Full Blue
Full Blues are awarded to students who have competed for a University 1st team for two years along with two years’ representation at international level.
Alex Lane – Badminton
Noah Rogerson – Fencing
Eloise Laity – Hockey
Prisca Awiti-Alcaraz – Judo
Jessie Hood – Rugby (Union and League)
Jan Gosiewski – Judo
Lloyd Wallace – Snowsports
Kristian Callaghan – Shooting
Jemima Duxberry – Judo
Emma Hurst – Tennis
Michael Guise – Ultimate
Honorary Blue
Sean Murray
Sean was at the University of Bath for five years from 1972-77 gaining a BA in European Studies and the PGCE. He then taught modern languages at schools in England and Italy for four years. 1981 saw Sean enter the world of business and international shipping before working in communications for GE and Unisys. Since 1991, he has been in working in government relations in Brussels and set up a consultancy in 2003 which has worked out very well.
Sean played at left back in the University’s football first team throughout his time at Bath. In those days, the 1st team played on Saturday and Sunday every week in the Somerset Senior League plus Wednesdays in the Universities’ Championship supplemented with one or two tough training sessions run by the legendary Ivor Powell and Tom Hudson.
Sean and the teams greatest achievement was winning the national Universities’ championship in 1974. The team scraped their way out of the South West group, beat Sussex 2-1 at Brighton in the last 16, won away against Liverpool 1-0 in the quarter finals before winning 1-0 again against Swansea in the semis. The final against Sheffield took place at Birmingham City’s ground and finished 0-0 after extra time. Penalty shootouts didn’t exist back then and the UAU did not want to hold a replay so both teams were declared champions.
The team were totally unfancied outsiders as Bath University was one of the smallest in the country at that time. It was a bit like Lincoln City – or maybe Rochdale winning the FA Cup. But the squad trained and were treated like professionals with the Uni paying for hotel accommodation on the away trips.
That Cup run over 40 years ago remains one of the fondest and proudest memories of Sean’s life, as it is with all the members of that UAU winning team.
Dominic Tripp
Dom Tripp set up the touch club as part of the rugby club in his first year at the University of Bath. He organised a tournament for other universities and since winning that tournament the touch club at Bath has grown from strength to strength. This year the Hawks are enjoying their most successful year to date, winning the first two rounds of the England Touch Universities Touch Series, the Bath Touch Autumn League and the International Mixed Tournament in Mallorca, losing only one game in the first semester. Dom has been co-captain, leader and coach and deserves great credit for the team’s successes.
Dom was the first University of Bath player to reach 50 caps for the touch club and whilst driving the success of the Hawks team that represent the university, he has also put in countless hours to the coaching and development of players and the administrative work behind the scenes. This includes helping with the formation of the Universities Touch Series run by England Touch, which is a steppingstone to the sport being recognised by BUCS. Dom also coached the rugby union 3rd and 4th team during his second year.
In addition to representing the University of Bath Hawks, Dom has represented England at a Touch World Cup and two European Touch Championships while studying at Bath. He is a double European Champion and captained the England side to their most recent win in 2016. During his placement Dom became the first English player to compete in the 'Elite 8' Competition in Australia, which is the highest level domestic tournament in the world.
Dom is passionate about touch and his passion rubs off on all those that he coaches and plays with at Bath, ensuring that enjoyment is the number one focus of his coaching. He drives people to improve and always competes in the spirit of the game with a smile on his face. He embodies the values that all university and international athletes should aspire to and has done so much for the sport of touch, not only at Bath but also nationally at a university level.
William Serocold
Will Serocold has been the Touch Coordinator for the University for the last 2 years, and was heavily involved in the administration and delivery in his first year. Will organises open sessions, recruits new players who have never played Touch before, and coaches the first team, “The Hawks”, who are currently top of the “England Touch University Touch Series”. Will liaises between the SU and all the members efficiently and with a friendly and approachable manor that everyone has warmed to.
