Varsity Articles: Badminton

Our Favourite Pastime as a Serious Sport

By Galya Dimitrova

A lot of us have played badminton at least once – at school, playgrounds, summer camps, with friends when on holiday or in the backyards when the weather allows it. It is one of the most pleasant games which give opportunity for keeping in shape, while shaking the stress away.

However, how many people would think of it as a “serious sport” – hectic, challenging, exhausting? The truth is that unless you are a professional badminton player, you might see it more as a hobby and not entirely appreciate it as a competition.

Coventry University’s Varsity Program proves it otherwise. The team players are training hard, giving the best of them each time, so that they could defeat Warwick this year. President of the university Badminton Society Joscha Wasser answered our questions about the team spirit, his expectations of this year’s games and the essence of badminton:

Do you think the majority of people see badminton more as a pastime than a serious dedicated sport?                                        

When most people are introduced to badminton they enjoy it as a great pastime activity. But when they play more often and their gameplay improves, which will happen quickly, they will want to participate in games and dedicate more of their free time to the sport. Many members came for a bit of activity and by the end of the year they spend 3-4 nights a week playing badminton.

Is it easier to pick up and play than tennis?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Joscha Wasser, President of the university Badminton Society

I believe badminton is easier to pick up as many have played a bit of badminton at school or in their back yard. The basic principles of badminton are quickly understood and quite soon new players are able to enjoy a game, becoming more skilful at controlling the shuttle.

      Do you think badminton is a game that has room for showmanship?

World class badminton players often show some special skills and trick shots during warm up or exhibition games but never during a game to show off, if they do use it.

How’s your season going so far?

Our season is going well and according to what we expected, only our ladies Bucs team outperformed their expectation, affirming our choice to reintroduce a ladies Bucs team this year. The men teams are comfortably playing in their leagues improving as the season moves on as many new players were added to the teams this term.

Do you play in singles or doubles within your teams?

I’m currently set as one of the doubles players for the Bucs teams and our       local league, where I also participate as a mixed player.

What does representing your university mean to you?

I feel honoured to be allowed to represent Coventry University as the president and player of a big sport team. My work towards the team is interesting and challenging but I believe together with the committee we archived a good club climate and solid competitive side.

What are your expectations for both your teams and the other sports teams in this year’s varsity?

Our ladies team will have their first appearance this year in Varsity playing a friendly with the newly formed Bucs team, but certainly putting up a good fight.

Our two men teams trained hard to prepare themselves and improve last year’s result, when we were closely beaten in a deciding 3rd set 25-27.

I hope that all the Coventry University teams participating in varsity this year will in the overall score beat the Warwick teams.

Varsity Articles: Athletics

By Galya Dimitrova

Everybody would agree that athletics is among the sports that require both extreme physical and psychological preparation. This is hardly surprising – it is a sport that includes in itself multiple disciplines, such as running, jumping, walking and throwing. It raises your adrenaline when you watch it and equally puts your body and mind to the test when competing.

Athletic’s challenging nature is exactly the reason why it is part of the Varsity programme – the audience likes being a part o the race and feeling the tension and anxiety of the competitors. Last year the male athletes from Coventry’s team pleased their fans by winning 2-0 against Warwick. But will they repeat their success this year and how are they preparing for the competition? Athletics President Stuart Baird says both the club and the coach have been changed and “a new challenge has lead to a more positive mental attitude and enjoyment”. He said “the most challenging area is self-motivation, which is logical given the nature of the game”.

His athletic inspiration came from the Manchester Commonwealth Games back in 2002, which was the largest multi-sport event ever held in the UK before the 2012 Summer Olympics. The fever of international competition has had a knock on effect on his team-mates as the legacy of London 2012 continues.

“Of course it has had a massive impact on the club. We have a record number of members and a massive increase in female members, which has always been a problem for us. Now it enables Coventry to put out a full team for competitions. As for athletics in general, it has created a buzz and has seen an increase in all ages wanting to give athletics a go.”

Hopefully, the persistence and hard work of all the athletes in the team will pay off and they will really stand out this year.

Varsity Artcles: Equestrian

Equestrian:

Riding to the Victory

By Galya Dimitrova

 

Like all the sports that involve animals, equestrian is exciting and surprising. It is all about speed, adrenaline and the relationship between rider and their horse. In the same time, it keeps in tune with nature because it’s one of the sports that keep you in tune with nature because it’s played outside and makes its fans get some fresh air while watching contesters pushing the boundaries with grace and enthusiasm.

Equestrian is one of the sports in our Varsity Project. 21-year old Sports Management student Laura Zeidan is amongst the star players for the Coventry University Team. She became passionate for equestrian ever since she took her first riding lessons when she was only five years old. Her persistence and eagerness resulted in her taking part in FEI Eventing and Dengie UK Showjumping Championships, in which she came out 4^th.

