‘He drank a vial of medicinal ethanol’: Meet the Captains

Here are the boys who are leading their teams to success with some slightly more interesting stories from Tour.

Lacrosse – Henry Tudor-Taylor

What position are you ?

Roaming defensive midfielder, rumoured to score goals in training. 

Why are you the best team at uni?

Having three teams stretching from experienced players to beginners allows the club to have great strength and depth. This means we can have big socials at Crisis and everyone gets a match every week. Also, being joint with the girls makes the club even bigger and stronger. 

What is the best social ?

We have lots of good socials, ranging from boat parties to karaoke nights. One that everyone remembers are the family socials with the girls and mens clubs coming together to have a great time. The Christmas party is great and the alumni ball is great to get old members and young ones together.

Do you have some big hopes for this year?

This year we have big hopes, especially for the second team who have a really strong chance of winning both the league and the cup after narrowly missing out last year in a close final.

Cricket – Tim Rawlinson

Varsity champions: Tim on the left lying on the floor

What position are you?

President / 1st Team Captain

Why are you the best team at uni?

Not necessarily the best sports team (despite our promotion in the league and sealing a varsity series victory). However we boast 3 times as many socials as we do have games, all of which are superbly attended and all are thoroughly enjoyable

What’s the best social?

Tricky. The returners social is always a treat, however this year we had two overseas socials in Val Thorens (Bar360 and Folie Douce) which were both very loose…

Who should we look out for in the club?

Wobbly – tall in stature, a Bury lad through and through and a dreadful human being (usually found taking blurry selfies alone on the balcony in crisis). Harry Coates and Josh North are usually at the epicentre of all mischief.

Any funny tales from tour?

Tour? We had an incredible tour to Sri Lanka – best story of tour was when one of our tourists, after having taken a fairly inebriated member to the local hospital in Kandy, he then proceeded to neck a vial of medicinal ethanol – 14 hours later he was still drunk and was banned from white water rafting.

How was varsity? 

Varsity was incredible – last ball victory, won the varsity series and culminated with a £360 quid round at the top bar in Ocean followed by most the team ending up in different females houses across Lenton. Perfect end to the season.

Do you have big hopes for this year? 

Big hopes for the year – a back-to-back promotion, a NUCC Rag Raid, the new Alumni social and another year in this gentlemen’s society!

Rugby Union – Peter Hyams

What position do you play?

Second Row

Why are you the best team at uni?

Obviously there are lots of impressive clubs at Nottingham, but we’re proud to play in the top league in the country and maintain a good, social club.

What is the best social?

We have a few new social themes which seem to have gone down well. ‘Come wine with me’ seems to be particularly popular.

Who should we look out for in the club?

It’s great to have Tom Harty back from Australia and our most-capped player is Vinny Hart. In the forwards Ben Latimer is very good and doubles up well as social sec.

Any tales from tour?

Unfortunately I wasn’t on the boys’ tour to Budapest but there were definitely a couple of stories worth asking them about.

How was Varsity? 

Obviously Varsity is a hot topic and it was a real shame for the final year players especially to miss out on something they work so hard for throughout their time here. We’ll make up for that this year though – we’re feeling positive and have a very talented squad. It’ll definitely be worth coming down to Highfields to watch on a Wednesday.

Hockey – Andy Dalman

What position are you?

Centre-Back

Why are you the best team at uni?

We play in the highest BUCS league on a Wednesday and will be aiming for promotion in our Saturday league this year. There’s a great atmosphere in the club with 5 men’s teams competing and supporting each other along with great socials off the pitch.

What’s the best hockey social?

All of them

Who should we look out for in the club?

Harry Martin made his Olympic debut in 2012 and will be one to look out for in the future. Keep an eye out for Mo Gandhi who has made a number of appearances for the USA and can also be spotted roaming the Lenton streets in the early hours of Thursday mornings.

Do you go on tour, any funny tales?

I went to Rimini in my first year. I’d recommend anyone whichever sport they do to go on tour if they have the chance!

How was varsity?

Varsity was great the atmosphere the whole day was brilliant. Trent usually put out a reasonable side but we put them away 3-1.

