A Hull University graduate in American Studies and History, James Kerr, is the VP of Sport/The President of the Athletic Union. Voted in to the post by the students, he is the man with the plan, dedication and the passion to take the AU to a whole new level.
What is the Athletic Union, and how does it work?
I view the Athletic Union as community of around 2000 students who want to participate in Sport or compete in Sport, but we’re more than that. We’re a social group, we’re a great way to network, and we’re a great way to meet friends and new people at University.
Where does the AU get its funding from?
The AU get is funding from the University from the subvention grant that we receive, so the union receives a subvention grant of I think around £200,000 and that is then split between the 5 zones, governance, education, welfare, community and sport. The sport budget is particularly small but yeah, we get funded from the University.
Since getting voted VP Sport, what do you think needed to be changed from last year?
I think that last year in fact we had a really, really good year in the Athletic Union, we turned things around; we had a very bad year a few years back specifically financially. So, last year was rebuilding and repairing the AU where this year I feel we can move on to build on it with plans, specifically with volunteering in Sport, participating and women in sport. I’d like to see is more internal campaigns run by the AU in these areas so we can target and get people more involved in Sport.
What do you foresee as the biggest challenge this year?
Finance is always going to be the biggest issue when it comes to the Athletic Union, Sport specifically is obviously a very expensive area. Personally I feel we should bring in more resources into Sport in Higher Education in general. We really, not just specifically us but other institutions too, really struggle finically because everyone would like to get involved it’s just money that’s going to be the biggest problem.
Last year, we asked a few AU members what they felt the worst AU aspect and fair financial support was high on many lists.
How are you planning on changing this so all teams feel valued?
Specifically this year, it was actually more thrown upon me that no clubs will receive a grant this year because we had a budget cut by about £9000 from last year, so no club receives a budget this year so that’s actually technically levelled the playing field. I had made the promise at JamRadio during elections that everyone would be on a level playing field, so it was my intention that each club, if the budget remained the same, would’ve received £200 and that would have been the flat line budget to everyone so there was no club that was going to receive any particular special treatment, all clubs were going to be financially in the same area. Some sports are more expensive than others and as long as they know that and their members appreciate that than that’s what we’re going to have to work to basically. All clubs are treated equally, any events that we put on all clubs will receive exactly the same information, and all clubs are given the opportunity to respond and get involved as much as possible.
With the cut in budget, how do you plan on keeping the teams running?
It’s been quite a difficult year; getting sponsorship has been quite difficult. I’ve been able to raise £4000 worth of sponsorship for the athletic union so far since I’ve been in the post. All that money will be distributed equally among various other plans and we do have the policy of teams can apply for extra funding if they really really require it. We have a small pot of money that we can basically give to teams that require our funding.
What is your big plan this year?
Biggest plan this year is just t get as many people involved as possible. Participation is the key fundamental to University in general and people getting involved and becoming part of a social network so that is really the area we’re looking towards by putting on big events. Like This week for example (5th-11th of October) is ‘Give It A Go’ week. We’re also putting on a lot of events on in Scarborough like Scarborough Sport on the Beach (8th of October). We’ve also, myself and the Sport Development officer, have put on a 10 weeks participation programme in Scarborough as well. So we’re really focusing on trying to get as many people involved as possible, and people just trying to keep fit and healthy basically is what we’re looking for.
And now that Welcome week is over, what is there for the students to look forward to?
Well, we publish regularly through our media outlet. We make sure to use Hull Student as much as possible to say what’s going on. Specifically, coming up as well, we have our annual events, we have the AU Ball coming up which is open to AU members and even non-members, we look to those more formal events to try and get as many people involved as possible and make sure they feel not just part of a team but part of the Athletic Community.
You have concerns for women’s involvement in Sport, what are your plans to tackle these concerns?
Specifically when I went to BUCS Conference’ this year, in Higher Education the thing that was highlighted was the fact that women’s participation in sport is very poor, with something like under 25% of women in HE participate in any form of activity while at University. While I don’t have any set plans yet, during the first semester we will be looking on the figures of how many women take part in Sport or activity and in the second semester we’ll run another ‘Give it A Go’ week specifically aimed for women to participate in sport, fitness, health and well being.
And finally, you have a new idea in the works to encourage participation and reward hard work?
That is the ‘incentive plan’ that we’re running this year, the money has been contributed by one of our Sponsors and basically how it well run is that I’ve always felt that the clubs do not receive, you know, praise that they deserve. They might receive some praise but they should receive some sort of contribution from from us for their hard work and good results and involvement across the year. So we’re going to introduce this year, Player of The Month, it’s been around for the past couple of years but we’re going to make sure that that’s up and running now. Effectively, every month at the AU Council, a player will be rewarded with £30 worth of bar vouchers, a certificate and have their picture in the shop. We’re also now doing Team of The Month, and team of the month will receive £100 worth of Bar vouchers and £100 into their primary account to reward them for their performances and their involvement. And then also this year, we’re bringing in two new trophies at the Trophies Presentation, Player of The Year who’ll receive £100 and two others nominated that we felt worthy will also receive £60 for second place and £40 for third. And Team of The Year, who’ll also be presented with a trophy and £500.
Awards are open to everyone. It’s down to the Presidents to nominate people who they believe deserve it. And ultimately it will be up to the AU and the Students who is deserves this money and who deserves to be rewarded for their hard work.
And finally, anything else you want to say to the Students of Hull University?
I’d just like to say that Sport is a fantastic way to get involved at University, so please get involved. So come down and join, we have 46 different sports to offer you at Hull and 11 at Scarborough this year, so please come down and get involved.
Ekram K Aidaros
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