Bucs annual review 2008 - 2009 1

2009
ANNUAL REVIEW

*performance, participation, competition... [enhancing] the student experience...
CONTENT
BUCS
2 annual review
CONTENT................................................................................................................. 02
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY............................................................................................. 03
A YEAR IN NUMBERS............................................................................................... 04 - 05
BUCS STRUCTURE................................................................................................... 06
SPORTS PROGRAMME............................................................................................. 07
BUCS SPORTS.......................................................................................................... 08 - 13
BUCS OVERALL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS TABLE...................................................... 14 - 15
BUCS CHAMPIONSHIPS............................................................................................ 16
INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMME................................................................................ 17
COMMUNICATIONS, COMMERCIAL AND MARKETING............................................... 18
SOCIAL MEDIA......................................................................................................... 19
HIGHER EDUCATION SPORT PARTNERSHIP PLAN.................................................... 21
WHAT’S IN STORE NEXT YEAR................................................................................. 22
SPONSOR AND PARTNERS....................................................................................... 23

British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS)
completed its first year of operation having
successfully inherited the passion for
student sport from British Universities
Sports Association (BUSA) and University
College Sport (UCS).
The leadership of BUSA and UCS had the aspiration
for BUCS to take on the responsibility of becoming the
respected voice for university sport in the UK. The BUCS
Board and team have been keen to make this a reality.
This has not come without its challenges and we are
not yet delivering the full ambition that our members
desire, but within the first 12 months we have seen much
progress to deliver a wider portfolio of activities to our
membership and partners. We regularly receive
encouraging messages about our progress combined with
advice on what to enhance and what to do differently.
We are listening.
For the 48 sports within our domestic programme we
have seen entries grow and participation increase across
all our competitions and league structures this year
(see page 8). The annual BUCS Championships in 2009
added five new sports to create a five-day event, with an
additional 1,000 students competing in Sheffield
see page 16).
Our international programme has also had a successful
year with students bringing home seven medals from the
World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia (see page 17).
A key event for the world stage and our international team
next year is the World University Hockey Championships,
which will be hosted for the first time in Edinburgh in
August 2010. In partnership with SUS (Scottish
Universities Sport) the event will showcase Scotland’s
ExECUTIVE SUmmARy
skills in staging an international event in the lead up to the
2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
New partnerships have also been formed with
organisations interested in supporting, and working more
directly with, the university sports sector. This year we
have enhanced our business relationships with Nike,
PricewaterhouseCoopers and Life Fitness and we
have embarked on new commercial income streams
via bucs.org.uk.
Right at the start of BUCS we were keen to link with a
charity which shared our passion so in October 2008 we
also launched a five-year partnership with sport for
development charity, Right To Play. At the end of its first
year, the students and staff who had committed their time
and fund raising endeavours to the charity had helped
10,000 children access Right To Play programmes in
disadvantaged countries.
A key focus of the team has been to enhance our profile
across the wider sporting landscape. This has helped us
to develop a new partnership with Sport England (see
page 21), created new jobs regionally and nationally and
forged better relationships with national governing bodies
such as the Football Association, the ARA, British
Swimming and the R & A to support sports development
nationally. Our colleagues in our other home nations have
also strengthened links with devolved Governments and
we are keen that this strength of operating both locally and
within the context of the UK continues in the years ahead.
With a new brand in the sector within days of launching
the new organisation, we reviewed and re-launched a
number of our communication channels to give members
up-to-date information about the competitions, events
and networks relevant to their roles and
responsibilities on campus. Our website has been highly
praised by members. We have also spent time
restructuring our advisory committees and groups to allow
for more involvement from students, staff and elected
officers in advising on our day-to-day policies and
direction (see page 20).
At our official launch at the Houses of Parliament in
October 2008 we celebrated the success of students
and graduates representing Team GB at the 2008 Beijing
Olympics. Here, graduates and gold medallists Christine
Ohurougu (pictured below) and Tim Brabants spoke about
their experiences of balancing higher education with
elite competition.
As we look forward to London 2012, we hope many more
of our future Olympians will benefit from the support
available at our UK universities.
Ed Smith
BUCS Chair
3

A yEAR IN NUmbERS
British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) is the national
governing body for higher education sport in the UK.
Its vision is to enhance the student experience in three ways:
NUMBER OF TEAMS PER SPORT
1 Performance
2 Competition
3 Participation
Founded in June 2008, in its first year it set out its key activities as:
• Get more people to play sport and partake in physical activity
• Improve the quality of experience for students and staff involved in sport
• Create a sustainable future for sport at university
• Maximise the potential of the membership and support professional
career pathways
• Deliver world-class athletes and infrastructures
• Provide a national, respected voice for members to
government and relevant stakeholders
500
375
250
125
TABLE TENNIS
WOMEN’S
BUCS
4 annual review
CRICKET
WOMEN’S
LACROSSE
MEN’S
WATERPOLO
WOMEN’S
LACROSSE
WOMEN’S
TABLE TENNIS
MEN’S
SQUASH
WOMEN’S
SWIMMING
(MIXED)
FENCING
WOMEN’S
RUGBY
LEAGUE
WATER POLO
MEN’S
FENCING
MEN’S
EQUESTRIAN
(UNISEX)
GOLF
(MIXED)
SQUASH
MEN’S
VOLLEYBALL
WOMEN’S
SPORT
VOLLEYBALL
MEN’S
TENNIS
WOMEN’S
TENNIS
MEN’S
BADMINTON
MEN’S
RUGBY UNION
WOMEN’S
KEY FACTS
Students studying at UK universities 2.3m
Higher education institutions in the UK 166
Higher education institutions affiliated to BUCS 146
Number of universities achieving BUCS points 141
Numbers of teams playing in BUCS leagues 3800
Sports programme delivered 48
% Of ‘active’ students (active people, sport England) 36
Number of BUCS staff 27
Team sport participation
The graph below shows the number of teams entered into BUCS leagues by
gender and sport compared to the number of universities which enter teams
per gender and sport.
KEY
Number of teams 3
Universities 3
CRICKET
MEN’S
BADMINTON
MEN’S
BASKETBALL
WOMEN’S
FOOTBALL
WOMEN’S
BASKETBALL
MEN’S
HOCKEY
MEN’S
HOCKEY
WOMEN’S
RUGBY UNION
MEN’S
NETBALL
FOOTBALL
MEN’S

The BUCS Ball, in association with
PricewaterhouseCoopers, was held at
Keele Hall in September 2009. The
awards ceremony celebrated the best
of university sport from 2008/09
season and the winners were...
- BUCS Sportsman of the Year:
Calum Robb, Heriot Watt University
- BUCS Sportswoman of the Year:
Rachel Poolman, University of Wales Institute,
Cardiff (UWIC)
- BUCS Team of the Year:
University of Portsmouth Boxing Club
- BUCS Unsung Hero:
Sam Lumb, Aberystwyth University
- BUCS International Influence:
John Warnock
- Red Ball Award:
Leo Matlock, Warwick University
- BUCS Most Improved University:
University of Portsmouth.
- Overall Points Winner:
Loughborough University
- Outstanding Contribution to Higher
Education Sport:
Vaughan Parry Williams
Financial highlights
The following two pie charts show the income and
expenditure of the BUCS business for 2008 / 09.
Total income: 3,045,895
Total expenditure: 3,111,553
Surplus /(loss): (65,658)
A total of £111,074 in value in kind services
were also received during the year. This figure is
excluded from the overall financial highlights.
Full, audited statutory accounts for BUCS can be
obtained from Companies House. Registered
Company No. 06483060 (England & Wales)
BUCS Income 2008 - 2009
3%
6%
17%
13% 5%
KEY
BUCS Expenditure 2008 - 2009
11%
3%
28%
26%
14%
27%
30%
17%
Sponsorship 3
Grants 3
Subscriptions 3
(Affiliation fees)
Team entry fees 3
WUGS 3
BUCS Championships 3
Other 3
KEY
Activities: Venue & 3
equipment hire
Activities: 3
Accommodation & travel
Activities: 3
Other
Payroll 3
Marketing & promotion 3
Support (Office / IT 3
overhead)
5

