional sessions made available for the Scholars and Maroons on Mondays and Fridays. The detailed programmes we provide are tailored to both the demands of the sport and the individual, periodised over the whole year Feedback on individuals' performance is continuously evaluated using velocity-based training (VBT) devices.

EVOLVING OUR PROGRAMME

Our remit is not just limited to working in the gym though, and educational pieces around optimising recovery, sleep, nutrition, and running mechanics were added throughout the term In addition, we introduced some exciting new technology, with high-spec GPS devices trialled to monitor training and match load.

Another piece added to the programme were weekly Open Rehabilitation sessions, put on to offer support to students who have unfortunately suffered an injury These sessions are made available to all studentathletes, guiding them through the return-toplay process and putting them in the best possible place to recover to full fitness and do what they do best in their sports

Read more about the GPS trial on our blog.

WHAT'S NEXT

The busy term ended on a high, with some excellent achievements and results. However, the productive work continues, with planning put in place for S&C delivery to more than 20 different sports through Term 3 for the first time

Furthermore, this is a key period in the year for our Rowing and Cricket clubs, with important competitions coming up through the summer. They have been working exceptionally hard all year to be ready for the season ahead and have recently ramped up the intensity in their training camps

With the weather improving, the team will be delivering both indoor and outdoor sessions, working on all aspects of physical development. This will put everyone in a great place to maintain and build upon their well-earned improvements in strength, power, speed, and fitness heading into the summer, and next season.

This is an exciting period for the S&C department, with four highly qualified coaches on board, offering a range of services and expertise throughout the summer period.

Dr Will Sparkes

Lead Strength & Conditioning Coach on behalf of the S&C team

UBRFC players Ben Stringer, Teddy Gibson and Gabriel Mann do some speed and conditioning

Rowing club get to work in the OWL gym at Coombe Dingle