This week is Women in Sport Week, an annual week with free sports taster sessions, guest speakers and sport challenges to break down barriers, challenge gender stereotypes and celebrate our amazing women in sport. This is Laura’s story. 

Laura’s first taste of martial arts was in her local karate hall in rural Essex where there was just seven other members, three of them members of her own family and also two 80-year-old men. “I didn’t get the best experience of martial arts and defending myself ” smiles Laura. “Even though I felt capable, I don’t think I actually was.” … Read the rest

We recently met up with the following members of the Volleyball Club (SUVC) to find out more about what they get up to: Matt, club President, (joined Men’s 1^st Team, joined 2 years ago), Phoebe, Higher Education Volleyball Officer, (joined Women’s 1^st Team, joined 2 years ago), Christina (Women’s 1^st Team, joined in her second semester 2 years ago), Coco (Women’s 1^st Team, joined since the start of this academic year), Owen (Men’s 1^st Team, joined at the start of the academic year) and Brendan (joined 2^nd Team last year, advanced to Men’s 1… Read the rest

We recently sat down with three members of the Union’s Canoe Polo club, Tom Ladyman (President), Olivia Reed (Club secretary) and Erik Meilak, to find out what the world of canoe polo is all about.

For those who are new to the sport, canoe polo “is a cross between basketball, netball and rugby” or “water polo…in kayaks”. It’s a 5-a-side sport, with no specific positions (such as keeper) so everyone is able to move around and help each other. Contact is allowed, “players can push each other to get the ball, but there’s rarely a bad injury” explains Tom.

We … Read the rest

Alex Teuten, a member of the University of Southampton Students’ Union Athletics and Cross-Country Club and PhD Chemistry student, recently placed second in the European Cross Country Trials and has therefore qualified to join Team GB! We met with Alex to find out more about his fantastic achievement and what the future holds.

First up we congratulated Alex and asked him how the Cross Country Trials went: “It was the race of my life really, and it went fantastically well.” Alex represented England during the trials and raced against world-class athletes to achieve his qualification to Team GB.

Alex has … Read the rest

Hi, it’s Evie Reilly, VP Democracy and Creative Industries for 2017/18. Earlier this month we held our first Making Change Summit (+AGM) and it was fantastic to see so many of you getting involved and voicing your opinions. Along with getting your quick comments on the Concourse, we also hosted more in-depth debates and discussions throughout the day in Bar 2, and here is a brief overview of some of the issues explored. We were also pleased to launch our first Representation Report a project headed by VP Education, Samuel Dedman, which will explore how we are working … Read the rest

This year we have a brand new team of Full-Time Officers at the Union (and a couple of familiar faces too). We asked a few questions to get to know them a little better…

Stephen is the lead Full- Time officer on sport and our Athletic Union (AU) & Intramural (IM) sports clubs. His role is to promote participation, support club committees and work with volunteers.

What advice would you give to your Fresher self?

I’d tell my fresher self to do exactly what I did, which was sign up to some societies and get to know as many people … Read the rest

We have launched five new minibuses for you to use!

All five fifteen-seater vans have full disabled access, roof racks and have been selected for their low carbon emissions.

The brand new blue Ford Transit vans will be used to deliver you home safely following student nights and library visits as part of our Safety Bus scheme. Student groups, including sports clubs and societies, will also be able to hire the buses for trips and fixtures.

You can access our ‘Safety Bus’ service from the Redbrick area, outside Building 42 at Union Southampton for just £1.50 for journeys within a … Read the rest

If you’re a Pre-Sessional student, or you’re staying in Southampton this summer, we have plenty of free events that you can get involved in. Here’s what’s you can look forward to this week.

Tuesday 09 August – Snooker

• 17.30-20.00
• Level 3, Building 42, Highfield campus

They say the centre of the table is your friend, but in our case, you’ll be the centre of your social circle with our free snooker night. Meet us at the entrance to the Union and we’ll show you the way.

Wednesday 10 August – Badminton and Basketball

• 19:00 – 22:00
• Jubilee Sports Hall

Thank you to everyone who nominated someone deserving for one of our awards.

We received a total of 181 nominations for our Excellence in Volunteering Awards (EVAs), which have been carefully whittled down to a shortlist of 66 entries.

You can view the shortlist of EVAs nominees here.

The EVAs are taking place on 6th May in The Cube. Find out more by joining the Facebook event.

In the sporting world, we’re also excited to confirm that this year’s AU Ball will be appropriately headlined by sporting star and England rugby icon turned DJ, James Haskell.

The AU … Read the rest