BUCS
6 annual review
STRUCTURE
BUCS Structure
Patron:
HRH Princess Royal
President:
John Inverdale
Chair:
Ed Smith
Chief Executive:
Karen Rothery
Office Manager and PA to Chief Executive:
Beverley Wilson
Sports Programmes
Head of Sport Programmes:
Mark Brian
Sports Programme Managers:
Aaron Campbell, Alayna Carter, Caroline Chase,
Priya Samuel, Vikki Scott
Sports Programme Administrators:
Sarah Gandon, Matt Judson
Rowing Programme & Development Administrator:
James Lee
Football Development:
George Carney, Matt Holdstock
International Programme
Head of International & Development:
Jo Kirk
International & Development Administrator:
Claire Powell
Regions & Professional
Development
Head of Region and Professional Development:
Susannah Attwell
North West FE/HE Sports Manager:
James Birdsey
Regional Universities Sports Co-ordinator,
North East:
Neil Hurren
Communications, Commercial &
Marketing
Head of Communications, Commercial & Marketing:
Jenni Anderson
Communications & Marketing Manager:
Hannah Marshall
Commercial Manager:
Sion Williams
Marketing Co-ordinator:
Rachel Leach
Finance & Administration
Head of Finance & Administration:
Dave Rogers
Finance & Administration Manager:
Marie Atkinson-Brian
Finance Assistant:
Geetha Sobinarth
Special Projects
Project Manager - Sports Social Media Platform:
Andy Redfearn
Project Administrator - Sports Social
Media Platform:
Andy Smith
BUCS Board Directors
Director of Sport, Loughborough University:
Chris Earle
Partner, Ashurst:
Roger Finbow
Director, Whitestone:
Chris Lightfoot
Associate, Deloitte (Student Director):
Tom Noble
At the BUCS AGM on Friday 13 June 2008
the following representatives were elected to
represent the views of the BUCS membership
AU President, University of Manchester:
Andrew Chaston
AU President, Swansea University:
Simon Griffin
Alumni Sports Programme Co-ordinator,
University of Bath:
Richard Howell
Head of Sport Imperial, Imperial College, London:
Neil Mosley
Assistant Director of Sport, Durham University:
Quentin Sloper
Sports Development Manager, Liverpool University:
Stuart Wade

Participation in the BUCS sporting programme grows year
on year. 100,000 students competed in 48 sports during the
year and both team and individual entries were up on the
2007/08 season.
At the end of the season Loughborough University retained its first place position in
the BUCS Overall Points league table for the 29th year. Two notable movers included
Leeds Metropolitan who two years ago were in 14th place and added an incredible
1528 points to its total moving them into 3rd place this year. This however failed to
eclipse the rise of Portsmouth who moved up 12 places in one year from 37th place
to 25th and won this year’s BUCS Most Improved University.
Sports development has been focused to two sports this year:
Football and Rowing
Supported by the Football Association, the football development team introduced a
Focus University initiative to 10 BUCS members. This has led to an expansion in the
number of people playing the 11-a-side and small sided games, an increase in the
number of qualified referees and an increase in the number of people volunteering
through football.
The BUCS Futsal programme became the country’s largest Futsal league with
35 men and 19 women’s team competing in regional rounds with 16 men and 8
women’s team progressing through to the national final in Sheffield.
The employment of a rowing specific programme and development administrator
has seen the rowing programme go from strength to strength. Closer links have been
established with home nation governing bodies, the events have seen growth in the
numbers of entries but also a professionalisation in the way the competitions
are managed.
Work was also carried out on several BUCS endorsed events which allowed
complete novice rowers to row in a head of the river race. The events were organised
by university rowing clubs which also gave students the opportunity to develop their
event management skills and link up with their nearest community club.
SpORTS pROgRAmmE
Sport Strategy
BUCS Board Director; Chris Earle has led a group of staff and volunteers through
the first eight months of a total review of the BUCS sporting offer.
The review has broadly focused upon five main themes; participation, performance,
profile, contribution to the wider sporting landscape and a sports financial
contribution to the organisation. Some preliminary fact finding was undertaken
and then this information was interrogated by specific members of staff and
volunteers with expertise in these specific fields. The review is likely to be
concluded mid way through the following year and will give BUCS a new direction
for its sporting programme.
7

BUCS
ARCHERY
BUCS
8 annual review
SPORTS
• The Indoor Championships were held at Loughborough
University, with the team award won by the University
of Edinburgh
• The Outdoor Championships saw seven BUCS records
being broken in testing weather conditions.
Both the Championship and
Trophy team events were won
by the University of Edinburgh
ATHLETICS
• Entries across all athletics events increased significantly this
season and the BUCS Combined Events Championships
returned to the athletics calendar
• Seven Championship Best Performances were broken at
the Indoor and Outdoor Championships
• The BUCS Cross Country Championships, hosted by
the University of Aberdeen were cancelled due to adverse
weather conditions across the country
• The British Universities team at the Loughborough
International finished third in the Men’s event and fourth in
the Women’s
BADMINTON
• With a UK player base of 6 -7,000 in higher education in
university clubs alone, and a further 7-8,000 participating
in intra-mural and class based beginner and intermediate
programmes, university badminton contributes
significantly to player retention in the sport in the crucial
16-19 year transition period from school to working life
• It is hoped that the engagement of a number of
institutions in the BUCS/Sport England social networking
pilot scheme in late 2009 will see a real drive to activate
further fun-based badminton activity – early figures
suggest a possible 5% increase is on the cards if
Facebook retains its popularity amongst students
• The annual BUCS Individual badminton tournament in
November along with its championship finals week in
March offers a marvellous recruitment and development
ground for aspiring and qualified officials, along with event
management volunteers. In 2008 -09 over 15 umpires
gained valuable experience in this way
• In 2008 over 500 matches were played in the BUCS
individual tournament over three days
• The High Performance Centres network established by
Badminton England across seven universities is starting to
support the player pathway very effectively. Within the
support network in Scotland, we also have 5 GB players, 8
England U19 players, 2 Scottish nationally funded players
and 7 TASS scholarship funded players within HE
BASKETBALL
• English Universities retained the Basketball
Home Nations title in both the men’s and
women’s events
• The Final 8s took place over three days of
the BUCS Championships in Sheffield. The
standard of play continues to rise with
more and more universities playing
in the English Basketball Leagues.
Worcester and UWIC won the men’s
and women’s titles respectively
• The GBR women’s team returned to
the World University Games in Serbia
in July 2009. Despite a tough opening
group containing USA, Poland and
the Czech Republic, they
regrouped well to finish
in a highest ever sixth
place overall
BOXING
• Registered Boxing
Clubs in
Scotland affiliated to the national governing body now
operate in 9 of the 16 institutions who have entered BUCS
events. Close on 400 students train two or three times
a week
• This year saw a record number of entries into the English
University Boxing Championships with 150 students
competing at Portsmouth University
• During the season, universities produced two Scottish
Open Champions and a runner up, while the English
Universities Representative squad achieved four gold
medals and two silver medals at the prestigious Haringey
International Cup
• Women’s Boxing is continuing to grow within the higher
education sector, with many entering the sport through
Boxercise and combat fitness classes.
CANOE
• The entry numbers rose once again with the Wild Water
Race becoming the largest event in Britain and the Slalom
the biggest in Europe. Canoe Polo entries increased once
again with more than 50 teams entering the BUCS event
• Almost half of Great Britain’s gold and silver
medal-winning canoe slalom team are graduates of
Nottingham Trent University. Five of the 12 strong team
that competed at the 2009 European Canoe Slalom
Championships graduated from the University, while two
have re-enrolled to study for second degrees
CLAY PIGEON
• BUCS returned to the West Midlands Shooting Ground
for its eighth year in 2009. Royal Agricultural College
maintained their position as the most dominant
Clay Pigeon Shooting Club within the higher education
sector winning both the men’s and women’s team events
and also the men’s individual event
CLIMBING
• The Climbing Championships returned to The Climbing
Works for the third year running and second year as part
of the BUCS Championships in Sheffield where 300
students competed in the event. Support and awards
for winning students was provided by Bendcrete Walls,
Foams4Sports and Moon Climbing
• University of Sheffield continued to dominate the event
by retaining titles in both the team and men’s competitions

