TabGuide: Team Durham 2014

After 7 weeks of  gruelling pre–season the sporting elite of Durham University are back in prime physical condition and raring to go, aiming for BUCS Gold.

We got talking to the 6 biggest clubs in the University and found out a little bit more about how to get involved, if the club pulls their weight in the social arena of Durham and who is the worst in the showers.

Rugby with Jamie Bache

How many teams are there? 4

How do you get involved? Through the freshers trial or approach the Head Coach, Alex Keay. if that’s not enough, Club Captain Charlie Goodwin or any member of the club would be able to give advice on how to get involved.

Who is the captain?  1^st team – Simon Hammersley, 2^nd team – Tom Grant, 3^rd team – George Borrows, 4^th team – Ben Veitch.

Who is the coach and what’s he like? Alex Keay, he has revolutionized the club, organizes the teams and is a massive contributor to DURFC’s success. In his spare time he is rumoured to enjoy garlic bread and cheesy chips from Patrick’s pizza.

When do you train?  Gym in the morning and training in the evening on Mondays and Fridays, as well as Saturday morning gym sessions

In term’s of BUCS, where do our 1st team rank? The best hands down. Undefeated for three years in the BUCS 1 Northern Conference and BUCS Cup finalist three years in a row, winning it last year.

Who can bench the most and how much? Dave ‘Big D’ Spelman, he has told me that he topped out at 170kg over the summer. Probably bollocks.

Who is the up and coming fresher star? Louis Molley looks good at fullback.

Who is the BNOC of the club? Simon Hammersley

Who is the longest in the shower? Weasel provides general annoyance at shower times (hence his name), either being the longest or never having a towel and stealing other peoples.

Out of hockey, lacrosse, cricket, football , netball and rugby where would you rank your pulling power on a night out as a club: 1 being the least likely club to get some and 5 the most? Definitely a solid 2, the charity match night being the pinnacle, everything goes down hill from there on.

Hockey with Lucy Seager

How many teams are there? 4 men’s and 4 women’s.

How do you get involved? You’ve missed trials but you can speak to Helena Mortimer, the Club Captain.

Who is the captain? Sophie Clough is the captain of the Women’s 1st team, the top dog of the men’s club is Hugh Robinson and the Club captain is Helena Mortimer.

Who is the coach and what’s he like? Lewis Butcher is the coach, he’s in his second year now and he’s very good. Tweet him, he’ll love it.

Training Times/frequency? 2 training sessions a week and 2 matches, plus some additional weights and fitness particularly for the 1s and 2s.

In term’s of BUCS, where do our 1st team rank? The Best.

Who can bench the most and how much? Adam Williams, at least 20 kgs.

Who is the up and coming fresher star? Laura Bevan looks like she has a lot of potential (sorry Stubbings).

Who is the BNOC of the club? Lucy Seager every day of the week.

Out of hockey, lacrosse, cricket, football , netball and rugby where would you rank your pulling power on a night out as a club: 1 being the least likely club to get some and 5 the most? Absolutely 5.

Netball with Cosi Mockett

How many teams are there? 4

How do you get involved? Come and trial.

Who is the captain? Club Captain Sophie ‘Bingo’ Bingham.

Who is the coach and what’s she like? Coach is Nat. Geordie, but cool.

How often do you train? 2/3 court sessions, one cam, one Strength and Conditioning and one match per week .

In term’s of BUCS, where do our 1st team rank? Pretty good. In the Top 50 for sure.

Who can bench the most and how much? Rosie Smith –70kg

Who is the up and coming fresher star? Kat seems alright so far.

Who is the BNOC of the club? Cosi Mockett

Out of hockey, lacrosse, cricket, football , netball and rugby where would you rank your pulling power on a night out as a club: 1 being the least likely club to get some and 5 the most? 5. Loose and slutty.

 

Lacrosse with Anonymous Edwards

How many teams are there? 4

How do you get involved? Played internationally at U19 level and chose Durham on the back of its lacrosse reputation.

Thanks for that but how do Freshers get involved? Oh right. Well speak to any contacts you have and you can come to training if all goes well.

Who is the captain? 1^st team captain hasn’t been announced yet, watch this space.

Who is the coach and what’s she like? Anna Sody, an extremely experienced and enthusiastic American, who previously coached the Germany World Cup Team – who better to lead us to the BUCS Champs 2014!

How often do you train? 6-8pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

In term’s of BUCS, where do our 1st team rank?  Having lost in the final last year we are back with a vengeance  – with over 20 members of the club having represented England in their lacrosse careers and 6 fresh faced scholars, BUCS can bring it.

Who can bench the most and how much? Er no comment, we are ladies.

Who is the up and coming fresher star? Anna Featherstone without a doubt.

Who is the BNOC of the club? Hard to single one out way too many.

Out of hockey, lacrosse, football , netball and rugby where would you rank your pulling power on a night out as a club: 1 being the least likely club to get some and 5 the most? The season has only just begun so its hard to tell but from last years records, if the game is on…I’m going to have to go with 4.

Football with Spencer Brown

How many teams are there? 2

How do you get involved? Some freshers are invited to pre-season training, others can impress at the fresher trials and for those that slip through the net they can get picked up by DUAFC if they perform well in college football.

Who is the captain? The Club Captain is Kyri Pittalis, a third year from Hild Bede.

Who is the coach and what’s he like? Our first team coach is Adam Furness – he’s UEFA ‘A’ qualified and has been a key part of the club’s success over the last few years. The second-team coach is Chris Moore, who has played professional football for various clubs, and currently works for Northumberland FA while playing for Darlington FC.

How often do you train? We train on Mondays and Thursdays, with our BUCS fixtures on Wednesdays. We also have a few S and C sessions, while many members of the squad represent their college on a weekend to keep sharp.

In term’s of BUCS, where do our 1st team rank? The 1s have earned three successive promotions, climbing all the way from Northern 3B to the Northern Premier without pausing for breath. Last  year we had some notable victories over more established football universities – namely Leeds Met, Leeds and Liverpool – and again we start this season as underdogs against the likes of Loughborough, Stirling and Northumbria. We can’t wait for the challenge and with our best team out we can beat anybody.

Who can bench the most and how much? Matt Perrella has arrived this year and “loves to lift”. He scored well in all the strength tests at the start of pre-season.

Who is the up and coming fresher star? He’s probably a bit old to be called an out-and-out ‘fresher’ but first-year Mike King played pro at Burnley for a year – followed by a stint in the Singapore Premier League – and he promises to be an excellent addition to the squad.

Who is the BNOC of the club? People always ask about Oliver Gill because of his Manchester United connections, so probably him. I’d love to tell you he revels in it, but he’s actually extremely modest.

Who is the longest in the shower? It was Matt Goss, but he’s graduated and is now playing stateside. It’s too early to tell yet this season, if readers are really that interested I can let you know in a few weeks? 

Out of hockey, lacrosse, football , netball and rugby where would you rank your pulling power on a night out as a club: 1 being the least likely club to get some and 5 the most? 3 – unfortunately we’re weighed down by creeps like James Gooder – he’d even admit that himself.