Moved Permanently

Congratulations to the Ladies football team for their terrific victory against Royal Holloway on Wednesday, the highlight of a busy sporting week for the university.

We haven’t exactly been inundated by University sporting success stories this year- the antics of the Uni rugby team sadly being my abiding memory so far- so it was great to hear about a team actually doing well for a change.  By all accounts the Ladies were worthy winners against Royal Holloway and are now just 90 minutes away from a place in the South Eastern Conference Cup Final.  Well done girls!

By this time next week we could be toasting another of the university’s success stories.  The Men’s basketball team are in action against London South Bank in the BUCS Championships.  If successful they will go on to represent the university at the BUCS Championships in Sheffield. 

The Championships are the pinnacle of university sport and would be a just reward for a talented team.
Both the RiverOnline and the River will be covering the big game so be sure to log on later in the week to find out how the Men’s Basketball team get on.

After the disruption caused by the weather last week, it’s great that there’s a full set of fixtures scheduled for Wednesday.  Both of the rugby teams are at home as well as the 2nds basketball team.  So, If you’re a loose end on Wednesday afternoon, get down to Tolworth court and cheer on one of the teams- all three would really appreciate your support.

For more details of times and venues as well as a results round up, check out our fixtures section.
One of my biggest disappointments with Kingston is that there isn’t enough sport on offer for those that just want to play sport for fun. 

At Exeter, where I did my undergraduate degree, there was a whole host of intramural sport on offer that catered for people of all standards- three intramural hockey leagues, eight 5-a-side football leagues, three XI a-side leagues, badminton society, running club.  You name it, they had it.

I think that the Student Union is missing out on an opportunity here.  Twenty teams signed up for the Intramural 5-a-side football league, which makes its long awaited return this week, and plenty more expressed an interest.

I set up a Kingston University Running Club at the beginning of term and with minimum publicity have already attracted 20 or so members. 

So the interest is there but the Student Union needs to make more of an effort to tap into that interest.  If it did so, it would surely reap dividends for them.  A greater general interest in sport would lead to more people signing up for teams and would encourage those already in the university teams to perform with greater pride.

Andy