Wednesday 1st April 2020

The SSS Competitions Committee have passed through a new proposal, allowing students and institutions to compete against each other in eight new sports during isolation. Read more about The SSS Isolympics here!

The Scottish Student Sport Competitions Committee met earlier this week to discuss an emergency plan to keep student sport competition running throughout the Coronavirus pandemic. After a lengthy discussion, the group concluded to extend the current official 35 SSS Sports to include some new additions.

The SSS Comps Committee passed through the motion to include 8 new sports, including e-sports, where Scottish Universities and Colleges will be able to compete against each other to earn BUCS points and SSS medals for their institutions during this period of self-isolation. This new fleet of sports and fixtures will be called The SSS Isolympics.

Our SSS Competitions Committee Chair, Chris Sellar, believes the new initiative will thoroughly enhance the student experience. He said:

“The decision made by the Comps Committee is a very positive one. It is not only in keeping with the SSS values – innovative, responsive and sustainable to name a few – but it is also putting the students’ interests first and foremost. The Isolympics will bring together athletes across the country to pit their skills against the best within their disciplines. This has the making of one of the greatest sporting competitions of our generation.”

Here is all you need to know…

  • Each sports sabbatical officer or equivalent sports coordinator will be in charge of selecting one competitor for each sport. No individual can compete in more than one sport.
  • The SSS Isolympics are mixed-sex, anyone can play against anyone.
  • The fixtures and leagues will be managed by the fixtures administrators or equivalent position at each Scottish institution, liaising with one and other and their clubs as to when the fixtures of each sport can be played.
  • All fixtures will take place over ZOOM call and must be played between the hours of 9am and 8pm. As no participants will be travelling, BUCS Regulation 9.3.5 Start Times stating- No league or knockout match may start before 13:00 on a weekday – is hereby void.

For a full list of rules and regulations for the isolation games please click here.

The following 8 sports have been added into the SSS official list of sports.

E-sports | FIFA 20

Institutions will compete against one and other in a one-off  ‘Kick-Off’ match. Teams will be decided based on the geographical location of your institution. For example a fixture between Robert Gordon University v Heriot-Watt would be Aberdeen FC v Heart of Midlothian FC. All team lines to be sent to our competitions and development assistant Leah Davidson.

Press-Up Challenge 

Individuals have 5 (five) minutes to do as many full press-ups as possible. All videos to be sent to our SSS judge Megan Richardson, who will be the count whether a press-up is deemed complete or not.

Hall Putting 

Individuals have 5 (five) minutes to record their longest putt in their own home. ‘Golf clubs’ can be substituted for brooms or mops. The golf hole must be a tin can with the following dimensions: 73 mm x 110 mm.

Toilet Roll Keepy-Ups

Keep the toilet roll off the ground for as many touches as possible. Three attempts per person, take the best score.

Synchronised Brunching 

Individuals must make two identical brunch meals. SSS brunch connoisseurs Gavin Rittoo and Neil Rankin will rank the dishes based purely on presentation.

Paper Toss

Individuals have 5 (five) minutes to consecutively throw as many pieces of crumpled up paper as possible, into a waste paper bin. If you miss you go back to zero. The bin and the individual must maintain at least a two-metre social distance at all times.

Sofa Jump 

Individuals need have to jump/ ‘fosbury flop’ over the back of the sofa and onto the cushions. The highest jump wins. Each individual is allowed three failed attempts before their final height is recorded.

Speed Ironing

Timed competition – how quickly can you iron your sports team kit?

Fixtures will commence from April 1st 2020 with no final deadline date set as of yet. Best of luck!

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Tuesday 11th February 2020

Congratulations to Ben Kempley (University of St Andrews) on being awarded the Martin Flynn Scottish Student Cricket Player of the Year Award for excellent performances in the 2019 student cricket season. Full story here!

Congratulations to Ben Kempley (University of St Andrews) on being awarded the Martin Flynn Scottish Student Cricket Player of the Year Award for excellent performances in the 2019 student cricket season.

Each year this award is presented to the player who has the most outstanding individual performances throughout the season. The award began in 2013 in commemoration of the immense work that Martin Flynn completed in his lifetime and the support he showed for SSS and Scottish Cricket. While being Secretary at Carlton Cricket Club for many years, along with umpiring games regularly, Martin gave much of his time to SSS Cricket, including helping to develop the representative side and co-coordinating the SSS program for 18 years. Without Martin and his incredible work for SSS Cricket, it is certain that the development of student cricket would have been very different. Along with the other amazing work that he ran in many different sectors of Scottish Cricket, this award is in memory of his great contribution to Scottish Cricket.

