In my opinion one of the most enjoyable aspects of University life, is the fantastic sporting opportunities that are presented to you here at York. When it comes to socialising, meeting new people and making the most of your university experience, then there are few better ways of achieving this than by throwing yourself into one of the multitude of sports offered here at York.
One such person who did exactly that is new York Sport President Cassandra Brown, and she has the following advice for this year’s freshers: “Just make sure you get involved in as much as possible in your first year – your university experience will be so much better if you do everything you set out to do – be it trying something new or continuing a sport you love, and no matter your standard you can get involved. There’s College sport, giving students the opportunity to compete in sport that doesn’t have the high level that university sport does.”
Brown was elected to her position as York Sport President in February, and succeeded Charlotte Winter in the role only last month. I asked her to explain the exact details of her role, to which she replied: “As York Sport President I look after our 62 sports clubs, making sure their needs are being met and their views heard! As well as this I chair the fabulous York Sport Committee that helps me make decisions within the York Sport Union.”
Undoubtedly another exciting year of sport lies ahead of us, with Roses, the College Cup and much more to look forward to over the next twelve months. Despite being new to the role, Brown has already been busy with today’s news that White Rose Varsity against Hull has been cancelled indefinitely. I enquired about her plans for the year ahead, and what freshers should look out for, to which she answered: “I plan to provide the best provision to all of our clubs at York ensuring every club gets fair access to funding, fair access to space and fair access to support from YUSU.
“Freshers should look out for the York Sport Union’s stand at freshers fair in freshers week – we’ll have loads of info for them about our clubs and events. They should also look out for access sports – building on the work of Charlotte, the previous Sport President, I plan to introduce more disability sports such as wheelchair basket ball and goal ball. One last thing too, keep an eye out for our new club night at Salvation on Wednesdays – the sports social hub!”
With the new facilities on Heslington East opening last year, and more plans for sporting development on the way, these are exciting times to be getting involved with sport at York. Brown told me: “Sport here at York is thriving… Coming to York in 2013 is an exciting opportunity for anyone who’d like to get involved with sport – facilities are better than ever and the spirit of the York Sport Union is stunning. Playing sport at York will enhance your university experience – it will diversify your social life and make you look back on your university life with pride – proud to be black and gold (our university colours).
“However, whether you’ve never played sport in your life or you play for your country, York has something to offer. In terms of sporting participation, York shines. We have ‘get into sport’ schemes encouraging beginners to play sport without any commitment to joining a club and we have college sport, a great way for those who want to compete without the intensity of training and playing in a university club.”
Last year Charlotte Winter placed emphasis on breaking into the BUCS Top 40 (the sports rankings for universities), but York narrowly missed out finishing in 43rd place. I asked the former Badminton President about her thoughts on the issue this year, and she remarked: “Like Winter, I want to push York to aim for the BUCS Top 40. Last year we finished 43rd so we’re nearly there. I aim to iron out the things stopping us from getting there. Pre-season training camp is happening again, but it’s bigger and better than last year and injury-prevention is high on my list of priorities. My aim remains to get York into the BUCS Top 40 – we can really do it this year!”
On another subject, I asked Brown what advice she would give about freshers week, and she told me: “Don’t hold back – be yourself, everyone’s in the same boat so there’s no need to be nervous. Everyone wants to make friends so everyone will be super friendly. Also, go to the events YUSU and the college JCRC’s put on – they’re fantastic and a really great way to make friends.”
Unsurprisingly Brown has her own fond, and in this case not so fond, memories from freshers week, and she added: “Whilst having punch one night, I had an allergic reaction to cranberry juice. My whole body swelled up and became the colour of a cranberry. By this point in the night, I didn’t really care, but the photos the day after told a different story.”
Finally we talked about what makes York so special, and her answer was: “York for me is so special because of its size and community feel. Being a campus university and having a small amount of students compared to many universities, you get to know a lot of people that you see around campus constantly – feeling like a small fish in a big pond isn’t always nice – York has a real community vibe.”
People can get in touch with Cass by popping into the sabb office in the student centre near JamesCollege, contacting her on twitter at @YorkSportPres or emailing her on [email protected]. She is also planning to introduce drop-in sessions next term which will take place on both campuses. For now though she’s back to making sure that every aspect of sport is running smoothly when you arrive here at York in under two months time.
A true Langwith gal. Doing us proud!