Monday 28th November 2022

Our network is full of people who dedicate their time to get involved and help ensure that student sport runs smoothly and today we are celebrating someone who helps make sport happen.

At SSS we make a conscious effort to support and celebrate our volunteers. Our network is full of people who dedicate their time to get involved and help ensure that student sport runs smoothly and today we are celebrating someone who helps make sport happen.

Ana Jurado Santos is a 3rd year Bio-Med Student at Dundee University, and last year Ana won Scottish Student Volleyball Volunteer of the year. Although initially shocked stating that the win was not expected Ana reflected on how proud she has been to receive the award, noting that she felt that her hard work had been recognised.

Ana has always been encouraged by her parents to jump in with two feet, and her first on campus year was no different. During the 21/22 season Ana was not only volunteering as the volleyball club Social Media Manger but also in the women’s 1st team and District League Captain and Coach. She mentioned that not only did this make her feel like she was part of something bigger but that it helped her integrate into the Dundee community and it helped her find a group of friends that have supported her during the year.

We asked Ana what advice she would give students: ‘University is not all about the academics, it’s about finding yourself and your purpose, volunteering and being involved in sports help you do that.’ Ana said that she has found sport the best way to meet new people when she moved to Dundee, and that unlike high school at university you have to make a conscious choice to be involved. She advised that by jumping two feet into sports volunteering you can find friends for life, so don’t be scared just take small steps and make people aware you are willing to help.

The final take away from her experience that Ana wanted to share was ‘I realised that I am a special case, where I give a LOT of time, and it is quite intense. I just wanted to mention that from an organisational point of view, volunteering comes in many shapes and sizes. And all are appreciated. Whether it is a few hours a week or a lot, showing up to fundraisers and events that clubs and the sports union organise, providing a venue for socials and meet ups or taking part in any other way.

I don’t want to put any people off by saying that Volunteering takes an intense toll and time and effort. In these kinds of things, all the small bits matter as much. A lot of people doing smaller bits of volunteer is much better than one person doing a lot.’

 

“If you are motivated by Ana’s volunteering and are looking to do likewise please contact your sports union/department or check out our vacancies page. Equally if you have an inspiring story about a volunteer within the SSS network that you would like to share, please contact Jo Foster, Learning & People Development Officer.”

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Thursday 10th November 2022

Check out the highlights from our recent Boccia Championships!

Check out the highlights from our recent Boccia Championships, in partnership with the fantastic Scottish Disability Sport, where we were delighted to welcome teams from colleges and universities up and down the country!

Well done to all participants and we look forward to seeing you at future Boccia events soon.

📸 Photo album can be found HERE

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Monday 31st October 2022

Check out the highlights from our first Netball Championships in 4 years!

Check out the highlights from our recent Netball Championship! We hosted 8 teams from across 10 institutions at Oriam on 29th October 2022 for the first Netball Championships in 4 years.

Final standings:

🥇🏆 University of Edinburgh A

🥈 University of Glasgow)

🥉 University of St Andrews

🎖️ Player of the Tournament – Amelia Rynduch (University of Glasgow)

Well done to all participants and thank you everyone who helped make it happen – specifically the umpires and volunteers!

📋 Full results can be found HERE

📸 Photo album can be found HERE

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Thursday 20th October 2022

Check out the highlights from our recent Athletics Opening Match!

Check out the highlights from our recent Athletics Opening Match! We had a record-breaking number of entries from students across 14 universities and colleges at the event on 19th October 2022 at Emirates Arena.

Results are available online HERE and in Excel format HERE. Also on Power of 10 HERE!

Congratulations to University of Glasgow for winning the overall Appleton Trophy for Best Overall Institution as well.

Well done to all participants and thank you everyone who helped make it happen – specifically the officials and volunteers!

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Monday 10th October 2022

Stirling University Cycling Club were once again our hosts for the Scottish Student Cycling Hill Climb Championships, taking us back to the annual slopes of suffering to the National Wallace Monument to kick-start the 2022-23 season.

Stirling University Cycling Club were once again our hosts for the Scottish Student Cycling Hill Climb Championships, taking us back to the annual slopes of suffering to the National Wallace Monument to kick-start the 2022-23 season. This year, the exciting new addition of Le Col sponsorship provided even greater stakes, with superb prizes up for grabs.

A total of 46 riders – 31 male, 15 female – took on the brutal 14% average gradients over a course of (only) 500m! The course however was also wet from earlier rain showers, so the riders would have to contend with spinning wheels as they lost grip on the steepest gradients.  This would be a short, but gruelling, effort from start to finish once again – but the riders knew what they were getting themselves in for.

After their warm up and a recce of the climb, the riders started queuing for their chance at glory – though they would be forgiven for thinking the podium would be taken from the start due to the high calibre of riders in the field. First up was the favourite for the day: former Junior MTB XC Champion and last year’s champion (with an excellent time of 1:32), Charlie Aldridge (University of Edinburgh)! Could he set a winning time from the start? It looked likely as he set a ferocious pace to cross the finish line, for the second year running, with a time of 1:32!

Not long after, University of Aberdeen’s Sam Carrotte became the second person to achieve a sub-1:40 time on the day, eventually taking home 4th as the highest placed rider not from University of Edinburgh.