• Mike Brightwell retired from the Climbing sports
management group in 2009
CRICKET
• The indoor cricket competitions go from strength to
strength. Taking place in the winter terms, they provide an
opportunity for cricketers to experience high quality
competition out of season. The current formats – nine
regional heats, three semi-finals and national finals for men
and four regional heats and national finals for women –
work very well and by the time of the finals the standard
is sometimes such as to compete with the ECB’s
own competition
• The outdoor competitions were restructured this year in
accordance with cross - BUCS structures. Some
adaptation will clearly be required as the timing constraints
of a short and examination dominated term and a long
game need to be accommodated. At the senior levels,
the MCC Universities continue to dominate, showing the
success of the venture in terms of playing standards and
our work in conjunction with the national governing body
of the sport
CYCLING
• BUCS Cycling again promoted a Championship
programme with both on and off road events, many with
maximum entry levels possible
• For the second year running the Mountain Bike
Championship was outsourced to Extreme Know How
who delivered a successful event at UK Bike Park in
Dorset with over 500 competitors
• Participation in the Hill Climb Time Trial Championship
has now grown to be the biggest such event in the UK.
The success is partly due to it being the first event of the
BUCS Cycling calendar with a relaxed, yet competitive
atmosphere and is key to promoting BUCS Cycling to new
members of university clubs. This discipline also generates
a wealth of National Champions with Matt Clinton (alumni
Leeds) taking the title in 2008 from defending champion
James Dobbin (alumni Bath)
EQUESTRIAN
• This year the programme grew its team entries for the
sixth year in a row at the National Championships
• Links with the national governing body have also
developed, with increased media interest following
a review of the Championships in equestrian specialist
magazine, Horse and Hound, highlighting the importance
of the education sector within the sport
• Student riders have seen success internationally including
two team golds and one team silver at the Norwegian
Nations Cup; Bea Meitiner (UW Aberystwyth), Joanna
Honey (Warwick), Elidh Middleton (Robert Gordon) and
Kate Allen (alumni Nottingham) all brought home medals
from various international competitions
FENCING
• The individual championships, supported by Leon
Paul, attracted over 600 competitors over three days at
the University of Nottingham
• The team finals took place as part of the BUCS
Championships in Sheffield. GB Olympian, Alex O’Connell
was part of the winning Cambridge men’s team and was
also interviewed as part of the Channel 4 programme,
Destination 2012, which highlighted the event within its
coverage. The men's event saw Cambridge pitted against
their oldest rival Oxford. This competition has been taking
place since 1897
FOOTBALL
• Football Development added 10 new Focus universities
to its development programme. A conference at
Liverpool FC demonstrated the achievements and
pathways developed for the volunteer student
workforce and new student coaches
• For the first time since the World University Games were
held in Sheffield in 1991 Great Britain won a team sport
medal with the Women’s Football team finishing in
third place
• All BUCS Football Leagues joined the FA Respect
Campaign to show universities play the game in the right
spirit and respect officials and players
FUTSAL
• 2008 /09 saw the first full year of Futsal at BUCS. In 2007,
no university teams or competitions existed and it is now
one of the fastest growing participation programmes on
university campuses
• BUCS provides the largest men’s and women’s Futsal
competition in the country
• University teams were FA Futsal Cup 2009 runners up for
both Women and Men
GAELIC FOOTBALL
• Increase in number of participants with three new Men's
Football teams registered. These were Imperial College,
London, Sheffield Hallam University and Aston University
• The BUCS single institution system has resulted in those
with fewer numbers of Irish students seeking to recruit non
Irish to the sport. An example is the University of Abertay,
Dundee who were able to field a 15 a side team for both
league and championship despite having only three Irish
players with previous experience of the game
• Universities have introduced a new Gaelic Football
Coaching programme in 2008 -2009, with the scheme
designed to enhance university/school/community links
and this has carried into the forthcoming academic year
GOLF
• The Individual Strokeplay finals took place at the Notts
Golf Club, Nottinghamshire. The finalists all qualified
through from the regional qualification rounds in England
and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland so that the top
60 men and 20 women from university golf attended
• In the Team Matchplay competition, the semi - final line up
was Birmingham v Stirling and Loughborough v
Nottingham Trent. Stirling was the eventual team winner
• The 2009 Home Nations title headed to Northern Ireland
for the first time in many years, who also hosted an
excellent competition
9

