23 March 2012
Sport successes to be celebrated at Ball
Photo opportunity: 6.30-7pm on Friday, March 23rd at Invercarse Hotel, Dundee. The Full-Blues reception will mark the opening of the Blues and Colours Ball.
A year of sporting success for student athletes from the University of Dundee will be celebrated tonight at the annual Blues and Colours Ball.
Dundee University Sports Union's Club of the Year 2012 will be named and other teams who have excelled over the past year will also be recognised with awards at the event, which takes place at the Invercarse Hotel, Dundee.
Sport at the University has enjoyed impressive successes at national and international level in the past years, with both individuals and teams making their mark.
Last week saw the University toast its first ever world champion when Abigail Brown was part of the Scottish team who won the World Junior Curling Championship in Sweden, while Eilish McColgan (Dundee University Sportswoman of the Year) is chasing a qualification place for the London 2012 Olympics. Eilish set two Scottish national records and the British under-23 record for the 3000m Steeplechase last summer.
Andrew Redmayne and Gavin Robertson (Sportsman of the Year) represented Scotland in the recent Under-20 Six Nations Championship, one of the many highlights in a highly successful year for rugby at the University.
There are now 40 sports clubs at the University, supported by 300 student volunteers, and regularly putting out 85 teams, many of which have attained success at national level. The achievements of individuals and teams has been driven by Dundee University Sport, the partnership between the Sports Union and the Institute of Sport & Exercise.
ISE Assistant Director Paul McPate paid tribute to every single person connected with the University's sports clubs, saying, "We have seen some truly magnificent performances in the past year by our student athletes, ably supported by the tireless volunteers who help to make the University such a great place for sport.
"Everyone involved with our clubs deserves a huge amount of credit for the work they do, both in terms of their training and what goes on behind the scenes. We are proud of every single member of our sporting community. In helping to spread the word about the benefits of sport they are encouraging and enabling others to take it up.
"Every bit as encouraging as the success of our top athletes is the massive increase in participation we have seen in the past year. The more people who become involved, the more winners we will have, and the more we achieve, the more people will be inspired to take part for themselves."
Sports Union club membership has increased by 21 per cent over the past two years, and now stands at 2440. The past year has seen a 31 per cent increase in indoor sports club participation alone, following on from a 26 per cent rise the previous year.
At the same time, there has been a 19 per cent increase in the amount of time that sports clubs use the training facilities, enabling clubs to better provide for their increasing membership and competitive aspirations
Earlier this week, the University hosted the British Universities and Colleges (BUCS) Conference Cup Finals for the third year in succession, and all four Dundee sides participating - women's tennis, mixed badminton, women's hockey and men's basketball - were victorious, making the University the most successful team at the event.
The women's squash team won their BUCS Trophy Final in Sheffield the previous weekend, while the women's fencing team were runners up in their final. The karate team returned from Sheffield with two silver medals and one bronze, and the ultimate frisbee team will try to defend their BUCS trophy at the end of March.
The Blues and Colours Ball takes place at the Invercarse Hotel, Dundee, from 6.30pm on Friday, 23rd March.
For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277 |
