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Merry Christmas!
Wishing you all season’s greetings and a very warm
welcome to the first edition of the brand new VPS Newsletter, here to
give you an insight into the world of student sport at the University of
Birmingham, from my view as your Vice-President (Sport).
It has truly been a pleasure serving as your Vice-President (Sport) so
far. Forever busy, forever learning and forever working hard, I would
not want it any other way. At the end of an incredible term for all our
teams and athletes, it is now time for everyone to take a well-deserved
rest, eat lots of good food, and take a look back to reflect on some of
the highlights from this term.
I hope you enjoy this edition, and wish you all a wonderful holiday
break and a very happy New Year!
Vicki.
Vicki Harris, Vice-President (Sport) [email protected] | @Guild_VPS
#BUCSWednesdays
We finish this term’s fixtures ranked
5th overall with 1582 points in the
British Universities and Colleges
Sport (BUCS) League, the national
governing body for higher education
sport in the UK.
This is an incredible achievement and
something we should all be proud of,
and it puts us in a strong position
moving forward in the New Year,
where we have lots more BIG and
exciting Championship events coming
up!
Shout-outs for this term go to Hockey
Women’s 1st Team and Rugby Union
Men’s 1st Team, who both finished top
of their league for Christmas! Huge
well done. #GoBrum
Back in August, I got elected to
represent the BUCS West Midlands
regional group as Student Chair,
giving me a place on the national
BUCS Advisory Group, the main
consultative body for the BUCS Board
and management team on matters
concerning the members.
Throughout this term I have been
working with other sabbatical
officers to support the four BUCS
Student Officers in their campaign to
increase sabbatical and student
engagement within BUCS. The
progress made so far is really
exciting, and we hope to see the
benefits of it come to fruition in the
New Year.
Accessibility in Sport
One of my high priorities this year in
terms of manifesto promises is
working to increase accessibility in
sport for all. Throughout November
and December I was involved with
supporting the University’s first ever
Focus on Disability month. On
Tuesday 26th November, our very
own UoB alumni and Paralympian
Dean Miller gave a talk on his
athletics careers and experience of
competing at the London 2012
Paralympic Games. It was an
inspiring and charming talk that was
enjoyed by all those who attended.
Even got a cheeky photo with Dean
too, together with Zena Wooldridge
OBE, Director of Sport (see below)!
I have also been supporting the
Guild’s Disability and Mental Health
Students’ Association in the activities
they organised for this month,
including an Open Discussion on
accessibility and activism on
campus. I have definitely learnt a lot
from engaging with different events
and people this month. If you are
interested in learning more about
research, opinions and experiences
of students and staff with disabilities,
this blog is an eye-opening place to
start:
uob-focusondisability.tumblr.com
In the New Year I am very much
looking forward to continuing my
work with UBSport on creating and
developing a Sport Accessibility and
Equity Strategy, focused on
improving our current and future
sporting offer for all students.
Vicki Harris, Vice-President (Sport) [email protected] | @Guild_VPS
Being an Officer.
Being a Vice-President.
Being the VP Sport.
With the Officer Elections coming up soon, I wanted to share with you a bit more about what my role is, and what it is like being Vice-President (Sport), in case you yourself are interested in potentially running as a candidate.
As a Sabbatical Officer of the Guild of Students, here to be a representative voice and support for all 28,000+ students of the University of Birmingham, the job is so much more than just an average 9-5pm. I find that no two days are ever the same, for example last week I was involved in the December Graduation processions as a representative of the Guild, all dressed-up in the special degree congregation robes (see photo)! The experience of being an Officer is definitely an exciting and rewarding one, that also comes hand in hand with a fair dose of constant hard-work and many challenges along the way too.
In total we are a team of seven - one President and six Vice-Presidents
(each with a specific remit) – and all
responsible for leading the Guild and implementing change for the benefit of the students for whom we are elected to work for.
My role and Manifesto
For me, my portfolio is sport. Because sport is run and managed by the University (as opposed to student groups and societies which are run by the Guild), a lot of my time is split between the Guild, working on events and projects in my role as a Vice-President with the rest of the Officer Team, and over at the Munrow Sports Centre, working with UBSport on a daily basis as a
member of their Senior Management Team.
The passion and drive behind my campaign was focused on increasing student engagement and ownership of sport. I wanted to take a long and hard look at how sport representation works, within my role, within the sport clubs, within the Guild and within UBSport.
To do this, I promised to set up a Sport Committee of elected students from sport clubs to be have more ownership and involvement in how decisions are made.
In order to succeed in making this ambitious but achievable initiative work, this term I have worked closely with the sport clubs to set up an elected body of student representatives to sit on a Sport Advisory Group. The role of this group is to review the current representative structure of sport (next term) and to create the model for what is going to be a new Sport Committee, to be elected in June 2014. See the next two pages for an introduction to six of your new Sport Club representatives...
Vicki Harris, Vice-President (Sport) [email protected] | @Guild_VPS
Indoor Sports | Sam Weaver - [email protected] 1st Year, Sport and Exercise Science. Gymnastics & Trampolining,
Social Secretary.
1. Why did you run to be a Sport Club Mini-forum Representative?
I ran to help UBSport become more integrated with the Guild and students.
2. What did you think of your first Guild Council?
My first Guild Council was as I expected from last year, but very well chaired in comparison.
3. Is there anything in particular you are interested in working with the VPS on this year to
change/improve/develop?
I want to increase the amount people know about UBSport and the new development.
