The Kingston University Sports Performance Programme is in need of extra funding if it is to provide the level of support its talented athletes deserve.

The programme, which currently supports 18 sports men and women studying at the university, is designed to assist students with both their academic and training commitments.

Jo Heath, the University Sports Development Manager and Performance Programme organiser, said: “We’ve taken on more athletes this year than ever before, but we want to make the programme even bigger. It always comes down to funding. With more funding we can run more workshops and offer better management advice.”

Included in the stated benefits of the programme are the provision of personal liaison officers to monitor each athlete’s academic progress, and bursaries to cover competition expenses. However, a number of students on the programme have suggested that the services on offer could be significantly improved.

Adam Marashi, a third year Sports Science and Business student, who has been selected for the Great Britain Universities Ice Hockey squad, said: “When I started on the programme at the beginning of my second year, we all had a meeting to discuss the aims and support that was going to be offered to us. But since then I’ve not been contacted or had any progress meetings”.

Femi Owolade, a Kingston Law student and track and field athlete who has performed at the English National Championships, said: “In terms of providing me with athletic support, I think the programme can do more. There are a number of improvements that could be made. Give athletes money for accommodation when they are competing, provide full kit for everyone involved and give us a sense of belonging to something great, make us proud.”

In response to these comments, Heath said: “In terms of academic support, we regularly consult with tutors and work around exam clashes and athletes commitments. If people on the programme are struggling in any way or don’t feel they are getting enough support with their studies, I would encourage them to come and talk to me.

 “We are constantly looking to improve the programme and we would really like to tap into the sports science department and make use of the expertise within it. When it comes to sport, greater financial support is what every single athlete would ask for. Obviously we can only provide that if we have the funds ourselves.

The highly successful and popular KU Taekwondo team is being evicted from its current training location because of health and safety concerns.

The Taekwondo team recently won the inter-university competition held at Cambridge University for the third year in a row. The Cambridge Open is the first taekwondo tournament of the university calendar and the Kingston team won seven individual gold medals at this year’s event. The very next day the team won three more gold medals at the London Open in Crawley. 

The club has a big problem though as it has been told it can no longer use its current training venue at the Kingston Arena. The hall capacity at the site is 30 people but the Taekwondo society regularly has between 40-50 people training with them each week.

KU Taekwondo President Michael Nathan-Pepple said: “Taekwondo is a great sport. We have a great instructor who makes the training sessions fun. When we go to the student nationals we always get good results. We have a good structure, a good student base; we just need more people and a bigger hall to practice in.”

Finding a new place for the team to train has proved difficult however, as Rhiannon Hiscocks VP Activities for the KU Student’s Union, told us:

“Taekwondo’s facilities are too small. We could move to a bigger hall (if there was one) but the instructors may not be able to make that time and it would cost more money. We’re already pumping a lot of money into Kingston College and local schools that are better facilitated than Kingston University. The Students' Union, the University and even students themselves are paying to use these facilities. The College and the nine other venues we use every year charge hire fees. If we re-invested this money into our own facilities instead of wasting it on renting, that would be a much better use of our money.”

A Kingston University spokesman said:“The University is trying to identify sites for sports facilities and recognises the importance of students’ sporting ambitions, however as is the case for many town and city-based universities, there is a shortage of suitable land in the Kingston area on which to build facilities. The University will continue to work with the Council, through the local development framework, to try and identify potential sites for sports facilities, in particular a sports hall.”