York Sport President

Sam Asfahani

ONE of two incumbent candidates, American Football Society President Asfahani has delivered an impressive performance as York Sport President this year.

Having previously held the positions of Langwith Chair, Asfahani is well acquainted with the University’s political structure, and appears very much in tune with the need to negotiate with it.

Although he feels that he has done “a good job” over the past eight months, Asfahani still believes that he “would not feel comfortable” if he left his post at York Sport without having ironed out the problems that remain.

His policies are tailored to that end, focusing on carrying through a sharp drop in York Sport membership costs that has been years in the making, as well as revamping of the York Sport website, a drive for College sport (including the mooted “Collegium” tournament with colleges from Durham), and increased storage space, both at the new Hes East site and with the coming refurbishment of the Dance Studio in the current Sports Centre.
He also plans to increase the university’s minibus fleet, something which will also ultimately cut costs.

Asfahani has overseen the change in Varsity’s opposition from York St. John to Hull, which has been widely viewed as a positive move, and would become even more of a feather in his cap if York were to triumph against Hull, although perhaps inevitably more closely.

ODDS TO WIN: 1/3 The club support that brought him to power last year looks still to be in place, and a two-horse race, bereft of multiple high-profile presidents, can only augment this advantage.Anything but re-election would be a shock.

York Sport President: Sam Asfahani produced by York Student Television, released under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license

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Ben McGladdery

THE other candidate in this two-horse race, McGladdery’s expansionist view for York Sport overlaps with his opponent, but the Badminton President’s list of priorities is slightly different.

McGladdery’s manifesto includes the plans to abolish York Sport membership charges, but he has admitted, along with Asfahani, that the change cannot be implemented until the rise in tuition fees has also come in, saying that “next year will be hard,” and that he would “batten down the hatches.”

He also believes college sport is in need of innovation, looking towards STYCs and fresher’s week events to increase partication: “we need to hit freshers with college sport – make it visible from the start.”

Continuations of previous policy are also mentioned in his manifesto, including plans to halve the dance studio, creating room for Argos-style equipment storage room and a weights and body conditioning addition to the gym on the lower floor.

McGladdery, who has dressed as Scooby Doo for his campaign, believes his advantage over Asfahani lies in his personability saying. “Smaller clubs feel they have no communication line with Sam.” He sees himself as “more approachable” and will look to “visit clubs and try new sports” to enhance relations between YUSU and the sports clubs.

ODDS TO WIN: 3/1 His lack of experience with University politics and its workings may count against him. Despite his position as Badminton President, the same may be true of his lack of name recognition on campus compared with his BNOC rival. Whether he will be able to rectify this during the long haul of campaigning remains to be seen.

York Sport President: Ben McGladdery produced by York Student Television, released under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license