Here are her answer on a couple of question we asked about the sport she likes so much and how confident she is about their performance this year:

Which gender generally prevails amongst the riders – male or female?

Female for us but professionally it is quite male dominated.

Do you teach people how to ride or do you recruit only people with experience?

We offer riding lessons for all levels so anyone can have a go.

Which of the seven Equestrian disciplines do you practice?

We mainly focus on dressage and show jumping and compete in these areas. However, we are keen to get involved with doing some cross country and trying out polo.

Which of them is the most exciting one for you and why?

I have always been a keen show jumper from a young age, but since competing for the university I have become more interested in dressage.

How is your preparation going this year? Anything different?

We have a great selection of riders this year and they are all training really hard. We have more experience of the type of competition style now and know where we need to improve.

Are you going to win???

Yes, of course! We have to.

 

Varsity Artcles: Snooker and Pool

By Galya Dimitrova

Varsity officially kicked off this Monday and Coventry has scored a victory over Warwick in the Ice Hockey match. Coventry’s team proved themselves worthy for the electrified crowd that came to support them at Skydome Arena and beat Warwick with 11 – 7. More about the match and the atmosphere on the arena read on the blog of our CUSU Vice Preseident Coomunication and Engagement Ryan Beasley http://cusuvpcomms.wordpress.com/2013/02/26/heat-on-the-ice-coventry-1-0-warwick/

The beginning of the Varsity also means that the journalism team who worked on the special Varsity issue can publish teir artciles now. I start now the series of posts dedicated to Varsity with the pieces I wrote for the issue. There is the first one on Snooker and Pool.

 

Snooker and Pool:

The Sophisticated Games

Persistence. Punctuality. Style. Hundred percent concentration. These are just a few of the qualities that define the perfect snooker player. And even though pool seems easier and more like a pastime game, it requires the same dedication if one wants to play it professionally.

 

Snooker and pool are part of Coventry University’s Varsity Program this year. Jamie Bridden, President of Snooker and Pool Society, says what the players are mostly expecting to gain from their performance is building on their experience from playing in the district leagues and at the Midlands Cup.

 

Jamie Bridden

“I myself try to practice for at least an hour or two every day, and the team meets on Tuesday nights for practice and Thursday nights to play league matches around the Coventry district.

 

“Many hours are being spent down at the practice tables, so hopefully we’ll do well!”, he adds.

 

He absolutely agrees that snooker is before everything a game of strategy:

 

“One of the key skills in snooker is knowing when to play safe and when to attack. By playing safe we mean leaving the cue ball in a place where your opponent cannot pot. Two players can have long safety battles, both trying to make sure they make no mistake and leave their opponent a chance to start potting.”

 

Computer Science student Tomas Read is amongst the contestants the Snooker Society relies the most, as they have singled him out as their star player. The highest break he has achieved so far is 83. His experience includes participation in the Coventry and District Snooker League and the Cambridge and District Snooker League.

 

His father was the person who introduced him to snooker and inspired him to play regularly from an early age:

 

“My dad had always played and took me down to the club one day. Eight years later and I’ve played every week since.”

 

The Snooker team is playing on March 2nd at 2.00pm at Riley’s Hertford place. They are playing Pool the next day at the same time and venue.

 

 

Coventry University Graduate Wins Top Journalism Award

 By Galya Dimitrova

Coventry University journalism graduate Jason Craig has become winner of a prestigious award by the Motor Sport Association and become Young Motor Sport Journalist of the Year 2012.

The twenty-five-year old Jason has been singled out as the most promising journalists aged 25 or under working within British motor sport. His nomination for the award was supported by Damian Mullan, his sport’s editor at Coleraine Chronicle, which Jason joined after graduating in 2009. Former British Historic Rally Champion Dessie Nutt also praised Jason for helping to raise the profile of motor sport in the region.

Thanks to his natural passion for motor sport Jason beat off stiff competition from across the UK, leaving the MSA judges impressed with his accomplished news writing, the breadth, depth and originality of his stories, and the sheer amount of copy bearing his by-line. He was presented with his award at a special ceremony in London in January 2013.

Jeremy Townsend, Communications Director of Renault UK, said:

“The standard of entries was as high as ever with a very impressive breadth of work. Of all though, Jason’s work stood out with unanimous agreement from the judges. I wish Jason every success with his future career.”

Jason’s accomplishment was highly praised by members of the University staff as well. Andrew Noakes, Senior Lecturer in Automotive Journalism at Coventry School of Art and Design, was delighted to hear of Jason’s success in the MSA competition:

“Jason always worked very hard, and was always looking for opportunities to make an impression with people in the media. He was only here a week before he introduced himself to Steve Cropley, editor in chief of Autocar – and pressed into his hand a feature he’d written for him!

“His final project, setting up the CUToday website which is still running today, was one of the best I’ve ever seen.

