York clubs aim to build on last years successes
IT WAS A YEAR of mixed fortunes for York in sport during the 2004/05 season. Ex-AU president Stuart Leslie holding the Carter-James trophy after an emphatic victory over great rivals Lancaster in the Roses was the undisputable high point of a year which also saw relegation for the football men’s firsts and a disappointing year for rugby after Lancaster’s rugby team were banned from the Roses competition.
So what next for a university which is hardly renowned for its sporting triumphs?
Continued success in inter-university tournaments such as the Roses and Varsity is a must if clubs are to gain the positive press they need to recruit new talented members. But the AU must try to increase the publicity surrounding the Varsity event this year. With the first year honey-moon over, the Varsity idea can only be thought of as a success if similar to the Roses, students who may not usually watch or contribute in university sport are encouraged to participate.
The success of these events is very much in the hands of the university’s Athletic Union and new president Nik Engineer. When interviewed before taking the sabbatical position as head of sport at York University he promised ‘revitalising the AU’ was his prime objective and ‘a summer of policy planning’ seems to have transpired over the past months with a new website, computerised AU registration and plans for recruiting fresh blood at the AU mart firmly in place.
Such excellent efficiency must now be mirrored by improved results in university sport. Last year was generally a disappointment for York in BUSA, and York will be looking for other clubs to reflect good performances coming from the men’s basketball as they went unbeaten until March, the men and women’s cricket clubs with the men’s team winning the Men’s plate to become BUSA champions, plus success for the Badminton club.
Most clubs though enjoyed a very successful Roses tournament with York registering a record win. Travelling to Lancaster will remove home advantage for the White Rose but there is no reason why York can’t believe that they can again defeat their bitter rivals.
Meanwhile in college sport, last years victors Langwith will be looking for a repeat performance of their heroics of last winter when they took a convincing lead into the new year and held on to take their first ever title. Goodricke college will also be anticipating a strong challenge as they look to carry on from where they left off last summer. They stormed up the table to take second spot in the final weeks, after victory in the sports day one day event.
Meanwhile James and Alcuin must take steps to be more competitive. They could start to do this in what could prove to be the most pivotal weeks of every college year as everyone begins to recruit new blood into their teams. Derwent proved this to be a successful strategy last season with an impressive performance in the college league despite fading slightly. And finally Vanbrugh and Halifax must aim for more consistency over the three terms if they are to provide a challenge to the front-runers this year.
