Wednesday 19th of March 2014 was a momentous day for the University of Bath Students Union sport with the inaugural Disability Sports Day. A day set aside to introduce the students at the university both able bodied and disabled to the world of disability sport. This event was one of the current SU Sport Officer Tom Janicot’s main priorities throughout this last academic year as well as something the university has never provided and it went exceptionally well.
With a high attendance from a range of students from BUCS athletes (American Football, Rowing, Netball, Basketball and Tennis in particular) to recreational participants and even Paralympic Silver medallist in Beijing and Bronze medallist at London 2012 Ben Rushgrove. It seemed as though the enthusiasm from the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics had carried over as students came out in their droves to try out the range of disability sports on offer. Wheelchair basketball certainly seemed a popular choice for everyone as the first event saw a huge attendance with lots of competition and smiles on everyone’s faces, even our current SU Sport Officer Tom Janicot and future officer Ben Jessup had a go, and no one was going stop Ben Rushgrove getting involved and nothing could dampen his competitiveness. I can testify to that every event was absolutely excellent though I only took part in visually impaired tennis and blind football, the day on a whole was an absolute blast and Tom Janicot can hold his head high knowing what a great day he gave a lot of students.
I was fortunate to be able to talk a lot of different people at the event. Here is what they all had to say:
Tom Janicot (SU Sport Officer):- The day was a huge success! Both disabled and able bodied student took part in a number of different sports and it was great to see everyone have a good time in a fun and inclusive atmosphere. We were proud to have the support of Paralympic medallist Ben Rushgrove and BUCS Disability Sport Officer David Padgen who brought a lot of life and meaning to the event. This is the start of something big and we are all very excited to see where it will lead us in the years to come!
David Padgen (BUCS Disability Sport Officer):- I was genuinely excited to see a university like Bath delivering activities like disability sport and that it is student lead and student driven. It is unbelievably valuable to have an event like this and let people know that Wednesday is a day for everyone to enjoy sports from BUCS to Recreational and even a new and hopefully more frequent event like we’ve seen today.
Lewis Bird (Student and Disability Sports Day Helper):- One of the most valuable things today is seeing how high in demand these activities are, but more than that everyone is just enjoying themselves and having a laugh which is a huge factor in bringing an event like this to life at Bath.
Ben Jessup (SU Sport Officer elect):- Massive success considering. Hopefully there will be funding to have Disability Sports Day again for years to come. Then we can put on more sports and increase participation. Seeing people come out and have a go at something new is great, it an excellent opportunity for everyone and Tom Janicot should be very proud.
Ben Rushgrove (Paralympic Medallist):- It has been a huge success, everyone really enjoyed themselves and it’s encouraging that everyone would like to see it happen again.
For myself I thoroughly enjoyed the day and can only praise Tom Janicot for the hard work that has gone into this. Hopefully Ben Jessup will continue the event through his tenure as SU Sport Officer so Bath can add to its fine history with sport with the addition of disability sport and give the students more and more chances to experience something we’ve all had the joy of doing.
Find more pictures from the day here.
SU Sport Reporter Edward Attwood
Video created by CTV.