GYMNASTICS
• The standard of the gymnasts competing this year again
increased at the Gymnastics Championships. Hosted at the
City of Newcastle Gymnastics Academy, Grade 1
competitors had the opportunity to use the championships
as part of their selection process for the World
University Games
• Britain’s most famous gymnast, Beth Tweddle was part
of Team GBR at the World University Games in Belgrade.
Liverpool student, Tweddle won GB’s first gold medals at
the event in the Uneven Bars and Floor events
HOCKEY
• Hockey continues to be one of the most popular sports
within the BUCS programme with over 280 women’s and
264 men’s teams
• The season’s women’s Championship final involved a raft
of England and Great Britain talent on show including the
likes of Jo Ellis, Sam Quek, Sarah Page and Kirsty
Mackay. The men’s final included international players
such as Richard Smith and Adam Dixon, who went on
to win gold for England in the European Championships
in August
• Another notable highlight of the year is University of
Edinburgh student Stephen Dick being awarded Scottish
Universities Sport (SUS) Athlete of the Year
• The development of the National Performance Centres
within higher education has strengthened the relationship
between BUCS and England Hockey. 2010 will see
Edinburgh host the Hockey World University
Championships. The new PricewaterhouseCoopers
sponsorship will further help to enhance the BUCS
hockey offer
JUJITSU
• The BUCS Jujitsu championships ran as part of the Jitsu
Foundation National Championships. It is one of the
largest BUCS martial arts events with 411 BUCS student
entrants from 56 member institutions
BUCS
10 annual review
JUDO
• The individual and team championships were part of this
year’s BUCS Championships in Sheffield
• Over 215 individual male and female competitors
represented 35 universities, with good representation from
all home nations
• 23 university teams and 7 regional teams provided some
more exciting closely contested Judo matches in the team
championships with University of Bath taking home the
men’s and women’s titles
• Gemma Gibbons won bronze in the U70kg category of
Judo at the World University Games in Serbia
KARATE
• The BUCS Karate
Championship is now the
largest adult Karate
competition in the UK with
450 athletes taking part.
In a commitment to continually
improve the event, BUCS attracted some of the UK’s best
officials, with a full complement on each mat, as well as
six International and seven British qualified officials
• In July 2009 BUCS Karate attended the EUSA
championships in Cordoba Spain achieving its best medal
total. BUCS Karate gained its first ever International Male
team kumite medal by defeating Germany to take Bronze.
Individual medals were won Amy Thomason, Lisa McCann
along with Alton Brown and Albert Forsyth, who all fought
well to take Bronze medals
• In December 2008 BUCS Karate attended a friendly
international at the invitation of University of Naples.
The squad was largely composed from the team that had
attended the FISU world championship earlier in the year
KORFBALL
• For the first time the Nationals event was held as part of
the BUCS Championships in Sheffield. Sixteen teams took
to the court in Sheffield, where University of Birmingham
won its first ever title
• The Channel 4 Destination 2012 programme featured
Olympic badminton star Gail Emms learning how to play
Korfball with England international Korfballer, Tom Brady at
the event
• Development of the sport has seen a new club emerge
at the University of Bedfordshire and plans for next year
include a development fund to support new clubs and a
new partnership with the South West Korfball Association
for universities in that region
LACROSSE
• Men’s Lacrosse was introduced as a new league
sport, and attracted 38 teams across the five playing
conferences. The finals, staged within the BUCS
Championships witnessed local university Sheffield,
beat local rivals Nottingham 12-5 to be crowned Men’s
Lacrosse Champions
• A new Lacrosse Sports Management Group was formed
to further develop university Lacrosse and closer links
were forged with the Lacrosse governing bodies
MODERN BIATHLON . PENTATHLON
• The BUCS Modern Biathlon and Pentathlon
Championships were held in Oxford in March 2009.
With 26 universities taking part, the event was a great
success with over 176 competitors for the Biathlon and
69 competitors for the Pentathlon
NETBALL *Supported by Kukri
• A total of 351 netball teams played in 55 leagues, 5
Conference Cup competitions, a Championship and
Trophy final involving over 3,500 Netballers this year
• The Kukri Netball Home Nations event saw a strong
English Universities squad take the title at the University
of Exeter
• The British Universities Netball team beat world-ranked
Singapore 44-40 in a thrilling game in Glasgow. This
fine performance was followed up by a win against the
Northern Irish Senior squad and a draw against Northern
Ireland U21s
• The sports management group has been able to deliver a
comprehensive, high volume Netball programme due to
the continued support of Kukri. It has also worked in
partnership with the four nations Netball governing
bodies to continue to develop the sport at both
grass-roots and elite level

ORIENTEERING
• Oxford University staged the BUCS Championships in
March 2009 with 150 competitors. University of Edinburgh
won the overall title
• The Championships incorporated a match against
Combined Services who came fourth in the overall scoring
• With funding from Sport England, British Orienteering
have appointed Josh Jenner as its new Higher Education
Development Officer
POOL
• The BUCS-UPC Eight-ball Pool Championships were
held at Vauxhall Holiday Park, Great Yarmouth. This
brought the event into the premier league as Vauxhall
is home to all the major English Pool Association events.
Cuesport TV broadcast the event on the internet
• For the first time, all elements of the event, including the
Individual Championship, Team Championship/Trophy and
Shield competitions, were held over one weekend and
played out on thirty-six tournament standard tables. This
resulted in 389 competitors at the starting gate for the
Individual Championship and around 420 players
in attendance in total
• England won the BUCS Home Nations for the fourth
year running
RIFLE
Small Bore
• A new indoor short range championship was trialled in
2008 and modified to become part of the BUCS
Championships in Sheffield in 2009. Eight teams and 24
individuals qualified for the finals event
• The long range championship held in April continues to be
popular with 14 universities and nearly 100 competitors
Full Bore
• Participation in the individual championships (run
concurrently with the National Rifle Association
Imperial Meeting) has grown with 25 universities
represented compared to 18 last year. The top student
competitors were ranked highly against the field of open
international shots and he 2011 World Champs in Australia
ROWING
• Team GBR brought home a high medal tally from the
EUSA Regatta in Poland including one Gold, four Silver
and six Bronze, finishing in second place. Team GBR
consisted of 97 athletes from 18 universities of which 44
of the rowers won medals
• Participation at BUCS Rowing events has increased with
60 universities taking part and a notable increase in the
number of beginner rowers
• The first of the BUCS Rowing endorsed events was run
by University of Bristol Boat Club. Endorsed events offer
opportunities for students to row in an event for students,
run by students, and more are planned for 2009/10
• BUCS and GB Rowing continued its support for a
dedicated volunteer intern to develop and administer the
University Rowing Programme through the appointment of
James Lee
• The BUCS Regatta returned to its England base in
Nottingham and saw a record entry with over 4,000
rowers competing over the Bank holiday weekend in May.
This also saw for the first time University of Cambridge
entering the event and ended with them winning the blue
ribbon event the Men’s 8’s with a crew, half of which had
competed in the Oxford Cambridge Boat Race earlier in
the year. Durham however retained their overall control of
the sport winning the Victor Ludorum
RUGBY FIVES
• Dan Tristao, Oxford, won his second consecutive singles
title, to set up the possibility of a ‘hat-trick’ at the 50th
championship event in Sherborne in 2009
• Freshers Inigo Ackland and Alex Griffiths from Durham
took the Doubles title at their first attempt. Ackland came
straight from winning the National Schools Doubles in April
to take the University title just eight months later
• Past star university performers Ady Lee (Durham) and
Dan Grant (UCL) - 2004-2006 - both represented Team
England recently in the World One Wall Handball
Championships, in Portland Oregon
RUGBY LEAGUE
• This year the Student Rugby League (SRL) launched the
Gillette Super 6, designed to give member clubs
the opportunity to compete at the highest level, against
like-minded institutions, in an environment conducive to
elite university competition
• Due to the success of the inaugural season the SRL
have expanded the 2009 -10 competition to become the
Super 8
RUGBY UNION
• Team participation grew in Rugby Union with 282
men’s and 100 women’s teams taking part this year
• 115 universities received support from the Student Rugby
Football Union as a result of completing development
plans, allowing strategic improvement of the sport within
each institution
• England Students had an undefeated season, beating
France Students, Irish Colleges and the Dutch senior
national team
11