The 2019 season was that of frustration for the men’s national squad as four of their six games this year were rain effected with three of them having to be abandoned before any play. However, this did not refrain them from competing well in the games that they managed to compete in. The squad participated in a new Scottish competition alongside the regional development squads, coming away with one win, one narrow loss and one match unfortunately abandoned due to weather.

Scottish Student Cricket Captain Benjamin Kempley, led from the front on the day – finishing as highest run scorer of the tournament with a 40* – a match winning performance to be the Glasgow Warriors.  Ben also added 64 in the next match against the Caley Highlands and finished the day averaging 104. Unfortunately, due to weather permitting restrictions the only other game that was played this summer was the 50 over game against the MCC at Merchiston. The SS squad lost out narrowly  in a game which went down to the wire – losing only by single digits.

“It was fantastic to captain the Scottish Student Cricket squad in 2019, having represented the team since 2016. To be awarded the Martin Flynn Player of the Year Award is an absolute privilege.”

Ben joins an elite list of winners since the the award began in 2013 – including Tom Tennant (2013), Tom Foulds (2014), Chris Burns (2015), Alex Baum (2016,2017) and Tom Simpson (2018).

Upon receiving the award Ben Kempley said: “It was fantastic to captain the Scottish Student Cricket squad in 2019, having represented the team since 2016. To be awarded the Martin Flynn Player of the Year Award is an absolute privilege. My job was made easy by both our fantastic coaching team –  Callum Sibley, Dan Sutton and Tom Foulds – and a talented squad. Despite rain limiting us to only three games this season, I thought we performed brilliantly and bonded well as a team.”

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Thursday 30th January 2020

Scottish Student Sport are delighted to announce Queen Margaret University as the host for the SSS Conference 2020. Read the full story here!

Scottish Student Sport is delighted to announce that Conference 2020 will be hosted by Queen Margaret University (QMU), Edinburgh. This is the first time the event will be hosted by QMU, and as a modern and ambitious institution they are excited about the opportunity to welcome the SSS tribe.

QMU is located at the purpose-built site in Musselburgh – just a 6 minute-train from the centre of Edinburgh – and sustainability is ingrained in campus life. SSS is ambitious about delivering the most sustainable conference to date.

Conference 2020 is the culmination of the student sport year and provides a fantastic opportunity for the network to come together to learn and celebrate. The event will include a host of inspirational guest speakers and innovative workshops, as well as opportunities to be active. The climax of the 2-day event will be the Scottish Student Sport Awards Dinner, celebrating the biggest and best achievements and contributions of the sporting year.

Andy White, Student Vice President at QMU, said:

“We’re delighted to be able to open our doors to the SSS tribe in June and share with them a couple of days of inspirational activity.”

“Queen Margaret University are absolutely thrilled to be hosting the Scottish Student Sport 2020 Conference. Our Students’ Union supports our sports teams to punch well above their weight in relation to the relatively small size of our student community. We’re delighted to be able to open our doors to the SSS tribe in June and share with them a couple of days of inspirational activity.” 

Stew Fowlie, COO at SSS, added:

“There is a terrific blend of spaces and services available at QMU, allowing us to generate a really upbeat atmosphere for our members and guests. This environment, coupled with strong local support, provides all the ingredients for what promises to be our best conference yet. We look forward to working with QMU in the planning phase and most of all to welcoming the SSS tribe to Musselburgh for 48 life-changing hours in June.”

Conference 2020 will year take place on the 10th and 11th of June 2020. Add this date to your diary NOW and watch this space for further information and sign up!

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Wednesday 18th December 2019

Read all about the highlights from our annual Festive Gathering which took place at Perth College, UHI. A fitting way to end an incredible year of Scottish Student Sport.

For the first time, the SSS Tribe descended on Perth College UHI for our annual Festive Gathering. We were delighted to welcome our members, colleagues and friends from across the length and breadth of the country to participate in a number of forums, workshops and discussions – giving everyone the opportunity to learn, collaborate and innovate the world of Scottish Student Sport going into the new year.

Stew the COO and SSS Chair, Pete Burgon kicked things off with a SSS update and overview of the accounts before we were treated to a practical session delivered by our friends at Scottish Disability Sport (SDS).

