Halifax retain the college sport crown

Halifax win once again

At the Athletic Union (AU) Dinner on Friday evening, outgoing AU Vice-President Jack Kennedy announced the final standings for this year’s college sport league. The results were as follows:

1. Halifax - 230 points
2. Goodricke - 215
3. Vanbrugh - 201
4. James - 158
5. Alcuin - 154
6. Derwent - 151
7. Langwith - 109
8. Wentworth - 57

Halifax retained the trophy fairly comfortably in the end, even improving on last year’s performance. They increased their winning margin by eight points on 2006/07 when they beat Goodricke by a nail-biting seven points. Although they have the biggest pool of talent it is an impressive feat by Halifax, holding off the challenge of the very sporty Goodricke (who have five sports reps) and the increased threat of Vanbrugh who received around 250 extra students this year thanks to the Bleachfields development.

Derwent sports-rep and next year’s AU Vice-President (the position concerned with overseeing college sport) Adam Clark explained how the bigger colleges showed their dominance this year: “Derwent and Langwith will always struggle due to not having the same numbers as the bigger colleges... The larger colleges (Halifax, Goodricke,Vanbrugh, Alcuin) have no excuse for not being able to field teams in all the sports”.

This was highlighted by 2005 winners Langwith, now minnows compared to the behemoth of Halifax, completing their spectacular fall in the standings to 7th this year. Langwith were only saved from the wooden spoon by Wentworth who are now used to propping up the sporting league table. Derwentian Adam Clark was disappointed to see his own college drop from 3rd last year to 6th this year but explained that “this year has been about getting as many people involved in college sport as possible. We lost lots of sportsmen and women to graduation last year, meaning it's been a bit of a rebuilding process this year.”

James deserve credit for leaping three places up the table to 4th. Alcuin have also made ground moving up to 5th, although perhaps belatedly considering their size. Many have tipped them to continue their rise on the college sport scene and could challenge Halifax, Goodricke and Vanbrugh sooner rather than later.

The college sport calendar concluded last Wednesday with sports day on the, ahem, athletics track at the sports centre. Vanbrugh were clear winners, followed by Goodricke and Derwent, but despite this late sprint and Halifax’s disappointing 6th place finish, neither of the green clad colleges could catch Halifax who had already cruised over the finishing line.

College sport has once again been an undeniable success this year with more and more sportspeople getting involved. The hard-work and organisation of the AU and the sports-reps this year has been priceless and would seem to be hard to beat. However, the Yorker has learned that there’s likely to be a £7000 boost in college sport funding next year, meaning the level of participation and quality can only improve.

The money will come directly from the university, as opposed to YUSU, and has been arranged thanks to the persistence of Matt Oliver, Vanbrugh College Chair, and the other chairs. Nothing has been confirmed as yet but negotiations to secure the funding are said to be in the final stages and Oliver is expected to make an announcement before the end of the week.

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