SAILING
• Team Racing: After qualifiers in the snow, the three-day
finals were held in April at Datchet Water in partnership
with Brunel University. Oxford took home the team title
• Match Racing: After three qualifying rounds nine teams
headed to Queen Mary Sailing Club for the Finals at which
Southampton emerged victorious
• Yachting: 35 teams attended the Yachting Championships
held at Port Solent/Gunwharf Quay in April with
Southampton Solent University in first place
SNOWSPORTS
• The Dryslope Championships held in Edinburgh still
boasts the largest dryslope ski race entry anywhere in
the world
• 2,200 total attendees (including 450 beginners) at
the British Universities Snowsports Council (BUSC) Main
Event and Alpine Championships 2009 in Alpe D’Huez,
France. Highlight of the event was the floodlit slalom held
on the World Cup piste that drew a crowd of 1000+
• Rachel Adcock (Newcastle) claimed her fifth and sixth
consecutive dryslope titles in the Slalom and Giant
Slalom this season, winning both in each of her three
years at university. Gemma Harris (Southampton) won
all three disciplines at the 2009 Alpine Champs adding the
Slalom, Giant Slalom and Super G titles to the two golds
won in 2008
• BUSC charity contributions surpassed £16,000 during
the season
SNOOKER
• Largest entry of 160 and representation from all four home
nations; exactly 1,200 frames played over three full days;
three team and two Individual competitions offered; a new
winner from a team entering for the first time (Manchester,
Team Shield)
• The sport has seen a high increase in the number of
ethnic-minority and international students competitors and
this year’s individual champion was an Indian national.
• Event held at England’s premier amateur snooker venue,
the Leeds Northern Snooker Centre
BUCS
12 annual review
SQUASH
• Participation numbers in Squash have remained
consistent over last two years, with record entries
for the individual championships held in Birmingham
• The men’s individual champion Joel Hinds (Birmingham)
since graduating has turned professional and the higher
education sector has attracted top players including the
former women’s world champion and former world
number one Vanessa Atkinson, who is studying at
Leeds Met
• BUCS implemented England Squash and Racketball’s
recommendation to change the point a rally scoring
and is committed to developing the game. The sports
management group has aspirations to develop
Racketball across the higher education sector to engage
greater participation amongst the more recreational player
SURFING
• The Surf Championships was the first championships
for BUCS (as a new organisation) in the new season.
It was also the first time the championships were held in
October. The move worked well as the water and weather
conditions were suitable for the championships. BUCS
would like to thank the BSA, volunteer and RNLI lifeguards
for organising the championships
SWIMMING
• The Short Course Championships were once again held
at Ponds Forge, with 16 new BUCS records set. Liam
Tancock (Loughborough) and Zoe Baker (Bath) were
awarded the top performance awards, with
Loughborough winning the men’s, women’s and
overall team awards
• At the Long Course Championships, Tancock and
Baker again won the individual performance awards
and Loughborough completed another clean sweep of
the team titles
• The Team Finals were part of the BUCS Championships
in Sheffield and Loughborough completed the hat-trick
of swimming titles by also winning the
Team Championship
TABLE TENNIS
• The sports management group (SMG) is to place an
emphasis on encouraging more women and students
with disabilities to enter the Individuals next year, which will
be hosted by the University of
Nottingham for the next three years
• The SMG is forging stronger links
with home country governing
bodies and university sports
groups to reduce drop-off from
further to higher education.
This is being addressed
through publicity about
university clubs and local
leagues links. Players leaving
the junior ranks are targeted
via a national ranking
system and by player
listings of the English Table
Tennis Association
• The University of Edinburgh
and Loughborough University competed
in the European University Championships
in Serbia
TENNIS *Supported by Barclays
• Team GBR won silver in the men’s doubles and a Bronze
medal in the mixed doubles at the World University Games
in Serbia in July
• Colin Fleming (University of Stirling graduate) made
his debut in the GB Davis Cup team partnering Ross
Hutchins in the doubles and went on to partner with Ken
Skupski to beat the Bryan brothers (previously world
number 1 seeds) at Queen’s Club and to win the doubles
event at the ATP tour in Metz
• The Barclays Development Awards gave 14 university
clubs the opportunity to fund local projects across a wide
range of activities including Street Tennis, Cardio Tennis,
coaching support and facility development such as
floodlight costs for winter training sessions

TENPIN BOWLING
• A record 145 men and 42 women headed to
Nottingham for the BUCS Tenpin Bowling Championships.
Loughborough men took control of the Men’s Team award
and the Women’s Team competition was equally
dominated by one team - Manchester
TRAMPOLINING
• Delivered three successful regional rounds of over 700
participants indicating university Trampolining is becoming
more popular with the student market
• The University of Bristol hosed the national championships
involving 130 competitors
TRIATHLON
• Sprint: Record entry of 304 with the Men’s event won by
Mark Threlfall (Loughborough) and the Women’s event
won by Lois Rosindale (Leeds Met Carnegie)
• Olympic Distance: 66 entries with the Men’s event won
by Oliver Ziff (Birmingham) and the Women’s event by
Louisa Edmonston (Leeds Met Carnegie)
• Duathlon: Record entry of 151 with the Men’s event won
by Oliver Mott (Bristol) and the Women’s event by Victoria
Graves (Birmingham)
ULTIMATE
• The 2008-9 year belonged to the University of Warwick,
finishing in the top three of all six events
• The strength of the student game was marked by many
players participating in the European Championships at
Heathrow, a couple of whom were even on the Clapham
team that won gold. The strength of these top players has
helped the depth of the game as they have coached the
new generation of players only now entering university
VOLLEYBALL
• The number of teams in the BUCS
Volleyball leagues grew to 87 for men
and 52 for women
• Partnership work has started with Volleyball
England to increase the number of development
programmes delivered in higher education
WAKEBOARDING
• As the first year to operate as a BUCS event,
Wakeboarding has had an outstanding season with the
added incentive of a national BUCS league
• The ‘Uniwake’ team ran several development events and
judging courses for affiliated clubs aimed at growing the
sport at the university level
• The BUCS Wakeboarding Championships has attracted
several new universities in 2009 and was a show case
for World Class Wakeboarding talent as well as being an
opportunity for grass roots Wakeboarders to enter their
first competition
• Targets for 2010 include British Water Ski and Uniwake
working towards helping more university clubs to become
part of the BUCS Wakeboarding network
WATERPOLO
• The finals for the Water Polo Championships and Trophy
were held as part of the BUCS Championships. A change
in format for the Trophy competition for the 2008/09
season meant that it would mirror the Championship and
have a round robin competition over three matches rather
than a one-off final
• The Men’s Championship was dominated throughout by
Manchester, with Cardiff in second and Bristol taking the
Bronze. The Women’s Championship saw Birmingham
take the title with Loughborough in second and Cardiff
in third
• The Men’s Trophy final was won by Manchester Met and
the Women’s Trophy was won by Cambridge
WINDSURFING
• The University of Southampton once again hosted the
event which saw over 180 entrants take to the water
• University of Cambridge took home the team Gold and
both Gold and Silver in Division 1 and 5 out of the
top seven finishers
13

UCS OVERALL ChAmpIONShIp pOINTS
RANKING INSTITUTION
BUCS
14 annual review
IND CHAMP &
KNOCKOUT POINTS
LEAGUE
POINTS
TOTAL
1 Loughborough 3672 1840 5512
2 Bath 1831 1221.5 3052.5
3 Leeds Met Carnegie 1618 1281.5 2899.5
4 Birmingham 1164.5 1389 2553.5
5 Edinburgh 1105 1274 2379
6 Durham 986 1196.5 2182.5
7 Nottingham 867 1210 2077
8 Oxford 745 1043 1788
9 Cambridge 1020 747 1767
10 Newcastle 832 929.5 1761.5
11 Manchester 707 999 1706
12 Exeter 527.5 1149 1676.5
13 Bristol 650.5 1017.5 1668
14 UWIC 762.5 815 1577.5
15 Leeds 529.5 931 1460.5
16 Cardiff 550.5 845 1395.5
17 Warwick 570.5 780 1350.5
18 Brunel West London 631.5 650 1281.5
19 Northumbria 335.5 918.5 1254
20 Southampton 498.5 678 1176.5
21 London Metropolitan 615 536 1151
22 Imperial 477.5 584.5 1062
23 Sheffield 471 580.5 1051.5
24 Aberdeen 317 696 1013
25 Portsmouth 371 619 990
26 Liverpool 335.5 652 987.5
27 Nottingham Trent 498 486.5 984.5
28 Stirling 479 500 979
29 St Andrews 254 672 926
30 Sheffield Hallam 359.5 546.5 906
31 Swansea 342 509.5 833.5
32 Brighton 162 617.5 779.5
33 Glasgow 231.5 545 776.5
34 Kent 273 500.5 773.5
35 Dundee 280 471 751
36 Bournemouth 182.5 548 730.5
RANKING INSTITUTION
IND CHAMP &
KNOCKOUT POINTS
LEAGUE
POINTS
TOTAL
37 UCL 136 550 686
38 Gloucestershire 157 517.5 674.5
39 UWE Bristol 217 452 669
40 Hertfordshire 280 380 660
41 York 228 389 617
42 St Mary's 203 384 587
43 Central Lancashire 133.5 444 577.5
44 Reading 174 402.5 576.5
45 Lancaster 168.5 403 571.5
46 Oxford Brookes 186 383.5 569.5
47 Heriot Watt 178.5 335.5 514
48 Worcester 198 314.5 512.5
49 LSE 200 299.5 499.5
50 Essex 128 368.5 496.5
51 Plymouth 239 238 477
52 Kings 162 283.5 445.5
53 Strathclyde 70 357 427
54 Glamorgan 119 307 426
55 Aberystwyth 99 326.5 425.5
56 London 358 60 418
57 Chichester 87 318 405
58 Sussex 70 327.5 397.5
59 Lincoln 66 331 397
60 Surrey 143.5 253 396.5
61 Liverpool John Moores 137 257.5 394.5
62 Royal Holloway 101 290 391
63 Coventry 152 235.5 387.5
64 Manchester Metropolitan 124 263 387
65 UWE Hartpury 171 205 376
66 Robert Gordon 141 232 373
67 East Anglia 126 233.5 359.5
68 Bedfordshire 81 265 346
69 MMU Cheshire 70 270 340
70 Southampton Solent 123 194.5 317.5
71 Hull 80 222.5 302.5
72 Keele 82 216.5 298.5

