A Year of sports came to an end last week with the York Sport Dinner, in which awards were presented for this year’s outstanding teams and competitors. The event, which took place in the Roger Kirk Centre last Friday, was significant in that it also represented the end of Emily Scott’s year as York Sport President. In an exclusive interview this week with Vision, Emily Scott reflected fondly on her year as head of the Sports Committee, and talked passionately about the challenges university sport faces over the coming year.
Looking back on her year in charge, Scott says she was “most proud” of her re-introduction of Varsity, although she admitted that in order for the tournament to become more competitive what “perhaps needs to be looked into” was a change in the weighting of sports. After saying “throughout” her election campaign that she would bring back the competition between St. Johns and York University, she was glad that the decision to hold Varsity over the weekend for the first time ever paid off, with “more sports and more people involved than ever before”.
Reflecting on what she had learnt over the past twelve months, Scott conceded she “did not realise at election time how many other things would come up throughout the year”, and that she had learnt the importance of “delegation”. The Sports President went on to say however: “I feel I have lived up to my manifesto, with the key exception of my aim to win this year’s Roses.”
According to Scott, the main issue for Sports President-Elect Sam Asfahani is finance. “Hopefully I have left things in slightly better shape than how they were when I came into office, but that doesn’t mean things will be easy”. She did stress however that Asfahani’s experience as Langwith chair, and his “better background” in student politics, would leave him more prepared than she had been for the job next year.
When drawn on the subject of the Heslington East swimming pool project and its progress, Scott was coy, saying that the details “remain confidential”. However she did reveal that essential to the project’s success was gaining the approval of three more committees within the next couple of months in order to secure funding.
“The Heslington East swimming pool project will have plenty of public access as well as specific times for the York Sport Clubs to train in. The proposal not only includes a county standard eight-lane swimming pool, but also a fitness suite and a number of 3G pitches – one full size and three 5-a-side pitches”. The outgoing Sports President went on to state that a swimming pool on campus is something the University “really needs”, and is something she “really hopes” gains approval.
With provisional grants for sports clubs having been decided recently, although still remaining to be confirmed, Scott once again kept her cards hidden. She did reveal though that the University’s Senior Management were intent on developing the way sports at the university is funded: “The hope is that sports membership will change drastically over the next year, which might change how sport is funded”.
On the topic of the recently launched University Sports Strategy, Emily Scott’s enthusiasm for the initiative was palpable. According to Scott, the Sports Strategy is “crucial” to ensuring the University “begins to acknowledge sport at the level it deserves, and hopefully to support it in the way it needs”. With the Strategy “now signed off”, Scott confidently stated that the University “has a commitment to sport”, and as a result “can’t just sweep it under the carpet”.
On a final note, Scott praised those she had worked with, and expressed her confidence that next year would be a successful one for university sport: “YUSU has some fantastic support staff and there is also the York Sport Committee. I would like to wish Sam Asfahani and the Committee the best of luck for next year – I have no doubt they will do a sterling job!