Meet our six representatives that work with Hannah our Sports Officer for 2020/21, help with current projects, complete their own projects and are involved with discussions of sport on an operational level. They will each build reports about the current state of clubs and their activity.

 

Keegan Stewart

Sports Council Position: RAG Officer

Sports Club: Men's Football Club

Aims for the year:

• Integration of clubs – we quite often see clubs hosting events on their own which often leads to variable turnouts. One of my ambitions is to use the reach of the council to create opportunities for clubs to host large scale fundraising, sports orientated or meet and greet events. I feel like this will promote the Team Leicester family feeling and lead to much more collaboration amongst different sports clubs. Ideas for this could lead to clubs joining resources to buy specialist equipment, providing joint sessions as a way of managing the financial burden and many other ideas.
• Cutting the red tape – In my two years on committee I’ve seen numerous occasions where getting things done can be quite a painful or slow process. Whether it’s seeking sponsorships, receiving reimbursements, or paying match officials, all can take lots of time and unnecessary effort. I’d like to lobby the SU in becoming more and more digital. Making sure committees can submit withdrawal forms via email or the SU website, committees can check their fundraiser balance via the SU website and allowing clubs an easier booking system for sporting venues.
• Representation – Last year the Football club bought 100 pairs of rainbow laces from Stonewall, this is one of many charity schemes that you probably haven’t heard of, sometimes as individual clubs it’s tough to get out there what you’re doing. Several clubs around Team Leicester have done their own individual campaigns to make sure everyone feels included in sport. I’d like to keep this going and progress it to the next stage. During my time on the sports council I’d like plan initiatives across every club at the University of Leicester to provide a much louder voice, showing that Leicester really is inclusive for all. Joint campaigns, SU funded sports campaigns, and much more will be voiced by myself at Sports Council meetings.

 

Rhianna Hutchinson

Sports Council Position: Media Officer

Sports Club: Women's Football and Futsal

Aims of the year:

• Raising awareness of taboo subjects such as mental health through social media platforms. The recognition of mental health issues and their importance in todays society cannot be understated, particularly within sport. Clubs are first and foremost social spaces outside of gameplay, offering a release as well as what individuals feel is added pressure to conform to common stereotypes like body shape/build. A key aim of mine would be to engage with the people of Team Leicester, speaking closely with those who have experienced such issues as well as their own and discussing how they have worked/are working to overcome this in a video series. This is inspired by ULFC’s campaign regarding men’s mental health but carried out on a larger inter-club scale, which I believe would be a huge step in normalising mental health discussions and benefit struggling students. In the long-term however, I want to set up an anonymous question service across all media pages in collaboration with all Wellbeing Secretaries. This would offer small weekly tips for positivity based around common themes and answer any questions asked. I believe this will unify us under a common aim - promoting the vocalisation of feelings which could have a huge impact on someone’s life.
• More photo opportunities for female sports to highlight our sporting diversity. Shining a light on ‘Wxmen in Sport’ has been a key focus this year and should be showcased all year round to illustrate the diversity within Team Leicester and encourage an increased female participation. Our sportswomen seem to lack attention when it comes to media outlets, particularly stemming from a lack of content available to use. Thus, I aim to generate a higher female presence across our media that cuts across the categories of ethnicity/religion/sexual orientation, collecting visual content on this that will really allow our clubs to shine all year round. This will also be extended to the men’s teams to include equal opportunities for recognition which will serve to increase our overall media output throughout the year. By levelling the playing field for media coverage, I believe this will increase participation (particularly in women’s sports) and encourage more student involvement.
• Looking for innovative ways to approach social media and expand our reach/audience. In a year where media will be integral in getting information across to students, its important that we begin looking at new and engaging ways to approach this medium. Recognising this, I aim to address a wider audience using more promotional videos for both Team Leicester as a whole and individual clubs. This medium is a creative way to showcase all aspects of a sport, giving those who may want to try it a more detailed look into what it is about. In addition, a general increase in the usage of media is necessary to communicate effectively with our audience so I want to broadcast weekly sporting updates across all pages. To keep our content relevant, I believe regular voting on the media pages will let us understand what content our followers would like to see, allowing us to tailor it to them which in turn should increase attention toward our posts.

 

Casey Manning

Sports Council Position: Media Officer

Sports Club: Cheer and Stunt

Aims of the year:

