Union reps demand free Wednesdays and abolition of Sporty Cards

Union reps are demanding free Wednesdays and for AberSoc and Sporty Cards to be included as part of student fees for every student.

Kelly Keat, Union Activities Office, has issued a stern warning that students will no longer accept the uni’s treatment of sports clubs and societies in Aber.

In cooperation with the Union President and the support of close to 50 sports committees she demanded immediate change in a letter to uni officals.

Kelly told The Tab: “I hope this letter will re-open the conversation about the need for Wednesday afternoon lectures to be freed up.

“This is vital, not only for BUCS sport but also to give students a regular day each week to undertake vital things, such as visiting the careers office, which they might otherwise not have time for.”

In 2015, Kelly’s predecessors already sent out a letter to the institution, demanding vast changes. While their plea did not spark action by the uni, Kelly has not given up yet.

Kelly continued: “The letter also calls for ‘Sport Aber’ and ‘AberSoc’ fees to be covered by our tuition fees.

“This is a manifesto point that I was elected on and over the last year I have constantly received feedback from students who feel that the fees are not only unfair but also bureaucratic in design.

“If the full, proposed sports centre is not to be introduced in the short term then I strongly feel that students shouldn’t be forced to pay these fees to take part in extra curricular activities.”

The status quo at Aberystwyth University has lectures finishing at 1pm on Wednesday afternoons to allow students to compete with their sports teams later in the days.

However, the Activities Officer and Union President believe that students are often forced to choose between their studies and sports, as an afternoon alone is not enough time to travel and represent the universtity competitively.

Not having to pay for Sporty Cards would be a massive relief for students

In the letter, co-signed by the sports team committees, Kelly says: “One thing that has not changed is the lack of commitment to develop and invest opportunities for students across the University.

“Although we have witnessed some changes to the current sports provisions, it is simply not good enough.

“We welcome those conversations that talk about a new sports centre or investing in the development of personnel and students, but we feel there needs to be action.

“When others in the sector, such as Exeter, Bristol and most notably Bangor, have invested heavily into their students accessing these opportunities, how can we not do the same for our students?”

Another issue the union is facing is the fact that students regularly withdraw from BUCS competitions, as they cannot afford to miss lectures on Wednesday mornings.

Kelly opined: “This teaching term (which at the time of writing is 21 days old) has already forced two teams to withdraw from BUCS.

“A further eight have either had to concede or struggle to field a team and therefore, send a non-competitive team to play against the likes of Cardiff, Bristol and Exeter.

“This has set us back a total cost of over £3600 including paying for buses to send second teams to go to a first team match or to concede, the first of which often equalling the second. T

“his is not the reputation the founders of BUCS should have.”

It remains unclear which steps the university will take to address this complaint.