“It’s great that Jason’s extensive reporting of rallying in Northern Ireland – largely done in his own time – has  been recognised with the Renault MSA award, and I’m sure a few editors in motorsport media will take notice.”, he said.

Jason himself said he sees this as “the culmination of two years hard work with the Chronicle” and a perfect confidence booster for his projects in 2013.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the journalism staff at Coventry University – all of them were very supportive during the course of my undergraduate studies. They made me feel most welcome from day one, and I built up a strong rapport with all of them, especially Andrew Noakes, who advised me on how to pursue my passion for motor sport.”, he added.

The award is surely something that would make his portfolio really stand out amongst many others and if he keeps up the good work, he will hardly have any problems getting any job he wants.

Along with the trophy and the recognition, Jason also collected a cheque for £1000 at the Motor Sport Association’s Night of Champions at the Royal Automobile Club, London, on 19 January 2013.

 

Varsity Project, Source Media Placement: Week 3

By Galya Dimitrova

We are almost done! Articles done and sent to the graphic designer to fill in the pages along with pictures. I am just waiting for a picture from the Athletics Society. And that’s it, pretty much…

What we did today with my colleague Dylan O’Regan was to write the questions for the interview with Ali Burr, Vice President Student Activities. He will probably be ready tomorrow and that would mean the final steps are done.

Still, anything could happen, so I will still keep an eye on the progress, even though I am ready with everything. After all it is over only when the deadline comes!

Varsity Project, Source Media Placement: Week 2

By Galya Dimitrova

This week has been so busy I didn’t even have the time to blog on a daily basis! However, I will report on all that happened/is still happening at my Varsity Placement with Source Media.

The whole working process is much more hectic now. We received the answers from the society presidents and star players on Monday, so on Tuesday (when we have a day off from uni) we started writing our articles. At first I got answers only from the Equestrian Society, so I did what I could but requested answers from the rest as well. Then it turned out Athletics and Badminton had answered but the information was still insufficient, so I requested I get answeres again. The Refreshers Fair was taking place at The Hub that same day, so I actually met some of the society representatives in person.

Wednesday was pretty much writing articles and waiting for more information again. Our deadline is 25th of Jan – next Friday, but I intend to finish them all this weekend and pass them all to the Vice President Communication and Engagements. If I have to edit anything, this will be fine. At least I will be done with the overall work.

To be honest, I am making a slow progress, because of the slow answering as well – I received the answers from the Snooker and Pool society President just yesterday, so it is not entirely my fault.

I just want to be ready on time, so I have some time for choosing the design of the pages and eventual editing. But anyway, I enjoy it, it is highly involving and intense. It is a very, very good journalistic practise plus, it broadens my horizons on sports. All in all, I gain a lot of benefits from it!

 

Varsity Project, Source Media Placement: Day 5

By Galya Dimitrova

Do you know which is probably the safest sport in the world? Or how much does the biggest badminton shuttlecock weigh? If you, good for you. If not – wait until our varsity issue comes out! Today I have been digging for interesting and fun facts about sports, which we will include in the varsity magazine. I could not do any office hours today as well, as I had to attend my other work placement, but I still kept in touch with my colleagues and did some research on my sports. Dedication!

I understood we will get the answers to our question on Monday next week. I am eagerly awaiting for this project to kick off properly. And yet I know that then the days will get really hectic and more stressful, bearing in mind that I have uni work to do as well… But whatever. I am just enjoying it – building my portfolio, while learning more about sports. So far not bad. Not bad at all.

Varsity Project, Source Media Placement: Day 4

By Galya Dimitrova

Today we didn’t have the chance to have office hours on the Varsity Placement due to the start of our new module. There is nothing much we can do anyway before we get the questions answered. For the time being, it is a waiting game.

What I and I am sure the others also intend to do, is coming up with titles for our articles and continue looking for the best way to design our pages. Personally, I really like the design suggestion that came from Leah Freeman. Even though I am going to continue searching myself, I think in the end I will go for the design she chose. It is so good!

Another think I will start doing this afternoon is searching for interesting facts for each of my sports. Hopefully, I will be ready by tonight and will pass them on to the others.

This is getting more interesting every day! I enjoy it so much. It is a good fun + hard work and hope the outcome is also good!

Varsity Project, Source Media Placement: Day 3

By Galya Dimitrova

Today was pretty relaxed. We have done almost everything we can before we get our questions answered, which will happen at the end of this week.

So far we have done the basic draft of what the content will include and what the design should be. We will have 36 pages of articles and 4 pages of adverts – 40 in total.

A nice addition to our content outline came from Dylan O’Regan. He sugested that we include a section of interesting facts about every sport. We all liked and agreed.

There is nothing much we can do this week, so we’d better enjoy the laidback atmosphere as much as possible because the following week seems like it will be very hectic. However, somehow we know we will cope. After al, we are journalists!