This has not been the year we were expecting, AT ALL! I don’t think many prospective sport officers anticipated there being as little in-person sport as there has been, and it has been gutting not being able to work on the manifesto that I was elected on. Working this year has been like trying to make a cup of tea, but with a weak teabag, and you have to heat the water by blowing on it… Overworking, with little reward. Unfortunately, that’s how it’s felt across the sector, and the silver lining is in the fact that we’ve done better than so much of the sector. When nobody has been able to play sport during about 50% of your time as a sport officer, it'd be easy to get bogged down, but there have been highlights, so let's focus on those...
Fighting for sport!
When other universites have failed to, we've successfully fought against our sporting facilities being repurposed as study space, and to keep Wednesdays for extra curricular activities. We've fought hard within the Sulis campaign, to get our combat sports a new space to train in, and the university have invested in an excellent new facility for this!
Securing a £10,000 grant towards Active Travel
Getting new SU locations
We've managed to get 2 new exclusive spaces for the SU: The Edge, and The Hub, in Dartmouth avenue (Oldfield)! Hopefully you know the Edge well by now, but the Hub is a huge space will be the new home to Kickboxing, Boxing, Taekwondo and Cuesports, in addition to loads of societies. It's due to be refurbed with loads of new equipment!
The All-sport offer
A more affordable offer that has allowed for robustness and flexibility through an incredibly tough period, and being used as best practice across the sector. Really happy to say we'll continue this into the second semester free of charge for all who purchased a membership!
Freshers Week and Project fun
Getting huge investment into the East village to ensure safe spaces for students to socialise in through FW and Beyond!
A Quarter-life-crisis
Let's not talk about the lockdown trim/Moustache combo...
Contributing to the University-wide sport Strategy
Introducing new committee forums
New forums to discuss key issues, ensure connectedness and sharing of best practice across the university.
Watching the Sports Exec CRUSH IT!
Despite the circumstances, this lot have been incredible! Even those with remits that shrank due to the circumstances have been looking to help however they can, and I don't know what I would've done without this bunch.
Weathering 2 lockdowns
It all started with the SU Bath 'Corona' community on Facebook, now boasting 4.2k members! We ran workouts, cooking classes, cocktail classes, huge virtual events such as Varsity and Plan B and so much more. Since then, we refined an excellent lockdown offer, making it much more interactive. Clubs have done some amazing things to keep members engaged. We've also had Virtual mixers, the exercise buddy scheme, lockdown equipment rentals, Strava and Movember competitions for everyone to get involved with.
Volunteer Recognition
Honestly, what would we do without our student leaders? This has been a time of patience, resilience and selflessness from them. Because of them, our groups have managed to do awesome things, despite all of the limitations, helping unite the communities that they care about, and give a snippet of normality, which is amazing. It's been great recognising our amazing clubs and student leaders within the end of semester awards, and providing bespoke training to help with employability.
Some personal wins
Getting published in WonkHe, twice! Medalling in 4 UK Beach Tour tournaments! Mentoring other sport officers across the country. Being interviewed for BBC Points West, presenting at CLT lightning talks and at the SW peer support conference. Getting into the BUCS Student Advisory Group. Winning a Covid Award for the Officer-team response to the pandemic throughout 2020.
It's difficult to stay positive during a pandemic, but look back, and you'll find lots to be proud of, given the circumstances. So try and do the same, and we'll leave this year on a sweet note. Peace out 2020- you won't be missed much.