In a scheme designed to have teams better prepared for Roses, group fitness sessions will begin on Monday 4th November.
An agreement has been reached between the York Sport Union and York Sport (operators of the on-campus gyms) meaning that from Monday 4th November, Gold and Black tier AU (Athletics Union) members will get free general fitness and stretch/mobility sessions at the York Sport Centre in James College. As the York Sport Union claims, this comes as a result of feedback from “various clubs” on how to better prepare for Roses 2025.
Announced on Instagram on 29th October, YorkSU Sport Officer Tanisha Jain (TJ) said: “We are very excited to be able to offer these sessions to help our athletes become fitter and stronger as we look forward to an incredible Roses 2025.”
This is set to be a promising scheme for two key reasons. Starting early in November, this initiative means clubs can design more specific and thorough strength and conditioning training, as well as be able to use this as well for BUCS performance. In previous years, there was an agreement with York Sport for Roses 2024 in Lancaster for teams to have a £40 eight-week membership for Roses prep. Secondly, having this included in the Athletic Union memberships rather than requiring athletes to purchase an additional gym membership allows this to be cheaper and far more accessible for our athletes.
While for now these sessions are simply generic fitness and mobility, York Sport Union disclosed in an email to clubs that in semester two they are hoping to have more “club specific sessions”. These will be additional to club training sessions and are set to be a great thing for many teams hoping to up their Roses performance this year.
This agreement is welcome news for the University’s sport clubs and the York Sport Union TJ stated on Instagram that they “are doing lots and lots behind the scenes for Roses, so keep your eye out for more information soon and make sure to attend the Roses Launch on Tuesday, 5th of November.”
In May 2025, York will be hosting the 60th Anniversary of Europe’s biggest intervarsity tournament, and there stands a risk of York becoming the first university since 1977 to lose back-to-back home tournaments on the trot. If they did, it would be the first time in the tournament’s history that a university would have lost four times in a row. As TJ has made clear ever since York’s loss in 2024, a fourth consecutive loss is simply unacceptable, and after stating after last year’s loss that “we have to take it more seriously” this appears to be the first of successive schemes that will ensure a first home win since 2019.
If you are interested in covering Roses 2025 as part of student media, you can join York Student Television, University Radio York and Nouse.