It was Louis Moore (University of Edinburgh), fresh from his first National-B race win the previous weekend that provided what many would call the ‘ride of the day’.  He took 5 seconds off of his time from last year to cross the line in a blistering 1:30 to take a decisive victory.  University of Edinburgh showed they had depth in leg-power as they also claimed 2nd and 3rd on the Men’s podium: Charlie Aldridge pipped for second and Angus Toms in 3rd.

University of Stirling started proceedings in the women’s event, with Charli Alston setting a superb time of 2:28 and taking 3 seconds off of her bronze medal-worthy time from last year. Unfortunately it wasn’t quite enough to get her onto the podium this year, however, as University of Edinburgh demonstrated breadth as well as depth, taking two of the 3 top positions and knocking Charli in to 4th. Amelia Tyler (University of Edinburgh) took 2nd place in a time of 2:16, whilst her team mate, Anna McGorum, claimed 3rd place with a time of 2:22 – a fantastic achievement given it was her first race in over a year!

The gold medal and second clean-sweep was not destined for University of Edinburgh this time as GB rider and 2x British MTB XC Champion, Elena McGorum (University of Dundee) stormed the climb. Elena flew up the hill with a sensational time of 2:13 to take the top position.

Some fantastic riding by the other women’s riders saw the top 10 rounded out with 2 riders from the Universities of Dundee, Edinburgh, St Andrews and Stirling, all within 20 seconds of each other. It was particularly exciting to have 18 female riders in the event – with entries growing over time from just 5 women entered in to the 2018 competition!

Well done to all riders on the day. The route, though short, it is a difficult climb so it’s a brilliant achievement to get to finish it, regardless of time.  Congratulations to the clubs claiming well-earned points in the SS Cycling Series. With 16 riders competing and taking 5 of the 6 medals on offer, University of Edinburgh take the lead in 138 points.  Second place is the University of Stirling with 68 points, whilst the University of Dundee is currently in 3rd place with 42 points.

It’s still very much all to play for with another 4 events in the season. As 5 points are earned per entry from each institution, not just for places, we look forward to seeing student cyclists out in force: more people, more points!  Keep an eye on our socials for details about our upcoming Cyclo-Cross Championships.

Finally, a massive thank you to President of Stirling University Cycling Club, Daisy Barnes, for making this happen as event organiser.  We are ever grateful to event sponsors, Le Col and Root Cycles for providing some incredible prizes for our riders.  Many thanks to all volunteers who helped on the day, as well as all our wonderful spectators who created a brilliant, encouraging atmosphere for all those racing!

Full results can be found HERE and the photo album from photographer, Craig Fellowes, can be found HERE

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Monday 26th September 2022

University of Stirling’s own Lorna McClymont and George Cannon triumphed in an incredible display of golf at the ‘Stirling International 2022′!

University of Stirling’s own Lorna McClymont and George Cannon triumphed in an incredible display of golf at the ‘Stirling International 2022′!

The Montrose Golf Links ‘1652 Course’ hosted the 11th annual tournament and the first event of the 2022-23 student season.

The opening day had a standout performance with University of Stirling’s Lorna McClymont finishing thirteen-under-par, leading the ladies table by eight strokes and taking the women’s course record in what Dean Robertson (University of Stirling Head Performance Golf coach) described as:

“One of the best rounds of golf I have ever witnessed by any amateur or professional in my career!”

Despite Elice Fredriksson (Halmstad), Megan Ashley (University of St Andrews), Lucy Jamieson (University of St Andrews) and Hannah Ounap (Edge College) all finishing under par, catching McClymont’s first day feat looked to take something special. The Men’s standings stood slightly closer, with the top thirteen split by just three strokes. Dundalk’s Eoin Murray led the tight race after day one.

Lucy Jamieson (St Andrews) displayed great consistency on Day 2, matching her first day result of three-under-par. Jamieson narrowly missed first, but comfortably finished second in the standings with six-under-par. McClymont was not able to match her first day success on the second stint, shooting 6-over-par, but finished with an impressive seven-under-par for the overall tournament. Despite not matching her day one performance, McClymont should be pleased returning to Stirling with another series title and now holding the Women’s course record at Montrose!

An exciting playoff was required to split George Cannon (Stirling), Will Coxon (Stirling), and Ben Willis (Edge College) who all finished with two-under-par at the close of the second day. After the first trip to hole 2 Coxon lost out by shooting a bogey, which narrowed the contenders to Willis and Cannon.

After another two outings, Cannon managed to best Willis and celebrated the title won for the University of Stirling golf team.

Cannon’s confidence will be sky high with a title under his belt and now starting the season top of the BUCS Men’s Order of Merit. He looks to continue his good form at the next event in the Scottish Student Golf series, the Autumn Trophy.

Full results can be found here and the full album of photographs can be found here.

Thank you to Montrose for hosting the event, to R&A & BUCS for their support and to the officials who helped make the event happen.

Lastly, well done and thank you to all competitors for kicking off the 2022-23 competition season in style! Please take a moment to complete this to tell us how you found it.

 

Written by Dillon Hutchison

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Friday 23rd September 2022

SSS are absolutely delighted to announce that we have been shortlisted for the Investors in People Award 2022.

SSS are absolutely delighted to announce that we have been shortlisted for the Investors in People Award 2022.

As an organisation that puts the wellbeing, development and sustainability of its people first we’re really excited to have made the final shortlist.

The Winners will be announced at a black tie gala ceremony on the 15th November at Old Billingsgate in London.

For the full shortlist and more information about Investors in People please visit www.investorsinpeople.com/awards-2022/

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