Student Participation in the Durham College Sport Programme Maeve Clarke Aims and Objectives

• Analyse the intramural sport offer at Durham. • Look at the component parts of our model. » Officials » Student Involvement » Participation » Challenges • Transferable elements for other institutions. The Benefits of Intramural Sport

• Open to everyone, provides students with the opportunity to be physically active whilst at University. • Provides leadership and personal development opportunities for students. • Can be used to develop links between University and intramural teams. • Provides opportunities for trying a new sport. Team Durham’s 3 strand philosophy:

Performance Participation Community The Team Durham College Sport Programme Team Durham President and College Sports Manager

Student Sport Reps College Sports Officers and University Clubs

Referee/Umpire Societies

Colleges College Teams Referees/Umpires College Captains Our structure • The collegiate system lends itself to intramural sport, with students representing their college when competing. • Similarly to BUCS we have an overall points table to which all of the college teams contribute, with one college emerging as winners at the end of the academic year. Our structure • In addition to our competition led programme we also recognise the need for non- competitive sporting opportunities for students. Providing them with the chance to engage socially in sports such as and canoeing. • With support from Sport England we have also been able to grow participation at our Queen’s Campus in and within a non-competitive environment. Frisbee

Tennis

Table Tennis

Mixed Lacrosse

Rowing Rounders Officials

Transferable Student Elements Involvement Programme Elements

Challenges Participation Officials • Refereeing and umpire societies help to co- ordinate the officials for college matches. • Due to the size of our intramural programme some sports are self-officiated. • The following sports have established referee/umpire reps/societies: » Football » Lacrosse » » Rugby • Additionally, all fixtures have umpires appointed, this is done through the help of a local volunteer.

Officials

Transferable Student Elements Involvement Programme Elements

Challenges Participation Student Involvement • Student representatives help to run the following sports: » » » Squash » Ultimate Frisbee • Generally these are executive positions within their respective University clubs. I meet with the student reps regularly to monitor the progress of the league programmes etc. Responsibilities • Overseeing the day to day running of their respective college sports. • Fixture scheduling including league and cups. • Reporting of scores. • Feeding back to the student president. College Badminton – Case Study • Led by the University Club: – Weekend development sessions offered to college players who would like to improve. Coached by qualified coaches within the University Badminton Club. – Provide a college badminton co-ordinator yearly to help run the college programme. – Clear pathways from college to university level badminton. – Work in conjunction with Badminton England to engage more students. – Events, no strings attached and Raveminton. Benefits of Student Reps • Improves links between intramural and University Sport. • Helps with talent ID and athlete development. • The students occupying these positions often have experience within the college sport system so are very well informed. Officials

Transferable Student Elements Involvement Programme Elements

Challenges Participation Participation • The college sports programme runs mainly on Wednesday afternoons and weekends throughout the year with over 380 teams participating across 15/16 sports. • It enables us to offer sporting opportunities to everyone at Durham no matter their ability. • We’re looking to continue to develop college sport next year, expanding our college Volleyball league and working with the Durham FA to introduce futsal sessions to the wider student body.

2012-2013 Team Participation Figures (league) Sport Men’s Women’s Mixed Badminton 26 22 15 Basketball 21 16 - Cricket (Indoor) - - 13 Cricket (Outdoor) - - 18 Football (11 a-side) 71 16 - Hockey 17 17 - Mixed Lacrosse - - 17 Netball - 41 - Rugby Union 20 8 - Squash 21 7 - - - 19 Tennis - - 21 Ultimate Frisbee - - 18 • DCR encompasses all 16 college boat clubs, boasting over 1300 members, making up approximately half of the rowers, scullers and coxes in the North-East of England. • We aim to provide everyone with the opportunity to row, 650 first year students completed our learn to row programme this year. • Organise 3 regattas throughout the academic year: the Novice Cup, the Senate Cup and the Admiral’s Regatta. Additionally, alongside our weekly college sport programme we also hold one off events. The biggest of which is the annual College Festival of Sport which runs after exams in third term. With hundreds of students participating across 16 sports. Officials

Transferable Student Elements Involvement Programme Elements

Challenges Participation Challenges • University sport vs. intramural/college sport. Tensions. • Strain on facilities. We are doing what we can to alleviate this problem installing a second rubber crumb pitch and working with our ground staff to ensure that we have as many workable pitches as possible. • The weather. • Postgraduate involvement, only a small portion of postgraduate students participate in sport. This is something we are aiming to improve over the next couple of years. Officials

Transferable Student Elements Involvement Programme Elements

Challenges Participation Transferable Elements • Structure: • Halls of residence. • Departments. • Organic formation of teams on an annual basis. • Gauging student satisfaction: • Provide mechanisms through which they can feedback. • Regular feedback forums. • Committees to help oversee the running of certain sports (perhaps appointed captains could be invited to attend).

Transferable Elements • Engaging University clubs to assist with the delivery of intramural programmes: • Make them aware of the benefits to them e.g. talent ID, personal development opportunities including coaching and officiating opportunities. • Start small and develop as appropriate. • Look for innovative ways to adapt sports if you have facility issues. • Small sided games. Hockey and rugby 7s, 5-aside football.

Transferable Elements • Work with NGBs and County associations to provide coaching and officiating qualifications. • Encourage the development of referees/umpires so that intramural programmes can continue to grow. ANY QUESTIONS ?