Water Sports | Georgie Freeman - [email protected] 2nd Year, English Literature and French Studies. Triathlon, Women’s
Captain.
1. Why did you run to be a Sport Club Mini-forum Representative?
I wanted to be a sports club mini-forum representative because I really enjoy
being the women's captain of the triathlon team and I thought why not try
something else new to help with the university and help to give something back
to all those who enjoy taking part in sports.
2. What did you think of your first Guild Council?
It was a very interesting experience especially as it was the very first time I had
been to it. I found it a great way to express and articulate your opinions. Now that I understand the
procedures, next time I hope to be more involved and try to gain the views that sports people have on any
particular motions and put them forward to help improve any measures we can.
3. Is there anything in particular you are interested in working with the VPS on this year to
change/improve/develop?
I have really enjoyed meeting and working with Vicki so far as I think that she does a brilliant job and I am
looking forward to helping tie together sports clubs better so that we can begin to create facebook groups for
each mini-forum to create more contact. Also Vicki has mentioned a sports calender which I would be willing
to help produce.
Outdoor Sports | Evie Harrison - [email protected] 2nd Year, Sport and Exercise Science. Tennis, Club Captain.
1. Why did you run to be a Sport Club Mini-forum Representative?
Loved the idea of having more voices to give a more informed picture of whats
going on with all sports at UoB and feeding back to VPS.
2. What did you think of your first Guild Council?
Thrown in at the deep end! It was really interesting once I got the hang of what
was going on and some really good points were discussed.
3. Is there anything in particular you are interested in working with the VPS on this year to
change/improve/develop?
I'm really excited about using the Sports Advisory Group to make sure everyone's thoughts are heard and
the design of the programme means we have the potential to make a lot happen this year.
Introducing… your six Sport Club Mini-forum Representatives, elected
by you to represent all sports clubs, vote at Guild Council on policy
change, and hold the Officer Team (myself included) to account!
Small Teams | Ian Kafka - [email protected] 2nd Year, Computer System Engineering. Aussie Rules, Secretary.
1.Why did you run to be a Sport Club Mini-forum Representative?
I want to ensure that sport clubs are effectively represented within the guild,
now that there is the opportunity to do so.
2. What did you think of your first Guild Council?
There was a lot of things going on within the council meeting that took some
time to understand, with lots of infighting going on between established members.
3. Is there anything in particular you are interested in working with the VPS
on this year to change/improve/develop?
I'd like to help the VPS to improve the image of sports teams across campus and develop ways of
communications between the beaurocratic rule makers and the general populous of sport team members, to
hopefully prevent major miscommunication in the future.
Martial Arts | Tom Worrall - [email protected] 4th Year, Msci Theoretical Physics. Wing Chun, Club Captain.
1. Why did you run to be a Sport Club Mini-forum Representative?
I decided to run to represent Martial Arts as there is a very common origin and
theme within our particular mini forum, which I felt didn't have enough emphasis
placed on it. We all enjoy the thrill of competitive fighting and so surely we would
be well suited to enjoy other activities as a group, such as socials, seminars, etc.
2. What did you think of your first Guild Council?
The first Guild Council, despite being the evening after Sports Night, was
enjoyable. Time went by quite quickly and the topics were interesting. Also,
some of the observations on #guildcouncil are priceless.
3. Is there anything in particular you are interested in working with the VPS on this year to
change/improve/develop?
This year I really want to use the position to bring the martial arts clubs closer together. I have already been in
contact with the other captains and we have had a martial arts social which went well. There is also some interest in
a Martial Arts Ball which would be an excellent achievement!
Large Teams | Jack Sloman - [email protected] 3rd Year, African Studies. Rugby League, Club Captain.
1. Why did you run to be a Sport Club Mini-forum Representative?
I felt that my experience as a committee member for 2 years would benefit my role of
representation and therefore I'd be good at representing others. I also felt like I already
had good working relationships with several of the club captains in my mini-forum, but
also it would give me a good opportunity to get to know and build relationships with
those I'm not so familiar with.
2. What did you think of your first Guild Council?
To start with, it's quite overwhelming if you haven't experienced it before. There's a lot
of jargon. But I feel like I soon picked up the processes and gained further understanding of how Guild Council
works and also how the university works!
3. Is there anything in particular you are interested in working with the VPS on this year to
change/improve/develop?
One thing which has become extremely obvious is the lack of representation of sport in the student voice at
University. The reason Vicki created these positions was to change this. However, considering how big sport is
and how important it is in a lot of students' university experience/existence, I would really like to continue to
improve the voice of sports teams and members.
Any questions? Get in touch!
@Guild_VPS
officerblogs.com/vps/
UP-COMING EVENTS
Officer Elections – It’s so simple. Nominate yourself to be the next Vice-
President (Sport & Nutrition), or why not even President of the Guild! There are
seven paid sabbatical roles available, and eleven non-sabbatical volunteer
roles, more information here: guildofstudents.com/officerteamelections.
2nd Sports Fair – Friday 17 January, 12-3pm (New Gym)
New Year’s Resolution? Get fit, be healthy, do sport! Your second chance to get
involved with sport and exercise at Birmingham is finally here, with the 2nd
Sports Fair offering you the opportunity to try something new after the holidays.
Guild Sports Nights Wed 15 January
Wed 29 January
Wed 12 February
Wed 5 March
Wed 26 March
A successful Sports Fair, September 2013
Officer Engagement
xpLosION 2013 Sports Night returns to HMV!
Learn more about disability