RANKING INSTITUTION
IND CHAMP &
KNOCKOUT POINTS
LEAGUE
POINTS
TOTAL
73 Teesside 183 97.5 280.5
74 Bangor 104 171 275
75 St Mark & St John 30 235 265
76 Leicester 62 200 262
77 Chester (Chester) 57.5 203.5 261
77 Napier 121 140 261
79 Middlesex 133 116 249
80 Sunderland 101 122.5 223.5
81 Glasgow Caledonian 67 141 208
82 Queen Mary 64 143 207
83 Kingston 66.5 140 206.5
84 York St John 22 177 199
85 Buckinghamshire New 41 151 192
86 Canterbury Christ Church 32 155 187
87 Anglia Ruskin 86 96 182
88 Wolverhampton 112 66 178
89 Kings Medics 34 135 169
90 Aston 12 148 160
91 London South Bank 87.5 69 156.5
92 De Montfort 20 134.5 154.5
93 Royal Agricultural College 108 45.5 153.5
94 Bradford 41 110.5 151.5
95 Edge Hill 47.5 101 148.5
96 Northampton 40 104.5 144.5
97 Staffordshire 21 120 141
98 Cumbria 44 94.5 138.5
99 Imperial Medics 16 120 136
100 Liverpool Hope 44 90 134
101 Roehampton 27 97.5 124.5
102 Cardiff Medics 25 99 124
103 Abertay 6 111 117
104 Derby 51 65 116
105 Salford 34 79 113
106
Royal Free & UC Med
School (RUMS)
12 91 103
107 Queens Belfast 102 0 102
108 Winchester 24 71.5 95.5
RANKING INSTITUTION
2008 - 2009
IND CHAMP &
KNOCKOUT POINTS
LEAGUE
POINTS
TOTAL
109 UW Newport 29 63.5 92.5
110 Huddersfield 18 71 89
111 Greenwich 0 87.5 87.5
112 Ulster 82 0 82
113 St Georges 0 81 81
114 Harper Adams 26.5 51 77.5
115 City 6 68 74
116 Falmouth 65 0 65
117 Bolton 0 60.5 60.5
118 Trinity & All Saints College 20 40 60
118
University College
Birmingham
12 48 60
120 Thames Valley 37 21 58
121 St Barts 9 36.5 45.5
122 Queen Margaret 10 33 43
123
School of Oriental &
African Studies
6 35 41
124 Birmingham City 6 34 40
125 Royal Veterinary College 5 33.5 38.5
126 Goldsmiths 10 26.5 36.5
127 East London 12 20 32
128 West of Scotland 0 30 30
129 Arts 14 11 25
130 UHI Millennium Institute 0 24 24
131 Westminster 8 15.5 23.5
132 Medway 6 16 22
133 Cranfield 0 17 17
134 Trinity College Carmarthen 6 10 16
135 Swansea Met 3 14 14
136 Bath Spa 0 13 13
137 Derby (Buxton) 0 12.5 12.5
138 Newman 6 6 12
139 Suffolk 0 10 10
140 Glyndwr 6 3 9
141 Chester (Warrington) 0 2 2
142 Writtle College 0 0 0
142 UW Lampeter 0 0 0
15

The BUCS Championships is the
pinnacle of the national sporting calendar
for university students in the UK.
The event has had two successful years in Sheffield,
Yorkshire and will return to the city for its third year in
March 2010.
The BUCS Championships attracts the best student
athletes from across the country to one city over five
days each year in March.
As the third largest multi-sport event in Europe, behind
the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, the event is
a test-bed for current and future international athletes –
many set to be household names by London 2012.
In 2009 the annual Championships encompassed 24
sports, introducing five new sports from 2008 and
involving over 5,500 student athletes.
In 2009, the BUCS Championships:
• Saw 5,500 student athletes (majority aged
between 18-21 years) compete in 24 sports
across 14 venues in the county over five days
• Generated an economic impact of £589,000
in Sheffield (SIRC, May 2009)
• Enlisted the help of 150 sporting officials and
250 Sheffield-based volunteers
• Attracted 2,600 paying spectators
• Generated media value of £190,000 within
a three month period with online and
newspaper coverage and airtime on
Channel 4, Sky Sports, BBC Radio
Sheffield, Radio 5 Live, Look
North and Yorkshire TV
BUCS
16 annual review
bUCS ChAmpIONShIpS
• Recorded over 60,000 unique
users and over 2.5 million page
views on
www.thebucschampionships.co.uk
• Increased the economic impact on
the 2008 event by 64%
“ Events like BUCS don’t come
around often, and they are so
enjoyable. As a student to come here
and compete against like-minded
students who want to win is an
experience which you will remember
for the rest of your life. You will still
remember what happened
in 20, 30 years time.”
Austin Healey
BUCS Championships
Ambassador 2009

