A Vision investigation has found binge drinking, nepotism and exclusion is putting off many potential sportspeople joining York’s sports clubs at both university and college level. Too great an emphasis on excessive alcohol consumption has also led to the deterioration of many players abilities, many stating that they felt they had become a worse athlete since coming to York.
One high profile university player, whose identity is being protected by Vision, believes that York ‘will never be able to compete with the best sporting universities’. This, he argues, lies with the teams ‘amateurish’ mentality.
“It felt like the socials were put before the game.” Player A, who has since left the University club due to the unbearable drinking culture, felt there was a serious pressure to join the team on every social and “get smashed”. He added, ‘I don’t really agree with the “‘we play as a team and get smashed as a team’ mentality. When I was a player there was no professionalism in the squad. We would just turn up and play. I feel like I haven’t learnt anything sport wise through playing university level sport for nearly two years. All I’ve really learnt are the rules for a sports social at Ziggys!”
OVERLOOKED
In the course of Vision’s investigation we found a number of disillusioned players who shared the same concerns as ‘Player A’. One student, who has played in several teams for over two years, said that unless you attend socials you get overlooked on match day. “I would find that the weeks I attended the socials were the weeks I got in the teams. Even though I attended every training session, it seemed to me that you only got picked if you got pissed with the top players.”
When asked whether there was a clique in University sports clubs, ‘Player B’, whose identity is also protected, said that it was undeniable.
“Get pissed with the captains and you get picked in the team, simple”, he said, “But even when you attend the socials I feel like an outsider, people don’t really make an effort to include you in the ‘banter’.”
Football President Greg Gardner however said that huge efforts were being made to pick players based on ability and not on their behaviour on socials. He said, “We keep drinking separate from the football. Some other sports clubs which I won’t name get pissed on the way back from away games and run around naked but we start our socials in Ziggys not on the coach.”
He did however admit that integration has been a problem in recent years: “Last year most of the lads on socials were 1st and 2nd team players, so we do need greater integration between all four teams. This year we’re hoping to improve communication across teams so that best players play in the right teams. If I suspected a captain was picking players on the basis that they could neck a VK quickly then I would be very annoyed.”
Our investigation however was not limited to university teams. The initiation of freshers in college football is largely centred on the consumption of vast amounts of alcohol. One second year described how college football captains told freshers to buy a VK, pour a shot of black sambuca into the bottle, take off a sock, place it over the bottle, pass the bottle to the left and drink the VK through somebody else’s sock. A student from another college described how he once urinated into washing machines full of clothes.
One college captain even went as far to admit that he had ignored the welfare of players after they had expressed concerns over the team’s antics on several socials. The captain who asked not to be named told Vision: “the socials can get quite rowdy and there have been times when we’ve taken things too far. Some students don’t last long and I’m sure that we’ve had people drop out because of what goes on during our socials.”
Various other sports have been accused of alienating students through the aggressive promotion of binge drinking. One of the main offenders in recent years has been the Rugby club. One student commented that “it seems to be a requirement [in the rugby club] to vomit due to stupid and quite frankly dangerous drinking traditions.”
This student had attempted to join the rugby club but was put off by such ‘jockish’ attitudes towards alcohol.
“I enjoy a drink, like most people, but when its undertaken in such an intimidating manner I’d rather not join in.’ ‘Player C’ had previously played rugby at a high level but upon seeing the ‘anti-social and confrontational behaviour’ of his fellow players he decided to play rugby at a lower level rather than be associated with that type of behaviour.
SOCIAL CHANGE
York Sport President Emily Scott reacted to the accusations by highlighting that steps are being made to combat this problem: “YUSU has a social policy which each of the club presidents signed last Thursday. It says that socials must not focus purely on alcohol so those who do not drink are not alienated. No-one’s “performance” on a social should affect team selection”. She added that “it may be a bit of a social change, but I do think it has made those people who run the clubs think more responsibly and thus hopefully cater for all their potential members”.
Although the UYAFC’s decision to hire outsiders to coach the team is a step in the right direction Vision believes that the problem of binge drinking and nepotism is still epidemic amongst the York Sport clubs. This issue will continually hold back York sport’s teams and stop us from achieving the high standards in sport that we have in academics.
Any students worried about their levels of alcohol consumption or pressure to consume alcohol should contact YUSU through [email protected] for advice or support.
This piece is very misinformed and has created a very false impression and is not helpful to the sports clubs at York, particularly with loads freshers tentative about joining sports clubs at York. Yes there is a drinking culture in sports clubs, but it is way off the mark to label it a binge drinking culture. In student societies with a social side there is almost always something which could amount to a ‘drinking culture’. I’ve been in the hockey club for 3 years and do not drink, and do not feel as if its something I have to do to be a part of the club. This is the impression that I get from the other clubs at York. For any freshers reading, in the Hockey club and most likely elsewhere, if you want to get smashed then you’ll find plenty of people to get smashed with, but if you don’t want to then you’re choices will be respected and you will still find someone alongside you. Also freshers, you’ll get well used to these Vision ‘scandals’.
As a member of the rugby club committee I would like to echo what Rob has said above. Certainly we are a club that likes going for a drink but the teams that play are picked at training based on ability and dedication, not at the bar based on your ability to long-arm a pint. We have a number of non-drinking members including last years first team captain, and it has if anything enhanced their opportunities of playing due to their greater fitness levels. As a small university sports clubs always struggle to attract and retain new players, so do our best to accommodate everyone not make ourselves enclosed, exclusive, intimidating or cliquey. Maybe if Vision had been able to find people strong enough in their convictions and statements to allow themselves to go on record they would present a stronger argument. I would encourage any Freshers reading to use your obviously considerable intelligence, try out all the sports on offer at York, and make up your own mind.
“Maybe if Vision had been able to find people strong enough in their convictions and statements to allow themselves to go on record they would present a stronger argument.” – Vision has to protect student welfare and identities if requested. Maybe the fact that they all asked to remain anonymous says something in itself about the culture?
“This piece is very misinformed.” – I don’t see how it can be as it is based around several interviews with sports players. It may be that a lot of people do not have a problem with the drinking culture, but it is simply not the case that there aren’t some people who are put off because of it.
Well done for trying but you can’t really argue with this article. Anyone who has witnessed the rugby team in Ziggies on a wednesday cannot deny that there is a binge drinking culture among university sport teams in York.
Opinionated has a point- a friend of mine was pissed on by a rugby player on a club social, in the middle of Ziggys. You can’t tell me that THAT is the sort of behaviour that goes on, on a normal night out?
I totally agree with this article & am from a different university – it echos the same mentality and culture that goes on at my university & is why I dropped out of my team.