Bucs annual review 2008 - 2009 1

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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
Page 1 and 2: 2009 ANNUAL REVIEW
Page 3 and 4: British Universities & Colleges Spo
Page 5 and 6: The BUCS Ball, in association with
Page 7 and 8: Participation in the BUCS sporting
Page 9 and 10: • Mike Brightwell retired from th
Page 11 and 12: ORIENTEERING • Oxford University
Page 13 and 14: TENPIN BOWLING • A record 145 men
Page 15: RANKING INSTITUTION IND CHAMP & KNO
Page 19 and 20: UCS bALL, AWARDS & SOCIAL mEDIA Soc
Page 21 and 22: In July 2009, Sport England, BUCS a
Page 23 and 24: BUCS Partners BUCS Charity Partner:

Bucs annual review 2008 - 2009 1

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