Two World University Games took place
this year with BUCS sending its largest-ever
delegation of 112 to the Winter Games in
Harbin, China and 186 representatives of
Team GBR travelled to Belgrade, Serbia for
the Summer Games in July.
The World University Summer Games is the third largest
sporting event in the world, behind the Olympics and
Asian Games and, although it is widely unknown in the
UK, provides athletes with a development path to the
Olympics with experience of a village based, multi-sport
event prior to London 2012. The standard of competition
is comparable to some World Championships, while the
presence of Great Britain Olympic coaches in the role of
team managers and coaches provided valuable mentoring
to the athletes.
At the Winter Games, the most notable result on the ice
was Team GBR’s Women’s Curling team who finished
fourth, following the Men’s silver medal at the 2007 Games
in Torino.
Up the mountains the snowboard team exceeded
expectations with a top five finish in Men’s Big Air; two
top six finishes in snowboard cross and a top 10 finish
in Men’s Half Pipe. The Alpine team contributed to the
excellent results with a top 20 finish in the Alpine
overall combined.
INTERNATIONAL pROgRAmmE
Five months later and the international
team were travelling to Belgrade with 129
athletes and 57 support staff to compete
in 11 sports at the Summer Games.
With 7320 athletes from 142 countries
competing at the Games, our young athletes
were provided with the priceless experience
of competing at a multi-sport event with new
and diverse cultural differences.
Great Britain finished 18th in the medal table,
sandwiched between Germany and Switzerland,
with three gold, one silver and
three bronze medals.
World Champion Beth Tweddle (Liverpool -
pictured to the right) the flag bearer for Team
GBR, returned home with two gold medals in
the Gymnastics competition. Britain’s other
gold was won in the swimming pool by
Stephanie Proud (Florida University), who
broke the Games record on her way to her
200m backstroke medal.
With over half of the GB Beijing Olympics
team made up of university students and
alumni, there is no doubt that the combined
contribution of the higher education sector
will have a significant impact on the quality of
the athletes’ performances in London 2012.
European Universities
Sports Association (EUSA)
The EUSA Championships is a ‘Champions
League’ style competition for universities who
have finished in the top four of the equivalent
BUCS Championships. This year BUCS
sanctioned entry into six EUSA Championships
including the Rugby 7s Championships which
was hosted by Bristol University, with the
women’s championships won by the
University of Exeter.
Notable performances include:
• Badminton - Loughborough University
finished in second place in the team event
and winning the mixed doubles event
• The Karate representative team won five
bronze medals including the Male
Kumite Team
• The Rowing representative team returned
with one gold, four silver and six
bronze medals
17

ucs.org.uk
COmmUNICATIONS, COmmERCIAL
& mARkETINg
The Communications, Commercial & Marketing team at
BUCS has focused its efforts this year to improve the financial
sustainability of the organisation, create new member and
stakeholder communication tools, enhance event experiences
and embrace new digital technology to interact with students
and staff.
bucs.org.uk has developed to offer more tailored news and feature options for users
and now incorporates clearer navigation to competition and event information. The
website has seen a growth in visitors month by month and can now offers companies,
national governing bodies and partners targeted advertising, HTML campaigns, video
and flash-enabled content to promote services and support to members. The Sport
England partnership with Facebook has enabled the team to further develop its social
networking presence and interact with those at the grass-roots of our service delivery.
A fresh look at our commercial properties and the wider sporting focus of BUCS
has resulted in new sponsorship and supplier relationships with Nike (BUCS Official
Teamwear) and Lucozade Sport (BUCS Official Sports Nutrition Supplier). These have
offered BUCS members premium products and service at a discounted rate. Barclays
renewed its three year sponsorship of the tennis programme which has helped the
sport to offer grass-roots development awards for student clubs as well as continue
the popular Barclays Challenge Series for elite competitors.
Keen to professionalise its corporate events, including its annual conference, BUCS
has secured a number of high profile speakers and ambassadors during the year
to promote the links between university sport, elite performance and business.
These have included Dame Kelly Holmes, Steve Parry, Baroness Sue Campbell,
Kelly Sotherton, Austin Healey and Tim Brabants. Many more Olympians and World
Champions who have experienced the benefits of university sport have been involved
in sharing their experiences and opinions in media and PR activities.
In year one, the team piloted new ways to communicate with those involved in
administering and delivering sport on campus; those taking part; and stakeholders in
the wider sporting landscape. The weekly BUCS Essentials, the monthly View from the
Bench and termly BUCS Life magazine are new ventures designed to meet the diverse
needs of our audiences.
On a national level, the BUCS Championships in Sheffield was featured within Channel
4’s Destination 2012 series which highlighted the size and scope of the event with a
focus on Judo, Korfball and Waterpolo.
BUCS
18 annual review
4%
4%
Press coverage and web analysis
BUCS started to record its press and media coverage in January 2009. During the
financial year BUCS totalled 557 press mentions across a range of media channels.
The majority of media coverage was generated by the BUCS Championships in
Sheffield and the World University Games in Belgrade.
BUCS.ORG.UK: 1 OCTOBER 08 - 1 OCTOBER 09
VISITS 1,138,026
ABSOLUTE UNIQUE VISITORS 451,870
PAGE VIEWS 6,691,124
AVERAGE TIME ON SITE 0:04:02
Media coverage Jan - July
NEW VISITS 39.53%
KEY
BUCS website top 10 referring websites
4%
368
10 5
2%
3% 3%3%
4%
17%
174
56%
Broadcast 3
Online 3
Print 3
Radio 3
KEY
facebook.com 3
fixtureslive.com 3
teamdurham 3
lufbra.net 3
eusu.ed.ac.uk 3
ara-rowing.org 3
thepowerof10.info 3
leedsmet.ac.uk 3
atleticsdata.com 3
uwicsu.co.uk 3

UCS bALL, AWARDS & SOCIAL mEDIA
Social Media
The phenomenon of social media and the use of social
networking sites by students has been embraced by
BUCS this year
Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Bebo have all touched the
nation’s public consciousness. Facebook, the largest
social network, now has over 300 million active users
worldwide and these users spend an average of 25
minutes a day on Facebook and 50 per cent of them
return daily.
BUCS has been at the forefront of using social networks
and digital platforms as a way of profiling university sport
and encouraging participation in sport and physical
activity and this year set up its official Facebook page at
www.facebook.com/bucs.
In October 2008 BUCS submitted a bid to the National
Sports Foundation to develop a series of applications
(‘apps’) to integrate into social networks to assist in
promoting and sign posting opportunities to get involved
in sport. The success of the bid, allowed BUCS to appoint
two new members of staff to run the project
The ‘Sports Hub’ was born in partnership with Facebook
and Sport England.
BUCS is working with six national governing bodies of
sport including England Athletics, Badminton England,
British Judo, England Squash & Racketball, English
Table Tennis and Volleyball England and 19 universities
to develop new initiatives which could be promoted
via Facebook.
The project is targeted to encourage 12,000 participants
in sport either by direct motivation from Facebook or
referral to events or participation opportunities.
Following extensive training and workshops on creating
interactive content (including video and radio content)
the project was launched at King’s College London
in September.
The English Table Tennis Association (ETTA) was the first
governing body to test using social networking to target
students to get up, get out and socially participate in sport
and with King’s College London ran a mass participation
table tennis event.
The event marked the beginning of a partnership between
Sport England and Facebook worth up to £20 million that
will use Facebook’s unrivalled influence to bring people
together around sport and help deliver a lasting Olympic
legacy of more people playing sport. It is the first longterm
partnership between Facebook and a government
or public body in the UK and BUCS is at the heart of the
delivery of the project.
“ We want to get more people, more active on campus.
By promoting innovative sporting activities through
the Facebook Sport Hub we believe we can challenge
many more young people to get involved in sport socially
and self-organise local events, taking sport to the very
heart of the student experience.”
Karen Rothery
BUCS Chief Executive
19