Will has been an International level athlete, representing England in the 2015 Touch World Cup, which was held in Coffs Harbour, and more recently in Jersey in 2016, where he aided the England Men’s Open team to secure a gold medal at the European Touch Championships. Will was captain of the regional side, “South East Sharks”, who won the England Touch Nationals at the end of 2016, and was MVP of the most prestigious Club Tournament in Europe (Touch’s version of the Champions League) whilst winning in the infamous Gif Competition in Paris in 2016.
It is hard to find anyone which matches the passion and dedication that Will displays towards Touch, and particularly Touch at the University.
His endless hours of coaching and preparing have ensured the huge success so far and will no doubt leave the team in safe hands, as he has started to involve those who will be continuing to study in future years in the coaching and administration processes.
Professor Dame Glynis Breakwell DBE DL FAcSS President & Vice Chancellor
In her role as Vice Chancellor, Dame Glynis has recognised the importance of sport in the University’s development. Our provision for sport is a tremendous asset for student recruitment. Once students arrive at the University, their participation in sport, whether competing, organising or volunteering, greatly enhances the student experience.
Under Dame Glynis’ leadership, the University has invested heavily in sport, helping to employ around 30 Coaches across nine priority sports. The University is currently providing some £3.5 million for a new gym, in addition to the annual investment of £1 million for maintenance and refurbishment of sporting infrastructure.
Sport has featured repeatedly in the University's 50th birthday celebrations. It is fitting that, in this anniversary year, we recognise the contribution made by the Vice Chancellor in supporting the growth of sporting activities.
Dame Glynis has been ever present at Blues Evenings and has congratulated a host of award winners. This year, it is her turn to be the recipient of an award.
Rio 2016 Honorary Blues
Qualifying to represent your country at an Olympic or Paralympic Games is the greatest representative honour within sport. The Blues Committee wishes to honour their achievements by awarding an Honorary Blue to each of the athletes who either used the University of Bath as their training base during the year or years prior to 2016 and / or are University alumni.
Olympic Athletes
Athletics - Emily Diamond, Jazmin Sawyers
Badminton - Heather Olver
Judo - Ben Fletcher
Modern Pentathlon - Joe Choong, Kate French
Rugby - Natasha Hunt, Amy Wilson-Hardy
Swimming - Jazz Carlin
Tennis - Marcus Daniell
Weightlifting - Sonny Webster
Paralympic Athletes
Athletics - Polly Maton
Para-Triathlon - Nicole Walters
Fencing - Piers Gilliver
Half Blue Award
Half Blues are awarded to students with junior international representation or podium finishes in BUCS whilst competing for a University first team.
Association Football and Futsal - Keon Richardson
Badminton - Sam Dobson, Amy Reddaway
Hockey - Robert Cuming, Jonathan Verity, Adam Croutear
Karate - Andrew Woodford
Netball - Jade Traynor, Abi Caple
Rowing - Nick Bell, Thomas Mapp
Rugby (Union and League) - James Exley, Thomas Plance
Ultimate - Georgia Murphy
Special Awards
Gethin John Bevan, Club Member of the Year
This award acknowledges that SU Sports clubs would not function without a substantial input from student volunteers.
Noah Rogerson and George Auger
Noah Rogerson
Noah Rogerson is the chairman of fencing who has strived to develop the fencing club by exceeding his mandate to make sure beginners and senior fencers excel in the sport.
One of Noah’s first accomplishments was to fix the wiring and hardware of the scoring boxes a
device that allows fencers to keep score in sparing matches. This allowed Noah to be able to run more mini competitions between the beginners than what had previously been done and has doubled the number of beginners who can fence using the scoring equipment, thus expanding the recreational capacity of the club.
Another achievement Noah attained while volunteering in the fencing club was to introduce another beginner’s session which focused on teaching another discipline of fencing called épée, creating new opportunities for the club.
