University of Exeter Athletic Union review against 07-08 strategy
Introduction
This Review will act as a final indicator of success against strategy laid out at the
beginning of the year. It is important to note that there are still 8 weeks of term
remaining, and several events will be happening in this time. Also, changes since the
midterm review are minimal owing to the proximity of the midterm and final reviews.
BUSA Update
This years BUSA competitions has been a great success for Exeter. It is still too early to
predict whether we will improve upon last year’s outstanding 10th position. With lots of
high league finishes, and promotions teams have again excelled . 31 teams reached the
last 16 stage with a further 18 reaching the quarter finals. 6 semi finals lead and 2 finals
and 1 gold and 1 silver medal were achieved. I am also pleased to report that men’s and
women’s 1st football teams have been promoted to their respective premierships.
Women’s rugby are currently in the promotional play off to go in to the premier south.
Individually, we have continued to have top standard sports men and women flying the
flag across the country. We gained a gold medal in the Women’s Junior 4’s and bronze
medals in the Men’s Junior 4’s sprint rowing event. Carley Barber and Helen Kukor
were part of the England BUGS side who won the eventual event. Michael Rickner
continues to captain the England student rugby side.
Events
Sports relief mile
This event was a first for Exeter, and something that I hope will become a tradition. 150
students turned out in varying fancy dress to run the mile around campus, with other
students running a cake stall. We raised over £600 for Sport Relief. Although Sport
Relief is an event that occurs only every two years, we could look to make it an annual
venture and expand upon the concept.
Strategic Update
Implementing the ban on initiations and delivering a safe drinking policy.
This was always going to be one of the toughest aims to implement, and I feel that it has
been a success. I do not believe the initiations have gone “underground”, as was initially
projected. The student body seems to respect what we are trying to do and understands
the logic behind our reasoning. A review will need to be carried out over the summer to
see how we can strengthen our position for the coming year. The inquest into Gavin’s
death was a poignant reminder of our duty to students and we should continue to look at
what we can do to change the attitude of the sporting drinking culture at Exeter.
Development of Sport Volunteering Scheme.
In the second year of its existence I feel that the Sports volenteering scheme has
continued to go from strength to strength. With enhanced links with Connaught and sport
England, and the bonus of sports match the longevity of the schemes funding has been
secured. We have increased our volenteering numbers and been able to provide more
training course for the students. We have looked to branch into the primary sector more
this year and support external clubs as well as just secondary schools. The school sports
partnership has been integral to the schemes ongoing success.
Exeter to remain inside the top ten BUSA institutions
It is unlikely we will find out where Exeter will finish until late June at the BUSA awards
dinner. As mentioned, early indications are positive and we a hopeful of a strong finish
again this year.
Raise sports, health and wellness awareness on campus
Whilst the Athletic Union grows and strengthens, we must remain conscious that some
individuals may not be as involved in sport at Exeter. As I represent all students and not
just Athletic Union members it must remain a focus to try and widen participation across
the whole student body. Events to this end have included: Diversity week Football
tournament (“kick out racism”), the Sports Relief mile and talks to INTO students and the
PGCE cohort to raise awareness of the Athletic Union. This aspect of the AU Presidents
role will become increasingly important with the governance changes that are taking
place.
Alumni Relations
This area has been my weakest this year. I have focused on existing students and events,
and this has taken up more of my time. We are looking to have an alumni sports
weekend in early June but this will be run by the club captains rather than centrally to
help with the organisation.
With the near completion of the AU database it will now be easy to archive members
when they leave and have contacts. We have already seen uses of the database, with
captains able to access lists of existing members, with ease and efficiency. The database
has been a huge task to get of the ground, but with the hard work done this year it will be
the beginning of a legacy that will hopefully be developed in years to come.
Strengthen community links
We are continually working with the community to facilitate such programmes as the
Sports Volunteering and the Varsity events. The university has been focusing hard on
community engagement and have been involved in the process. I feel that the AU is an
excellent way for the Uni to increase positive publicity with events and schemes such as
‘kick out racism’, The Varsity events which we co-ordinated with Exeter chiefs and City
respectively, sports volunteering and stories in the local media. This year has been really
positive in terms community integration and I hope that we can move forward and
continue to forge lasting links.
Create a new and more interactive Athletic Union Website
This has been a frustrating project to get off the ground given I have very little personal
experience in IT. I have had a lot of help from the university IT department for which I
am very grateful. In the first term we saw the hosting of the AU websites and the clubs
sites move from the x-net server to the university which has gone very smoothly. After
student consultation we have agreed to develop a generic web page which can be
assigned to clubs, and maintained with very basic knowledge. As well as this the
University are developing their own content management system which will enable the
AU website to be updated. This is happening in the coming months and we are set to
help pilot the scheme, which is both exciting and positive. This will be a ongoing project
that hopefully Simon will get his teeth into.
Student Safety
A student safety forum was held on 18th febuary with P. Adams, O. Murrish, P.Attwell,
C.Edwards and L.michael present. A follow up meeting was arranged to work on a cycle
of reporting and to finalise agreements.
It was agreed that clubs would be categorised into 3 risk groups. Group 1 would be high
hazard low risk (gliding and sub aqua), group 2 would be medium hazard low/medium
risk (rugby and hockey) and group 3 medium/low hazard and low risk (athletics and
golf). Following the categorisation, dates have been booked to meet with clubs, AU
manager and Health and safety officer, starting in the new term ensuring the category 1
clubs are seen first. Initial health and safety training will be given in May to the
incoming club captains and a refresher will be given in late September. Club code of
conducts and constitutions will be submitted before the end of term 2, allowing them to
be checked over Easter and amendments to be made upon the students return. This will
also allow for the incoming and outgoing captains to be involved in the refreshment of
the documents.
We believe that this new cycle of reporting will ensure that all clubs are thoroughly
checked and held to account. It will also mean that checks are done on an annual basis
rather that clubs slipping though the net. The Guild Heath and safety officer will be
asked to sign a service level agreement to ensure that services are delivered.
Athletic Union Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) Review
Total number of AU members
In the year 06/07 significant changes were seen in AU membership bringing numbers up
to 3,716. This year membership figures are up to 4340
Members per club
A knock on effect of overall numbers increasing is clubs capacity having to increase to
absorb numbers. We have recently affiliated American Football, which will take total
AU club numbers to 48. Some clubs are finding it increasingly hard to cope with the
large numbers and we are entering a delicate position of wanting to encourage sports for
all whist trying to maintain the standards that members are used to. In many respects we
are filling up at a rapid rate, and work must be done to ensure the long term quality of
Exeter sport. This will also have a knock on effect on our budget which this year has
increased a mere £2,000. It is frustrating to see other Athletic unions around the country
being provided with such varied budgets in comparison, and this is something that will
need to be addressed.
Conclusion
I feel that the year has been a great success. My key aims have been achieved and we
have had another solid year in BUSA. I wanted to try and give the AU some consistency,
increasing my office hours, rather than constantly being in meetings. With the
governance chances occurring the AU president will be able to be far more involved with
the AU than the bureaucratic responsibilities of the guild that I have found frustrating and
very time consuming. Now is the time for the AU to move forward into a new era with
the Sports Hall and I think that the changes will give way to a positive outlook.
I am sad to be leaving, as I still see so much potential yet to be achieved. I will ensure a
thorough handover and hope that I will leave an enthusiastic Athletic Union for Simon to
thrive in.
Lou Michael
Athletic Union President 2007-2008
April 2008