Sports & Socs – Page 17 of 23

28Jan

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Sports & Socs

Women’s Rugby: A Busy First Term

The first term of this year has been very busy for RHULWRFC. On the pitch they dominated their games, remaining undefeated for the whole term whilst off the pitch they have recruited players and organised other activities. After successfully recruiting new players into the club during Freshers week, it was important to build the team spirit that can be so important in sport. This was accomplished in Women’s Rugby through training twice a week, competitive matches, quiet get-togethers and the club’s weekly socials. President Letizia Monteleone refers to this as one of her proudest achievements of first term as it reflects not only the eagerness of the new players coming into the club but also the friendly attitudes and the hard work of those who were already members. The success of Wo...

‘Ballroom and Latin bring Strictly to Holloway’

28Jan

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Sports & Socs

‘Ballroom and Latin bring Strictly to Holloway’

On 4th December, the Student Union was host to Royal Holloway’s own attempt at Strictly Come Dancing in a marvelously mind-blowing display of a plethora of dances. With professionals and celebrities invited onto this highly coveted show, the weeks of preparation that these couples endured was clearly evident for all to see. I would say any couple could have won, but here is what happened on the night. I walked into this event having never attended it in the past and before the dancing began, it was good to have a few words with some of the performers and members of the judging panel giving their opinions. What impressed me most was how excited they all were about the evening, and talking with Katie Lapthorn and her partner Jason Michalski, the many weeks of preparation helped. “We a...

28Jan

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Sports & Socs

ROHO Snow On Tour!

In recent years RoHo Snow have always organised an annual winter ski trip for their members, and this past December has proven no different. Royal Holloway’s ski and snowboard club have recently spent a week at the Val Thorens Ski Resort, a trip also made in 2012. Naturally making the most of the facilities on offer catered for the bulk of this visit, however alongside a week of skiing there were various other activities for members to enjoy. A night out was arranged for every evening by the committee and reps, often involving fancy dress, alongside spa trips and restaurant meals to provide an experience that offered plenty when not on the slopes. This year’s tour also gave RoHo Snow the opportunity to take part in the Red Bull 1976 Games, an event allowing a range of different unive...

28Jan

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Sports & Socs

Stick ’em with the Pointy End

Jessica McKenna, newbie Orbital journalist for Sports and Societies, infiltrates a fencing club training session to live the life of a member... "As someone with no knowledge about fencing and a significant lack of co-ordination, the idea of turning up at a fencing training session was an especially daunting one. With it being the final training session of the term, I was thrown into the deep end with no knowledge of fencing. I even needed help to put the kit on, that was after getting over the horror of wearing a breast plate! However, these nerves went quite quickly due the welcoming atmosphere created by the members, alongside the natural instinct to avoid getting stabbed. The format of the training session I went to was different to their normal sessions as a result of it being t...

17Dec

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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...

We didn’t get the first try but we sure got the last

16Dec

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Sports & Socs

We didn’t get the first try but we sure got the last

12-5 RHUL vs King's College Women's Rugby On a chilly breezy day at 2:30pm, the RHUL Women’s Rugby team set themselves up to receive the ball. Cold yet determined, the first kick sends the ball to the left of the field where RHUL promptly jump on it and start to drive forward. Met with an opposition not to be toyed with, King's College were a strong team with strong players. Their determination and strength soon made way for their first try to the sighs and frustrations of the RHUL Women’s Rugby team. Luckily, they failed to convert their try. 0-5 to Kings and only 20 minutes into the match, RHUL needed to be strong in their defence and use their attacking play to push forward. After several scrums and several exchanges of the ball, RHUL gained possession. Finding a gap and dodgi...

Women’s Football – Still Walking on Water

26Nov

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Sports & Socs

Women’s Football – Still Walking on Water

Currently undefeated and top of their BUCS league, Women’s Football’s first team faced Portsmouth in the first round of the South Eastern Conference Cup this Bears day, and were keen to maintain their winning streak! There was no question it would be a fast paced game, with right midfielder Alicia Lyne making some impressive runs down the wing, and setting up a beautiful cross for striker Flora Green making it 1-0 to Holloway in the 22nd minute! Krissie Glover set up Portsmouth’s subsequent own goal from an on point corner and went on to assist yet another Holloway goal placed neatly in the back of the net by Michelle Iversen Badiane in the second half! With Portsmouth having lost one of their best players to injury, as well as their keeper, who casually popped her shoulder back into pl...

26Nov

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Sports & Socs

#BearsDay- Rowing? Paddle-happy winners!

The rowing club, over the last few months, has had a great start to the academic year, and we are all really excited to show our potential at BUCS too. We’ve had a brilliant intake of freshers, and it’s great to see the team spirit continue from last year. We are aiming to maintain the high levels of enthusiasm as well through the frosty winter mornings we all love so much! We have been taking on more opportunities to train, work out and improve our standards. In October the senior squad competed at Cambridge Autumn Head. Both the Men's 8+ IM3 and the Women's 4+ IM3 won their category, whilst the other boats competing on the day (two more women's and one more men's boat) were able to gain very respectable times providing us with a lot of confidence for the rest of the year. Lastly, we ha...

26Nov

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Sports & Socs

In Your Socs- Drama Society’s Poetic Charity

On Thursday the 6th of November, the Drama Society provided the opportunity to take part in a Poetry Workshop run by their chosen charity, Safe Ground. Safe Ground works to decrease the stigma faced by families of people in prison, and strives to promote a social change by connecting communities and rehabilitating the prisoners’ relationships with their families through the use of drama, dialogue and debate. The workshop took place at the South Bank University and was run by the writer and performance poet, Dean Atta. I found the workshop particularly engaging because I was familiar with his work. However, Atta made it clear that a keen interest in poetry was not required, as he successfully involved each participant in a captivating three-hour session. All the exercises were conduct...

26Nov

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Sports & Socs

#BearsDay- An update from Swimming

RHUL Swimming is a friendly club that welcomes all competitive and leisure swimmers. As a club we are constantly growing, having increased membership by 40% since last year. Our 1st competition this year happened a few weeks ago at Surrey Sports Park against Surrey! This was our first intercollegiate competition ever, winning 4/15 races including some fun races! The weekend of the 14th-16th, Swimming are in Sheffield competing at the BUCS Short Course (25m), two weekends after we're in Norwich at the BUCS Team Champs competition. CIYK last month was a great success with many of the new members initiated! Recently we have acquired two sponsorships with the Monkey’s Forehead and Medicine, where we hold regular social events throughout the year! Swimming now runs the Duke of Edinb...