This has allowed the club to advance its members skills and in turn develop potential BUCS athletes.
Related to this, Noah was able to form a collaboration with modern pentathlon to allow both types of elite athletes to train together so that they are able to have mutualistic progression in their fencing skills, thus benefiting both groups in utilising each other’s expertise and resources.
Most notably, Noah has achieved a remarkable feat by singlehandedly approaching British Fencing to highlight to them the facilities and opportunities that the university can offer and the potential for it to become a performance centre for fencing. He has gone on to get backing from both the STV, the SU and British fencing an accomplishment that should be commended for going beyond to make Bath an epicentre for the sport. Noah, along with British fencing, are currently setting up a scholarship for prospectus students to study at the university as well as offering students to become elite athletes in fencing.
It is evident from this that he is setting up a legacy to continue the excellence of the sports for future generations of fencers.
George Auger
George came to the university as a Senior Rower in 2014 immediately joining the SU club and senior men's team. In his first year he competed for the university in both BUCS regatta among other competitions, it is through being a member of the committee however that George has made a significant impact to the club.
As Boatman (Equipment & Safety Secretary) 2015/16 he worked alongside SU to update club inventory that was out of date and incorrect went above and beyond maintaining an ageing fleet and carried out preventative maintenance to ensure that the club could continue to function for its’ members. One example of going the extra mile this year George spent in excess of 50 hours preparing blades for Henley for Temple 8+
Taking up the mantle of Chair this year George has continued to work incredibly hard for the club beginning the year very successfully with a strong recruitment drive exceeding their membership target, he has ensured that despite moving away from the boatman role his skills have not been lost passing on knowledge to younger members and assisting with repairs where needed. George’s biggest attribute as a committee member is his long term mind set, understanding that the club needs to make changes to be able to continue to deliver the best for its’ members he developed a 5 year financial forecast to support an application to the Students’ Union for a loan with matched funding, in order to revamp the fleet. He presented a discussion paper at SU Board of Trustees meeting where in principle the loan was agreed. Far from just understanding the long term finances of
the club, George has also developed a strong relationship with the Chair of Minerva Rowing Club. Making certain that both clubs get along well is vital for the long term success of both parties and there has been more collaboration this year that ever before. Benefits have included being able to put out over 100 athletes at Bristol University Head race which would have been impossible without borrowing boats from Minerva at no cost.
Lastly this year is the first that the club’s Easter training camp will be open to Novices as well as Seniors, it is clear that George loves the rowing club and wants everyone else to experience that as well.
The David VandeLinde Prize
The David VandeLinde Prize recognises sporting accomplishment, leadership and academic success.
Jonathan Verity
Jonathan is the men’s first team hockey captain, winning the Premier South in two of his
three season at the University and leading the team during their most successful season ever. He also represents the weekend TeamBath side, Team Bath Buccaneers, in the National League being
part of the title winning side in the 14/15 season. He studies Mathematics, requiring 64% in his final year to graduate with a first class degree. Demonstrating that he is extremely successful in combining sporting activity, both through participation and volunteering, with excellence in academic studies.
Jonathan has been a key member of the University of Bath first team for the three years that he has been at the University, only missing one game.
On his arrival to the University the mens first team had only won one South Premier League title in their history; they have won a further two since then. After winning the title on the last
day of the season in his second year; this season, with Jonathan as captain, the Mens first team turned up the style and won the league with a game to spare, only losing the final game. Scoring 37 goals, a record, with Jonathan contributing three despite being a defender. A key determinant in the emphatic nature of their league win was how tight knit the squad has been this year, this is in no small part due to the influence, motivational and team building skills of Jonathan.
As captain, Jonathan has played an important role organizing the team and providing the link between the squad and coach. Arguably more importantly though, has been his role in managing the expectations of individuals within the squad. With 23 players battling for 16 places each week, keeping the fringe players fired up and involved has been important so that there is no detrimental effect to the side if players are lost to injury.