REgIONS & pROfESSIONAL
DEVELOpmENT
In September 2008 the Professional and
Regional Development Department was
created, amalgamating the professional
membership services offered by UCS and the
functions of the BUCS Divisions.
Regions & Nations
BUCS members operate under nine English regions,
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In the first year time
was spent establishing new structures that reflected the
ethos of BUCS, and so brought together student and staff
member groups that had previously met independently.
Acknowledging the fact that each region and nation
was unique - with some facing challenges such as
geographical spread, varying numbers of institutions and
levels of engagement – structures have developed that
reflect these differences but are sustainable and deliver the
services required by its members.
Where structures were already well established groups
were quick to adapt to BUCS and over the past twelve
months have continued to support and respond to the
needs of the members. The North West saw two years of
hard work come to fruition with the appointment in January
of James Birdsey as the NW HE/FE Sports Manager.
In the first six months James has been responsible for the
FE Pilot Project, producing minimum standards for the
employment of sports coaches, co-ordinating an officiating
programme and working with Sports Leaders to support
BUCS
20 annual review
the transition into volunteering in Higher Education. The
Yorkshire region bid to Hefce and Sport England for ten
Sports Participation Volunteer Coordinators across the
region was unsuccessful but they continue to explore
the possibility of a smaller scale project funded by the
universities in the region. Wales, with support and
funding from the Sports Council for Wales conducted
an Audit of Sport and Recreation Provision in Higher
Education providing a comprehensive picture of the
contribution made by the sector in relation to facilities,
services and participation. Other regions continue to
develop and will start the 2009 season in a much
stronger position than before.
The student and staff chairs from the regions and nations
attended Chairs Forum where competition related issues
were raised, updates from regions and nations and Home
Nation Sports Councils were received and communication
and consultation on areas of BUCS business occurred.
The Student Officers and elected staff representatives
were also present and represented this group and issues
raised at BUCS Executive Group.
Over the course of the year it was apparent that
representation was duplicated and activity and effort
repeated through the work of the Chairs Forum and
Executive Group. This, combined with a lack of clarity
around communications and functional relationships
between BUCS staff and elected representatives, led to
the establishment of the Advisory Group. Full details of the
composition of this group can be found in the governance
section of the website.
Professional Development
The Professional Advisory Groups are an important
element in the delivery of services to members, providing
the opportunity to network, share best practice, develop
partnerships and support the professional development of
members. To this end Development Days were organised
addressing a wide variety of topics based around themes
of ‘Surviving the Credit Crunch’ and ‘Achieving Potential’.
The days were well supported and attracted delegates
from Sports Departments and Athletic Unions. The
Advisory Groups (Facilities & Operation Management,
Sports & Physical Activity Development and Marketing &
Business Development) which were identified in the BUCS
structure were not clearly established and will be reviewed
for 2009 /10.

In July 2009, Sport England, BUCS and
universities came together to launch a
new and dynamic partnership plan for
community and higher education sport.
The partnership was developed following 12 months
of consultation which established a plan to increase
participation, recognise and reward the contribution of
university sport and effectively measure its impact.
Through the partnership:
Sport England has committed to be an advocate for
higher education with other sporting landscape partners –
such as national governing bodies of sport, county sports
partnerships and other funding bodies – promoting the
contribution higher education sport makes to the sector’s
wider outcomes.
BUCS will continue to act as the voice of higher education
sport at a national and regional level.
Together we have encouraged higher education
institutions to work with us to identify communication and
marketing opportunities to promote higher education sport
and demonstrate its impact to government and higher
education bodies such as Universities UK and the Higher
Education Funding Council for England. In 2009/10 we
will be working with a minimum of 20 higher education
institutions; this will rise to a minimum of 40 by 2010 and a
minimum of 60 by 2011.
hIghER EDUCATION
SpORT pARTNERShIp pLAN
Participation
As a major contribution to Sport England’s target to get
one million adults doing more sport by 2012/13, BUCS
support its aim to get 300,000 students from across
further and higher education, doing more sport. This is
to include increasing and sustaining student participation
within under-represented groups – including women, people
with disabilities, individuals from black and minority ethnic
communities and those from deprived backgrounds.
Resourcing development
A key aspect of the partnership has seen Sport England
provide targeted three-year funding to BUCS to enable us
to facilitate and co-ordinate strategic sports development
across higher education. This funding will help us recruit
four new posts to the national team specifically targeting
volunteering, coaching and club links within sport.
Further to this, Sport England, BUCS and higher education
institutions will make the case for a HE/FE Sport England
lottery themed funding round (c£10 million) to drive
increased student participation. By the end of 2009, a
minimum of 10 national governing bodies of sport will be
working through higher education to increase and
sustain participation.
Measuring the impact
Building on the Active People Survey and other existing
data sets, Sport England, BUCS and higher education
institutions will work together to design and launch,
by 2011, a broader set of measures to demonstrate
the importance and impact of higher education sport
(including participation by students and the wider
community). This will help us support institutions
influence university leadership and allow for appropriate
benchmarking across the sector and the full spectrum of
sporting activity.
Partnership timeline
July 2008:
Higher Education Stakeholder Group established to help
inform Sport England’s thinking.
October 2008:
BUCS launched as the new national voice of university
sport and Sport England published a partnership pamphlet
to explore options and promote further debate.
February 2009:
BUCS and Sport England bring together representatives
from 43 English higher education institutions (HEIs) and
other sporting organisations to discuss how Sport England
and the sector could work together.
April 2009:
Sport England formally created, for the first time, a
dedicated team to lead on higher and further education
matters.
July 2009:
The partnership launches a HE Stakeholder Partnership
Plan which will see investment of nearly £500k in the
organisation over the next three years.
21

WhAT’S IN STORE NExT yEAR...
2010
Improved Customer Service
BUCS is a membership organisation and for year two has
committed to improving its levels of customer service to
staff, students and elected officers who help deliver sport
right through from the grass-roots through to the elite.
Resourcing develoBigger BUCS team
The office at King’s Bench Street is set to grow with a
new National Disability Sports Officer post (hosted in
partnership with the University of Nottingham) and four
new sports development Sport England-funded roles set
to join BUCS by the end of 2009 for three years.
Sports team restructure
In 2010 we will pilot a new structure for the sports
programme team. Focusing on skills and expertise to
deliver better customer service and improved efficiency
across our events, competition structure and league and
fixtures management we will pilot event management and
programme management roles with a view to roll out a
new structure in 2010/11.
WUC Hockey
The UK is set to host the first World University Hockey
Championships in Edinburgh in August 2010. The
international competition is expected to attract X nations
and is being run by Scottish Hockey, Scottish Universities
Sport, the University of Edinburgh and BUCS.
BUCS
22 annual review
BUCS Championships 2010
It’s our final year in Sheffield and set to be bigger than ever.
The finals of our Football Championships will take place at
Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane, Indoor Archery is hoping
to find a home at the event and keep an eye for the new
BUCS mascot...
New channel for membership feedback
A new Advisory Group brings together the student and
staff chairs from each of the 12 regions and nations, eight
elected staff representatives and student officers together
with the Chief Executive four times a year.
The new configuration for 2009/10 will:
• improve communication across the organisation and its
membership through the regional chairs;
• define the relationship between BUCS staff, elected
representatives and areas of responsibility in key
business areas to improve clarity of purpose for those
involved; and
• advise the Board and Chief Executive on matters of
importance to BUCS and its members.
The Four Nations
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
representative teams will go head to head in five sports at
the University of Edinburgh from 12 – 15 April 2010.
Sport England partnership
Sport England and BUCS will continue to develop the
activities outlined in its partnership plan with higher
education (see page 21)

BUCS Partners
BUCS Charity Partner:
Right To Play
BUCS Professional Advisory Groups Partner:
Life Fitness
BUCS Sports Sponsors
Tennis Sponsor:
Barclays
Netball Sponsor:
Kukri
Hockey and Rowing (from 09/10) Sponsor:
PricewaterhouseCoopers
BUCS Official Suppliers
BUCS Teamwear Supplier
Nike
BUCS Sports Nutrition Partner
Lucozade Sport
BUCS Medal and Trophy Supplier
Classic Miniatures
BUCS Legal Partner
Ashurst
SpONSORS & pARTNERS
23

British Universities & Colleges Sport
20 – 24 King’s Bench Street T 020 7633 5080 E info@bucs.org.uk FB http://www.facebook.com/bucs
London SE1 0QX F 020 3268 2120 W bucs.org.uk