Leeds ‘lower-class’ social hockey team banned from competitions and Captain removed

Leeds University Women's Hockey Club has been banned from taking part in competitions after their 'chav social' in January.

The club's captain Molly Bret, and social secs Sophie Sole, Bea Bowen Rees, Becky Barribal and Ayesha Maymon, were removed from their posts.

The club's social media has also been stopped, and Facebook groups are to be monitored by the Union's Sports Rep.

The Tab Leeds broke the news of the social where members were encouraged to dress as 'lower class' people, and to "set aside all that we believe to be good, honest and noble".

In response the University called the social 'ill-judged' and Leeds University Union said they would investigate and take disciplinary action if necessary.

As a result of the investigation and the disciplinary hearing, the club have received numerous punishments.

The list of punishments given to Leeds University Women's Hockey Club:

They are now unable to compete in this year's alumni sports day.

They are also banned from competing in this year's Christie Cup – a competition between Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester – and they are also banned from travelling to it as supporters.

The Captain has also been removed from their position, with a new one needing to be elected by an Extraordinary General Meeting.

The Social Secs have also been removed from their positions.

All social media activity has now been stopped by the Union, with LUU's sports rep given the power to oversee the closed Facebook group.

The club has also asked for training on discrimination, with extra training for social secs.

The Hockey Team does however have a right to appeal the Union's decision.

An "ill-judged" social

The social in January saw members of the club dressing up as 'chavs' wearing tracksuits, fake tan and drawn on tattoos.

A member of the Club posted a lengthy description of the event on the society's Facebook page defining a 'chav' as "a young lower-class person typified by brash and loutish behaviour", compared to themselves as "educated fair maidens.

One member of the club posted a picture on Instagram captioned "apparently this is what a chav looks like".

Others who went to the event tagged their location on social media posts as 'Juvenile Detention Centre".

An investigation by The Tab Leeds at the time also discovered that the Union itself previously held 'Chav' themed nights at Fruity.