On top of training eight times and playing two matches a week, Jonathan has also given up his time and volunteered at TeamBath Open days as well as performance hockey open days for prospective students. Being an ambassador for the University of Bath; answering questions about the university, his course, performance hockey and how to fit them all together successfully.
Jonathan is in his fourth year studying Mathematics, completing an industrial placement last year which saw him managing a team of 11 professionals in India for a month further highlighting his leadership abilities.
Jonathan achieved an 81% average in his first year and followed it up with 77% in his second year, this leaving him confident of graduating with a first class honors degree.
Jonathan is planning on completing a Management masters next year at Cambridge University to continue his academic studies.
The Ivor Powell Award for Excellence in Coaching
The Ivor Powell Award recognises the significant impact to sport made by coaches based at the University campus. An exceptionally high calibre of winners is maintained as the award is only presented when suitable candidates are available. The Ivor Powell Award is intended to recognise qualities of excellence in a coach epitomised by Ivor Powell himself, who represented passion, integrity, and total commitment to University sport.
James ‘Pat’ Snooks
Head Coach James "Pat" Snooks has recently completed his 24th consecutive season with the University's American Football Teams, the Killer Bee's. In this time Pat has achieved a largely incomparable level of both achievement and influence on both the Killer Bees, and the landscape of University American Football Nationwide.
Pat started his career during the boom years of UK American football. He started coaching in 1985 at the Bath Gladiators, when many tens of thousands of British people played the game each weekend. But every bubble bursts and as we moved into the 1990s the games popularity waned. But instead of moving away from a sport in recession, Pat decided to double his workload in 1992 by taking on a new challenge at the University of Bath.
The university game was in its infancy at this time, so this was a radical departure from the well funded Senior level of the sport.
Some of his achievements with the club include National semi finalists (2012-13), 3 x Division winners, 3 x undefeated regular seasons (2007-08, 2012-13, 2013-14) BUAFL Challenge Trophy Winner (2008-09) and 2x Sports Club of the year at Blues (1996-97, 2007-08) to name but a few, these are in the upper echelons of achievement in university american football.
His coaching credentials speak for themselves, but one aspect that must not be overlooked is the influence that he has had both on his current players, and players of past. The current coaching staff, bar Pat himself, features exclusively players that have previously played for the University, and this does not stop in the South West alone. His coaching tree extends well beyond the South West, and most recently one of the Defensive Coaches,
Pat has coached over thirty players who have gone on to represent Great Britain at student or adult level. This clearly demonstrates the credentials as a coach of not only teams, but of the individuals that make them up. This employs an entirely different skill set, fine tuning the athlete’s body,
technique and mentality to optimise their performance
Spanning over 20 years of coaching at the University level, Pat Snooks has embodied excellence, achievement, improvement and most importantly family through all of his actions at the University of Bath. Priding itself on creating an atmosphere of not only friendship, but family, the Universities American Football Team, and student American Football nationwide, owes a great debt of gratitude to Pat Snooks.
BUCS Team of the Year
This award is only open to the 1st team of any sport and will be presented purely on the level of performance and achievement during the season.
Men’s Badminton 1st Team
After winning the Premier South league with another unbeaten run, the men's Badminton 1st team has had another extremely successful season. Only losing in the final by the finest of margins to a very strong Loughbrough team in the Championship Final at Bath in BUCS Big Wednesday.
Alongside this, many of the team have competed in international competitions, the dedication and commitment to University sport has been the decisive factor in allowing the team to stay unbeaten all season in the league against some tough opposition.
The BUCS Individual Championships was also extremely successful for the Men's 1st team, as 5/6 of the team returned with medals and 18 BUCS points. These included a Silver in the singles event and two bronze medals coming from the two doubles pairs with injury a few points from the finish line costing them another spot in the final.
