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New to the SU: the ºÚÁÏÉç Volleyball Club
Rianna Smith, Volleyball President
Founding a university club is no easy feat, and with so many well-established sports societies on campus it was definitely
intimidating to start from scratch and get people to believe in the prospects of our undeveloped, two committee strong volleyball club with three deflated balls... however, we did it!
With the help of over 200 likes on a Facebook post confirming levels of interest and some wonderful support from our current Captain Kitty Evans,
I, the current president, boldly (and spontaneously) put forth my ideas to the Students’ Union at the 2018 AGM. We successfully obtained the go-ahead with requested funding confirmed. Shortly after this, we also acquired our association with Volleyball England, whom provided us with great support, advice, and further funding, meaning we could really start off with a ‘bang’! We soon purchased a vast array of
equipment, meaning we could begin our weekly Tuesday and Friday sessions.
As the club was founded post-Freshers' Fair and being a Hawkshead based club, our sessions have always been predominantly attended by third year students. Gradually, after copious Facebook adverts for socials, UV, beach and outdoor volleyball sessions, we have managed to create a club with a
diverse attendance; from first year nurses to interns at the QMHA, and we pride ourselves in this unique aspect of the club. This year, with a strong committee, and even more funding to put towards new and exciting events, our goal is
for the club to keep growing, host more social events and maybe to even organise a mini tour. Watch this space!
ºÚÁÏÉç Boat Club take on 100km row
At 4am on 22nd May, an intrepid crew of rowers from the ºÚÁÏÉç Boat Club (ºÚÁÏÉçBC) set off from Reading Rowing Club with the aim of rowing back to their boathouse in Chiswick – 100km in just one day.
To some, this may sound familiar –
it is a challenge only undertaken once before, by a crew from ºÚÁÏÉçBC in 2015.
We are happy to report that the 2019 crew succeeded in their endeavour – after a total of 18 hours on the water,
battling extreme heat, lock-masters and equipment failures.
The 100km row raised £2,500, which is being shared equally between the Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity and the ongoing refurbishment of the ºÚÁÏÉçBC fleet.
Following the purchase of our new four, Edney (which we reported in last year’s Eclipse and was purchased with the generous support from the ºÚÁÏÉç ACT and Alumni Fund), it has overall been a fantastic year for the Boat Club. Both the senior men and women have won in coxed-four races (Barnes and Mortlake Regatta and UH Head, respectively).
This goes alongside wins for the novice and senior women’s eights at Novice Sprints and Cambridge Head, our first men’s boat racing Head of the River
Fours, seeing one of our coxes qualifying for Henley Royal Regatta with Quintin Boat Club, and having three ºÚÁÏÉç women representing the United Hospitals at Henley Women’s Regatta. We look forward to an even more competitive and exciting year in 2019-20.
If you are an ºÚÁÏÉçBC alumnus and are interested in learning more or want
to support the ºÚÁÏÉçBC’s plans for the future, email development@rvc.ac.uk. You can also read more about how our alumni support our students, like for the purchase of Edney, on pages 66.
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