We’ve never had it so good

York’s success in this year’s BUCS cup competitions is yet another sign of the progression that has been made in the past twelve months. Sport at the University is constantly developing and evolving for the better, as our teams seem to have stepped up to a new level as they go in search of cup success.

The highlight of the year has to be the men’s futsal team’s progression through to the National semi-finals. To be ranked amongst the top four university sides in the country is a phenomenal achievement, especially when you consider that York is in no means renowned as a leading sporting institution.

Tom Day’s team have performed admirably, showing skill, desire and determination; three attributes which have been widely apparent throughout York teams this year. A trip to Brighton will undoubtedly be a testing affair, but there really is no reason why they can’t go all the way in the tournament. Regardless of what happens however, they’ve been a credit to the University.

Of course the cynics will argue that futsal is only a minority sport which no-one cares about, and the fact that some of our star footballers can beat people who just fancy a kick about is no real achievement. Well all I can say, is that these self-confessed critics clearly have no idea about the sport, and should take their time watching the team in action, rather than lamenting their fabulous success.

In truth it doesn’t matter what sport we are successful in, they all count. People didn’t discount Peter Wilson’s Olympic gold because it was in a lesser known sport such as shooting or our Olympic equestrian success, so why should a different approach be attributed to university sport.

Indeed it is not only York’s futsal players who have excelled; our women’s footballers, men’s squash side and both lacrosse teams have all reached their respective Northern BUCS finals. In addition to that the women’s fencers finished second in the Northern Premier Division, before getting knocked out in the quarter-finals of the National BUCS cup by Cardiff.

The women’s football 1sts, who progressed through to the final after much controversy, have undoubtedly had a season to remember. With promotion sealed, lifting the cup trophy by defeating a Manchester team, who have won the division two above them, would be an incredible feat. In lacrosse York have excelled with both teams flying high in their respective divisions, and they have managed to extend such fine form into the cup competitions, whilst the men’s squash team have a highly anticipated pre-Roses clash with Lancaster.

In fact it is often these cup successes which grab the headlines and the media attention, leading us to forget about all of the week-to-week matches which occur as our teams battle it out to secure their survival or attain promotion. For York the sporting progression has been widely evident this year, and the success in cup competitions is quite simply the icing on the cake.