Monday 01-02-2021 - 16:32

Hi everyone, I hope you’re all well. After what seems like a very long Trimester A for sport I’m excited to come here to share some highlights with you all. I know the return to sport process has often felt like one step forward, two steps back but I am extremely impressed by the passion and dedication many club committee members have shown during this difficult time.

To give a quick outline of the return to sport process for you all I’ve created a picture to show a clear breakdown of what impact the tiers have on sport. During tier 3 outdoor non-contact sports are allowed to run. Tier 3 also allows indoor non-contact sport to run however this only includes individual activity e.g going to the gym, and does not allow indoor non-contact group activity. When Glasgow moves to tier 2 we will be allowed outdoor contact and non-contact sport alongside indoor non-contact sport, which would allow many of our indoor teams to start in person training.

For a team to start in person training again the location of their training facility needs to be in the correct tier for the demands of the sport. Clubs then need to check National Governing Body guidelines for each sport as well as the training facilities guidelines. Clubs then create a risk assessment which then gets taken to the GCU Students’ Association Health and Safety Committee for approval. Once approved teams are allowed to start in person training!

I am delighted to say before Christmas we managed to have five sports back to in person training, these are Men’s and Women’s Hockey, Snowsports, Outdoor Sports and Athletics were doing a weekly outdoor social run around Glasgow Green. These were all a huge success and I think we can all agree it was great seeing some kind of in person sports trainings in Trimester A!

Alongside these trainings, it’s been great to see teams use their initiative and host online trainings. As Dance, Cheerleading and Netball all ran weekly virtual training sessions and have also had many more teams have also been hosting virtual socials and events. Since another lockdown has been announced sadly we have had to stop all in person sports trainings, however, once again it’s been great seeing teams not let this impact them and move their trainings online. As alongside all the teams training virtually in Trimester 1, Boxing and Athletics are also doing online activities multiple times a week!

On Saturday 12^th December 2020 we hosted a successful online Sports Awards Night to celebrate the sporting success of 2019/20 and award our winners. It was great to see so many students from various clubs come together to recognise yet another outstanding year for sport at GCU!

Lastly, your team mates are so much more than just your team mates - make sure to reach out and support each other during these challenging times. We will get through this together!

Zoe J

Vice President SCEBE & Sports Lead