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

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