Do you have big hopes for this year?

We’ve got a strong team this year so will be looking to win the BUCS league/cup and get promoted from the Saturday league.

Football – Cameron

What position are you?

I play centre midfield.

Why are you the best team at uni?

We are one club, not individual teams and our turn out in Crisis is impressive.

Who should we look out for in the club?

The front four are frightening to watch, hopefully we will see big performance from them this season.

Any funny tales from tour?

Quite a few but I’m not sure they should be spread around.

How was varsity?

Varsity was very disappointing for all the lads involved last year. We had had a great season, almost won the northern premiership but on the day we didn’t turn up – we all are looking to put that right this year!

Do you have big hopes for this year?

After seeing the boys in pre-season I am confident hat we could see silverware from all four teams as we are exceptionally strong.

American Football – Matthew Thornes

What position are you?

Outside Linebacker.

Why are you the best team at uni?

Unlike other sports we only have the one team, so no matter what we do – be it trainings, games, gym sessions, we all train together. You quickly get to know everybody involved, so there is a very strong team spirit.

What’s the best social?

Probably a toss-up between Superheroes or Cavemen… some members of the team like to get as much flesh out as often as they can.

Who should we look out for in the club?

Ed Hoyle was always one to watch out for. He is currently attempting to do his best Collin off of Love Actually performance at UCONN in the USA,  he is dearly missed.

Any funny tales from tour?

Somehow we managed to lose one player at a Spanish service station en route to Salou… apart from that tour was completely uneventful with all players maintaining an exemplary representation at all times.

How was varsity?

Bittersweet, closest we have come to clinching the varsity in years but certainly gave a lot of our players the drive to not let the same thing happen again.

Do you have big hopes for this year?

As the second year of a new coaching programme we couldn’t have a better set up for this season. We have had a quality new set of rookies and we have every capability of winning our league.

Triathlon – Josh Briggs

Why are you the best team at uni?

We are an all rounder team. If you want to be a competitive athlete we have GB athletes. If you want to learn and give triathlon a go we accommodate a large group of beginners or if you just want to get fit and healthy we have many fitness sessions. If you want to party and have a good time we have frequent socials with various themes. You can come to as many training sessions, events and socials as you want.

What’s the best social?

Our first social where we introduce the fresher’s to their “triathlon families” and take part in various bonding activities before heading to our first crisis sports night of the year.

Who should we look out for in the club?

David Keasey (or Sleazy Keasey) – Put some very strong performances in this year representing GB at the Horst European Duathlon champs where he placed 6th in his age group.

Any funny tales from tour?

I had a bit of a nightmare on tour last year. On one of our many bike rides a wasp decided to join me for a decent of a hill, not only did I hit myself in the face aiming to kill the wasp, but knocked my shades off breaking them in the process only to capture the wasp in my mouth resulting in being stung in the gum before spitting it out.

Do you have big hopes for Varsity this year?

We are hoping to have our first ever varsity this year and look to TRI hard to beat Trent across all the categories.

Rugby League – Adam Cunliffe

What position are you?

Fullback or halfback, token Northerner

Why are you the best team at uni?

We’re a really friendly bunch of lads, there’s no cliques. Cheerleading and lacrosse have both said we have the best socials (they were probably just being polite but we’ll take it!)

What’s the best social?

Father and son social is always good because it’s when the new members get their ties for the year. Joint socials with netball, cheerleading and lacrosse are always eventful too.

Who should we look out for in the club?

Nathan Hill is one of our best players, he played for Warrington Wolves under 19s. He has a big Twitter presence @TheRealNathHill. Brad Skelly is always worth watching on a night out though, living proof that you can lead a horse to water but can’t make it drink – he’s possibly the most oblivious person on the Crisis dancefloor.

Do you go on tour, any funny tales?

Afraid what goes on tour stays on tour, but I’m sure our president and tour king Cameron Lindsay would be willing to discuss it at length off the record!

How was varsity? 

Varsity was tough this year, we lost quite heavily.Trent had a year of playing at a higher level and it showed. Our main hope for this year is to repeat last year and win our league again, and try and achieve promotion.