The Joys of Physical Activity

Today was the day for the annual training for our new committee members of sports teams here at Brighton. As VP Wellbeing I have a massive range of activities that I'm involved in, and sport is a very small part of this, however I think it is such an important opportunity for students should they want it.

When I was young I took part in the Duke of Edinburgh Award, and was lucky enough to go through bronze, silver and gold levels and in the process got to do many different forms of physical activity, whether that be competitive sports, individual activities or the hikes involves with DoE.

Therefore having grown up doing this and then being heavily involved in the hockey team at uni, I am very keen to ensure physical activity is available to others while they are studying at Brighton.

I was really please to hear about the continued work being done by sportBrighton to give students these opportunities. The BUCS program is back as always offering high level competitive sport. However it is the continued work being done by the parklife and classes programs and the introduction of the active8 program.

These programs are designed to offer new activities to students that they may not have had in the past. For example fencing will be being rolled out over different campuses in the lead up to the Olympics and is is a sport very few will have had the opportunity to take part in before.

Many benefits of taking part in physical activity are well known, the health benefits and for some the enjoyment factor. However I think one of the biggest pull factor to get involved is the social elements that come with the opportunities. I think in the student world sports teams get a bad reputation due to the drinking culture, and in some respects I agree with this, however I also think this is an area where sports teams are overlooked, and that is the social benefit they offer, or can offer (as I'm aware it's not always done correctly), and think this is an area where more research is required to quantify the benefits.

For more information about the opportunities offered at the University of Brighton check out sportBrightons website at: http://www.brighton.ac.uk/sportbrighton/

Or their Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/SportBrighton

Also would be really good to hear of any ideas of how else we can extend opportunities to students here at UoB...


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Village Way,Brighton,United Kingdom