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Student challenges

Comparatively poor student experience (NSS)
Loneliness / isolation / disconnection
Cost of living
Study / life balance

Support rec sport development
Increase outreach and build relationships with university
Remove barriers to participation

Remit

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Looking for:

Regular sport but low time commitment
Competition but low stakes
Low cost but want value for money
Ways to meet others but don’t know where/how
A connection with their uni but currently nonexistent

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Intramural Sport overview

In-house social sport leagues
For beginners, returners, or low-committers
Cost: approx £20-30 for year. Breakeven programme

9 Sports

1800 members

192 teams

60 school teams

~95 weekly fixtures

200+ vols incl 10 officers

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Social network!

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Opportunity for programme development

Initiative planning

Increase outreach and collaboration

Improving student experience

Increase programme entry points

Reduce financial barrier to participation

Address team organisation/sustainability issues

Strategy

Aims

Opportunity for programme development

Strategy

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School Sport Coordinator initiative

What do they do?

Who are they?

Embedded voluntary leaders for sport
Develop sport offering
Promotion & recruitment
Request/provide funding
Recognition

Student Support Model
But can be anyone!
Training provided

Cohort 1: 7 schools
Cohort 2: 6 schools

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Benefits of initiative

For participant

For Sports Union

For university

Being active

Immediate community

Academic impact

Sense of belonging

Positive student experience

Student development

Programme engagement

Membership sales

Advocacy

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Relationship building

(Jan-May)

Coordinator recruitment

Process timeline

Promotion & funding request

(May-Jun)

Player recruitment (Sept)

Review

(Oct-Dec)

Coordinator Training (Aug)

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Staff availability

Reduced budgets

Existing union structures

Initiative Challenges

Flexibility

Creativity

Collaboration

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Feedback

As a new team this year we got to learn from other established Informatics teams. The IM league is a great place to build confidence as a squash player in a competitive but friendly environment

Informatics Squash student captain

IM Sport offers our students opportunities to develop camaraderie on and off the pitch which is great for wellbeing, and a sense of belonging to the wider BMTO. Without the hard work of the SU, these opportunities might have been missed.

Biomedical Sciences School Sport Coordinator

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Cohort 1 Headlines

157% increase in entered teams
11 brand new teams
250+ Interest Form submissions
Over 800 total engagements
Funding secured for 83% of teams

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Record year for IM

Sports offered (9)

Members up 65% (>1800)

Team entries up 31% (192)

School teams up 58% (60)

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BMTO Sport brand & kits

Examples of good practice

Physics student sport workshopping

SPS player drop-in coffee mornings

Engineers Rugby positive culture training

SPS fully funded teams

Biomed Netball +60 players

Economics “Contribution to Student Experience” award

Business Basketball Club of the Week

Informatics Student Sport committee established

Economics students vs staff match

Engineering Sports Day

SPS sober social events

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