This is the highest total of BUCS points won from the Men’s 1st team in the past 6 years and is something the Badminton squad are extremely proud of.
Club of the Year
This award recognises the success and substantial achievements clubs can attain when they function effectively as a whole.
Netball Club
The 2016/17 season has proven a huge success for the University of Bath Netball club, going from strength to strength over the past year, with memberships at an all time high, at 200 members, catering for all abilities and total club success. With only 4 BUCS teams, The University of Bath Netball Club have set up and continued the pursuit of being able to facilitate a competitive playing environment for over 70 members of the club in Development Netball, as well as providing successful recreational Interhalls Netball.
They have also set out to provide for the wider community, running a charity Netball tournament raising money,as well as setting up coaching and umpiring opportunities for club members and local communities.
The success as a club this year has been incredible, with an all Bath, Conference cup final and a third team in the semi finals to boot. Both the second and the fourth teams have finished first in their league, resulting in promotion. The third team finished second in their league, behind the second team and the first team also finished a strong second in the Premier South league
There has been an exceptionally high level of commitment from players in all areas of the club. The
dedication of the invaluable volunteers has contributed to the tremendous success of the club. It was the enthusiastic students that led to the establishment and success of the growing Development league and popular Interhalls league. These two leagues have ensured that the club is inclusive to all levels of ability.
The Development league consists of 6 teams that compete competitively throughout the season and aids the technical progression of many talented individuals. It is a very successful league and the standard of netball is increasing throughout the year. This league enables integration within the club and acts as a stepping stone between interhalls and BUCS. It also offers many coaching and umpiring opportunities for players wishing to improve their skills in these roles.
Interhalls has been hugely successful this year. We have 7 very dedicated and enthusiastic teams, and for the first time in the history of the club we have made interhalls mixed so guys have regularly been seen to be bibbing up and getting their game on!
Externally the club has got involved with a number of events; organising charity tournaments, attending the sports fair and open days, coaching and umpiring at local schools in Bath and continue to commit to volunteering at the Netball Superleague matches, as fulfilled in previous years.
Sports Personality of the Year
This award recognises a student who has contributed significantly to student sport during their time at University, and encapsulates the spirit of University sport. ‘Positive contribution’ may take many forms, including performance, service, and participation. Candidates may have achieved outstanding levels of performance, represented the University in a number of sports, or had significant input into a team, both on and off the pitch.
Peter Scott – Hockey
Peter Scott is a Sports Performance student having joined the University of Bath in 2015. He started playing hockey at a very early age having watched his parents play for his local Bracknell Hockey Club. He followed in his parent’s footsteps before moving to Reading Hockey Club when he was 16 years old to play more seriously from then onwards. He was a member of the Reading HC 1st team for 2 years.
Peter has a number of accolades and achievements during his career so far. He was a winner of the England Hockey HA Cup with Reading, scoring a goal in the final to help his team to victory. He is now a member of the England Hockey Development Squad having progressed his way through the age group squads. He was a part of the U18 England Squad for two years, competing at the Four Nations’ Tournament and European Championships, before progressing to the England and Great Britain U21 squad where he won a Gold Medal at the Sultan of Johor Cup in 2015 and competed at the Junior World Cup in 2016. Peter has now been called up to the Senior England Squad for their upcoming tour in South Africa and is also looking forward to competing at the U21 European Championships in the summer. He is expected to win his first senior cap in March, with the
possibility of being offered a part time senior contract this year.
Peter is a big advocate of University sport. He has been a member of the Hockey Club Men’s 1st team since joining the University. He finished 2nd in the league with the team last year and has gone one better in this campaign, securing the Southern Premier League title with one game to spare.
Whilst competing for the University, Peter also plays weekend hockey for the Team Bath Buccaneers Men’s 1st team and indoor team. Having retained their National Premier League status for the first time in the Club’s history with the indoor team, Peter’s pursuit of a League title with the Men’s 1st team continues.