Articles
.png)
Athletic Union Dinner Awards 2019/20
The Athletic Union Dinner Awards 2019/20
The Athletic Union Dinner Awards ceremony recognises exceptional commitment and talents in student each year.
A Year Overview by 2019/20 AU President Cameron Taylor.
It has been an absolute pleasure being your Athletic Union President for 2019/20. I have had the most amazing year working with all 50 Athletic Union clubs and I wouldn’t have been able to achieve nearly as much as I have without your hard-work, dedication, and patience! Here at the Athletic Union, we are immensely proud of all that you have achieved – whether your phenomenal performances in BUCS competitions, providing platforms for participation, or juggling the hectic demands of being a student, an athlete, a committee member, and an ambassador.
While the sporting season was unexpectedly cut short for many of our student athletes, this should not take away from what has been one of our most successful years of sport here at Exeter. From achieving numerous league and cup victories, to supporting the AU’s campaigns and events, and making sport and physical activity accessible to as many students as possible - Exeter students continue to prove why we are one of the best sporting institutions in the UK.
Building on from the success of last year, the Athletic Union has continued to grow exponentially. From registering record participation numbers during Freshers’ Week (7989 overall sign ups and 4118 unique sign ups) to entering more BUCS and Intramural teams, we’ve had a greater presence online and, on our campuses, than ever before. Using the BUCS Active funding, we have trained 199 students, engaged with 208 unique inactive female participants and seen a throughput of 362. We also sold out of a female only self-defence programme and created a plan that could see year-round delivery of self-defence sessions.
In terms of competitions we have been incredibly successful in BUCS this year, finishing 5th in the overall BUCS League table (points finalised as of Wednesday 18th March) in the country against over 150 institutions in England, Wales and Scotland. Our Golf club had a phenomenal year, becoming number 1 in BUCS for the first time since 2015, with their 1s, 4s and 6s were all being crowned league winners. Our Men and Ladies Cricket 1st teams had a hugely successful indoor season, coming away with gold and silver respectively in the BUCS National indoor championships. Lacrosse Women’s 1st team were also unbeaten in the Premiership and were on course to compete for gold in the BUCS Finals. Other stand-out performances included the Trampolining Club who had a record-breaking year winning the Southern University Trampoline league and the EURFC Fresh 4’s who were crowned Western Conference Plate champions in 2020.
Alongside our sporting success on the pitch - off the pitch we have continued to improve mental health and well-being support through physical activity. Helping to fundraise a record £90,000 for Movember, our clubs have all bought into initiatives such as ‘Move for Mo’ and ‘Mo Varsity’ which has helped raise the profile of mental health amongst the student body. We have also dedicated time to educating the student body about how to tackle challenges we face in the sporting world by delivering Student Minds, Nightline training and Good Lad Initiative Workshops to over 200 of our students. In March we also held our first ever Business in Sport Careers event which gave students an understanding of the valuable transferable skills you gain from participating and volunteering in sport at university. As an Athletic Union we are continuously adapting our multi- factorial approaches to enhancing accessibility and inclusivity.
It is a massive achievement for a student to receive recognition for their hard work over the year and in return the awards are a chance for the AThletic Union to show their appreciation. The commitment and enthusiasm of our student athletes despite their academic priorities has been beyond exceptional both on and off the pitch. From achieving numerous league and cup victories, to supporting the AU’s campaigns and events, and making sport and physical activity accessible to as many students as possible - our students continue to prove why we are one of the best sporting institutions in the UK. For that reason we would like to say thank you to our student committees and the recipients of today’s awards (The AU DINNER AWARD WINNERS 2019/20) for the incredible amount of effort to run their clubs while completing their studies.
Without your amazing support, my year would literally have been impossible. Now, as you all embark on the next steps of your exciting journeys, please do remember us, the buildings and the faces may change but your memories will last a lifetime. And of course, wherever you go and whatever you do, remember to always, always Bleed Green.
Date: 26 August 2020