• Since the start of the COVID crisis, many things that were normal to us have been badly affected. Sport is at the heart of most people psyche and I aim to help people back to the “new normal” by proactively raising the awareness of all sports clubs through Social Media. Working with all our teams I will give all sports clubs a platform in which teams can advertise their games, events, give it a go sessions and fundraisers. My objective is to  raise the awareness of the wide range of Sports we have at The University of Leicester and hopefully encourage people to take part in different and new sports As well as for all other sports to actively support each other, providing a united front between the diverse clubs. 
• Working closely with the Diversity Officer, I will be ensuring that everyone feels they are able to take part in all sports The University of Leicester has. We must take all steps to highlight and ensure the diversity of Team Leicester and make our sports so inclusive, that even people not actively involved with sports will enjoy taking part or watching and supporting the teams, turning events into a memorable experience for everyone.  We should also use the power of sport to promote different campaigns in the same way Black Lives Matter has been so prominent across all sports. Making a Lifelong difference is something we should be striving for with passion. 
• I would like to take all students suggestions into consideration before making decisions about sports in Leicester. Social Media effectively empowers people, giving them a voice that in the past would not be heard. Different perspectives, even critical feedback can be a real force for good. At the forefront of change The University of Leicester has a long history of making a difference. Tapping into the energy of students through Social Media will allow us to move forward together and accurately reflect how inclusive, dynamic, and forward thinking we are at The University of Leicester. Taking on suggestions from students will allow Team Leicester to become a program that is perfect for all students with different needs accordingly.

 

 

Lily Cocking

Sports Council Position: Diversity Officer

Sports Club: Women's Football and Futsal

Aims of the year:

• My main aim is to reintroduce sports safely and successfully since the COVID-19 outbreak. Overcoming a pandemic is a completely new experience for universities and students, so sports needs to come back as safely as possible. The health and wellbeing of all athletes and coaches is vital so clubs will be contacted to ensure that they are comfortable to play and high-risk students are protected. Organising workshops and guidelines are a priority to ensure all clubs are educated on how to conduct themselves and all students are safe. Constant help and advice will be available to all clubs to ensure they are using social media in the best possible way to recruit new players and advertise themselves so the pandemic does not hinder their chances at a successful year.
• I want to ensure that all clubs are inclusive as possible. Using tools already in place, such as: give it a go sessions and workshops on inclusivity, to encourage more students to become involved in sports. By using social media and workshops, this will continue to teach sports teams to be inclusive and accessible for all. A barrier that can stop people playing sports, is the financial aspect of becoming a Team Leicester member. Having struggled with this myself and relying on scholarships to fund my sport I understand how students may not be able to afford to play. More payment plans will be introduced to make it easier for those to pay. The number of students that take part in intermural leagues will aim to be increased to ensure that everyone who wants to play sports can, as well as meet new people on their course.
• Mental health support will be more readily available to everyone on campus. University can be a stressful experience for students, particularly now due to COVID-19. Given that, for the time being, many lectures and seminars will be online it is vital that more services are available. Increased mental health support will be constantly advertised so it is be easily accessible and points of contacts are known to everyone. Workshops and therapy advice will be recorded online so that they can always be available from home. I also want to act as a role model and be able to signpost people to the appropriate help needed.

 

Kyle Hibbert

Sports Council Position: Diversity Officer

Sports Club: Tennis

Aims of the year:

• Mental Health Promotion. A primary aim and objective of mine will be to continue to promote, educate and source funding for the provision of mental health projects for students across the university, focusing on mental health in sports and sports ability to help with mental health difficulties. This will involve the continued participation, organisation and development of the Mens Locker Room event making these both physical and virtual spaces for all men to attend. Working closely with this years wellbeing officer on a new mental health blog aimed at increasing awareness of the propensity of students dealing with mental health difficulties and highlighting helplines, GP access and other resources for students to take advantage of. This will also involve continuing the work of previous councils advocating mental health stigma reduction and mental health advocacy throughout the year and up to and including varsity.
• Increased Participation in Sport by Reducing Financial Barriers. Another key aim of mine will be to lobby, debate and fight for students to have better access to sports at the university by reducing the financial entry barrier to sport that many students face. Finances should not prevent students from participating in sports due to its social, mental and physical benefits and I will work with the council, the university and the local community to look for innovative and new ways to fund entry to sports, the provision of free sport by increasing access to lets do Leicester, give it a go, intramural sport and access to essential equipment. I will also look to work with the universities hardship fund team to see how this can be expanded to include sport, especially for those from disadvantaged backgrounds or those going through financial difficulty.

 

William Allen

Sports Council Position: RAG Officer

Sports Club: Men's Rugby Union

Aims of the year:

• As your RAG officer I plan to initially build on the already excellent fundraising work put in place by the sports council last year by creating fun and exciting fundraising ideas which our sports officer could effectively implement. I would love to use the strong ties I have with rugby to bring all bands of teams together in order to raise funds for sport at Leicester.
• I would also love to try and improve the PR that some outlets of teams in the University can improve on, and in turn promote the core VITAL values of our university to achieve greater equality and respect among clubs. A great start I feel that every team Leicester club could get involved in is to dive in to specific volunteering outlets in the local community. I feel that this will bring the university and the community together and this action will further highlight University of Leicester’s ongoing effort to offer a helping hand for others.
• As your RAG officer I really would love to help set up and further improve some vital aspects of advertising across campus as I feel that not enough students are being reached effectively. I would love to have some form of media set up to greater promote and actively announce team fixtures across campus. Once the media has been established the possibilities are limitless with the likes of a player of the week or team of the month campaign being broadcasted all around the University. I feel this would provide greater spectators at games and in turn provide a greater awareness of sport as a whole at Leicester.