Sports Council: New teams, reorganisation worries, and Tower Bar trouble

By Charlotte Reid | Published On December 1, 2009 | In Students' Union

The Sports Council on Friday, November 27th saw two new teams officially recognised. There were also concerns that next year’s reorganisation of the Students’ Union will leave sports under-represented, and there were attempts to arrange Tower Bar meals for sports nights.

There were four new teams wanting to be officially recognised, but only two of the representatives attended the meeting.

The Triathlon team, which has been set up by Jess Burrell as part of her degree, argued that the team would be a “good opportunity for the university to have an athletics club”. This team was voted in by a majority.

Joe Hicks argued for official recognition for the Parkour club. Parkour is a French discipline where people run a route and negotiate obstacles in creative ways. Hicks described it as “the beginning scene of Casino Royale”. The club was also voted in.

Chris Farrell, vice president for sports, expressed concerns that next year’s reorganisation of the Students Union could leave sports neglected. There will be an officer in charge of sports and societies, which Farrell said “has more to do with events, finances, and staffing”. There will be a part time officer who focuses on sport, but Farrell said “they could be a third year, so how involved will the part-time officer be?” Further discussions will take place before Christmas.

Richard Herrett, a manager at Engine Shed, attended the meeting to sort out the dispute over the poor take-up of food at the Tower Bar by sports teams. The offer consists of getting food when a card is presented by a sports team member when they are buying drinks.

However, most teams are using offers from bars such as Varsity and Glasshouse. They also said the Tower Bar has “a complicated system” and, as Herrett continually said, the Tower Bar “doesn’t gain out of what they offer”, it made it seem as though the Tower Bar doesn’t “mind if we eat with you or not,” with one person going as far to say: “Frankly, you guys aren’t doing your job right.”

After some discussion, Herrett said he would look into a new system. Most popular was the idea of paying a lump sum of money, like other bars are already offering.

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