Friday, March 29Royal Holloway's offical student publication, est. 1986

Tag: Sport

Women’s Sport: Consumption, Identity & Success
Sports & Socs

Women’s Sport: Consumption, Identity & Success

For women's sport, this summer has been an incredible success that has enthralled the nation. The increased profile, awareness and success of women's sport has been unparalleled. From the pitch to the wicket, British women have seen a summer which has started to prompt questions surrounding the landscape of elite female sport. Reaching an all-time high of 7.21 million women playing regular sport in December 2016, more and more women are engaging in active pursuits. National campaigns such as This Girl Can have raised the profile of female engagement in sport, which begs the question - why is there not more interest in national women's sport? Many broadcasting companies have noted a public disinterest in the viewing of women's sport and therefore have little commercial interest in pur...
Varsity is coming to Royal Holloway!
News

Varsity is coming to Royal Holloway!

With the start of the new academic year, exciting news was announced at the SU on Monday 3rd. Over 1000 ‘bears’ attended the SU to hear the announcement from Steph Milne, the Co-President of Sports and Development, that a Varsity between Royal Holloway and the University of Surrey will be occurring on the 29th March 2017. A varsity match is defined as a sporting fixture between two university rivals. The first varsity was between Oxford and Cambridge University in 1827 – Royal Holloway’s inaugural participation means 2017 will be the year students here have the opportunity to join the tradition. After being announced at the SU, the official video was shared on Facebook the following morning – revealing the Varsity Teaser Video. The University of Surrey previously competed against ...
Reflecting on The Stanford Rape Trial
Features

Reflecting on The Stanford Rape Trial

The Stanford Rape Trial (People vs. Turner) that came to a head earlier this summer sparked massive controversy when the convicted rapist, Brock Turner, was sentenced to a miniscule six month sentence. It raised many questions about rape culture in sport, as well as both racial and class biases in criminal prosecution. For those who aren’t familiar with the case, Turner, a 20 year old American student, was convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind the bins at a Frat party back in January 2015. The victim was saved from any further assault by two men who pulled Turner away from her, and, when he attempted to run away, chased and detained him until the police arrived. Consequently, as one would expect, he has been under trial since, yet has pled ‘not guilty’ on his ...
The Power of the Olympic Games 2016
Opinion

The Power of the Olympic Games 2016

In honour of the Olympic's opening in Rio this evening, it’s come to my attention that I may just be one of a minority that is truly excited about the Olympics games hitting our screens. Let’s be honest, 2016 has been a year of turbulent and testing times, in other words it’s been a load of rubbish. To be quite frank, the Olympic games 2016 has been rather over shadowed by the years other events: Brexit, Trump, America in general, the refugee crisis, "the war on terror." The list just goes on and on. I’m not saying that it’s wrong that such important issues have been such focus, but I think it’s rather sad that perhaps one of the main things the Olympic does for every country around the globe, has been buried underneath the other news bulletins. The Olympics is a sporting event for every...
Spotlight on: Volleyball
Sports & Socs

Spotlight on: Volleyball

After a hugely successful season last year, Volleyball has gained a growing fan base. With the women’s team continuing their unstoppable winning streak, I speak to President Ludovica De Santis and Vice President Robert Batterbury to find out more. How has your year gone so far? So far the Women’s team has won nearly all of their matches, and reached the finals of the National Indoor Students Cup, so we’ve had a very strong year! The men’s team has also fought strong, with a fresh new team ready to dominate the future. What makes Volleyball a unique sport on campus? We have a huge amount of international students playing for us, with the women’s team in fact being made up entirely of international students, so it gives everyone the opportunity to meet and team up with people from al...
“It’s those at the top who will pull you up”
Lifestyle

“It’s those at the top who will pull you up”

So we come to uni with a plan, to find a plan, or perhaps to drink our lives away on VKs for three years? Ben Coomber came to RoHo to give a speech about our dreams and ambitions. The ethic of Coomber’s talk was to set yourself manageable goals. For “if they aren’t laughing at your dream, your dream isn’t big enough.” It is safe to say that we are all at a self-conscious stage of our lives, but on the cusp of turning that around and opening ourselves up to vulnerability. Whilst at high school and sixth form we were victims of social media and the ‘haters,’ afraid to say what we really wanted to achieve in life and who we wanted to be in case that did not fit the accepted stereotype that was prescribed to us.   Coomber, a performance nutritionist, educator, speaker and writer ...
Who said you need to go on holiday to have fun?
Features

Who said you need to go on holiday to have fun?

We’ve all had that moment when we realise that everyone will be having the time of their life in Barcelona, Saint-Tropez or even Los Angeles for the summer and we won’t be. Sometimes money is tight. Sometimes money is as tight as our jeans are as we’ve spent way too much on Domino’s. However, not going on holiday isn’t the end of the world. Being at a university so close to London means that we can enjoy various fun events and experiences there instead. Here are a few things to do in London at a very reasonable (or sometimes non-existent) price. Enjoy free activities at the beautiful Canary Wharf During this summer there will be: Fashion weekend (29th - 31st May); dance performances (29th June - 4th July); outdoor Ping pong (7th –16th August); screens showing sport events in the park...
Sports & Socs

Sports Club Members find their Voices!

With the New Year fast approaching, Holloway’s sports clubs will be hanging up their kit and finding their voices as part of the RHUL Sport Choir, an innovative new project led by musical director, Amy John. The choir comprises a handful of sportsmen and women with little or no singing experience except their sideline chanting, to raise money for this year’s BUCS charity; Marie Curie Cancer Care. “It aims to get people out of their comfort zone” the former Women’s Football President explains. “We’re doing something completely different to raise money for charity”. The Sport Choir is already set for an exciting few months with preparations in place for a launch night, and the planned release and sale of a single after a Colour’s Ball performance in March, with all proceeds going to Marie Cu...
Renovation Revitalises Rhul Sport
Sports & Socs

Renovation Revitalises Rhul Sport

Nobles took quite a transformation over the summer. The former sports field, consisting of football and rugby pitches, is now unrecognisable. In their stead stands a sand based hockey pitch, tennis and netball courts; in addition there is a multi-use games area and the 3G pitch. Only returning students can fully appreciate the new facilities at their disposal given the virtue of comparison to those they replaced. Gone are the days of training in half-darkness throughout winter when the only source of light was the archaic and unreliable scattering of floodlights - which when turned on sounded not too dissimilar to that of a plane departing the runway. No longer are we attempting to play anything that resembles sport with severely waterlogged terrain underfoot, helplessly churning it up ev...
Sports & Socs

Medal success for Judo club

On Sunday 23rd November, Judo entered their first competition of the year, the London Area Universities and Schools Open held at the University of East London. It was an early start, with weigh-in for female competitors at 8.00am. We arrived at the Docklands campus along with the competitors from sixty other institutions that had entered including several Scottish teams. Katie Tomlinson was the first to fight in the 2nd Kyu and above, Senior Women u57kg category and challenged the eventual winner of the group. Sadly, she was very much outclassed and lost to an ippon in the first minute. This became a recurring pattern as Katie was swiftly dispatched in three fights and failed to make the semi finals. The rest of the team fared significantly better and it was a great opportunity to fi...