SSS has a strong partnership with SDS and this partnership has flourished with the number of events across our member institutions greatly increasing over the last few months – highlighting the appetite for disability sport in both Colleges and Universities in Scotland. Heather Lowden and Gavin Macleod, from SDS, were joined by wheelchair athlete Gemma Lumsdaine to deliver practical skills and theoretical insight into disability sport.

As well as learning more about the disability sport landscape, participants had the opportunity to test their practical skills; activities included visually impaired running,  Wheelchair Basketball, Goalball and mastering the art of Boccia. For a number of participants this was the first exposure to disability sport and raising this awareness is an integral element of the partnership between SSS and SDS.

After a hearty lunch,  we were treated to a panel discussion on Women in Sport and a keynote workshop on organisational sustainability. The panel was chaired by University of Stirling’s Cathy Gallagher who guided the conversation on a range of topics from participation in student sport to career opportunities and the role of the media in women’s sport.

Cathy was joined by Shelley Kerr, Head Coach of Scotland Womens National Football Team, Gemma Lumsdaine, Wheelchair Basketball coach and Wheelchair Rugby Player, and Laura McGhie, Sports Journalist at BBC Scotland.

With a wealth of experience on the panel we explored some of the barriers to participation but also the hurdles that women potentially face/faced in beginning their career in sport. With fantastic role models on the panel some of the topics discussed included how we celebrate achievements, encourage leadership and promote careers in sport for young women. One of the key actions to come from the discussion is to look for ways to better communicate and promote what we are achieving in the world of Women’s sport, and the importance of collaborative working to achieve this.

Following the panel discussion we were treated to a keynote workshop from Jen Curran. Jen works for Wren & Greyhound, a consultancy supporting the not-for-profit sector in working toward organisational sustainability. Jen delivered fascinating insight on a number of topics relevant to the SSS Tribe including income diversification, workload management and the importance of relationships.

To finish the day the Tribe had the opportunity to hear from Professor Craig Mahoney, Principal at UWS and recently elected Chair of BUCS. Craig’s background in sport makes him a great candidate to succeed Professor Sir Ian Diamond in leading BUCS forward and supporting the work of SSS.

Special thanks to the staff at Perth College UHI for playing great hosts and making us feel warmly welcomed. Thanks to our guest speakers, the Women in Sport Panel, SDS and all our members who attended, contributed and participated in what was a great day and a fitting way to end a hugely successful 2019. Here is to 2020…

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Thursday 28th November 2019

The British Active Student Survey (BASS) 2019-20 is now live. Complete the survey before the 20th of December for your chance to win £50 ASOS vouchers!

What is the British Active Student Survey?

This is a joint initiative between BUCS, AoC Sport and UK Active – with for the first time the work being carried out in Further Education and Higher Education simultaneously. It aims to gain understanding into the levels of physical activity and the relationship between wider health and wellbeing, academic attainment, and employability skills.

The survey builds on the findings of Scottish Universities in 2017, British Universities in 2018 and British Colleges in 2019 – which all highlighted that active students have higher mental wellbeing, social inclusion, plus greater positive perceptions of academic attainment and employability compared to inactive students.

The survey is open from now until Friday 20th of December – take part now! 

Why should I take part?

By filling out the survey you will be contributing to important research and analysis to help gauge a greater understanding of the relationship between active students mental wellbeing, social inclusion,  academic attainment and employability compared to inactive students.

Any university that achieves a 5% completion rate in relation to their FTE of students will be provided with their own data set from the students that completed the survey from their institution.

Students who complete the survey will enter a prize draw to win up to three £50 ASOS vouchers.

For more information and to complete the survey follow the link!

 

 

 

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Wednesday 27th November 2019

We are excited to launch our brand new Scottish Student Sport Podcast! Episode 1 is now LIVE and available on Spotify! Find out more here.

We are excited to announce the launch of the brand new Scottish Student Sport Podcast!

In its debut series hosts Gavin Rittoo and Stew Fowlie will be joined by a variety of guests from across the Scottish Sporting world and beyond to discuss their journey and how student sport has shaped it along the way.

Aired monthly, the podcast will feature a chat with one of the sports sabbatical officers from our member institutions – getting to know them a little bit better and the exciting work they are doing this year. There will also be a ‘competitions corner’ segment which will round up all the latest results and reaction from our competitions and events across the country. Alongside this the show will round up all the latest news, updates and discuss all the hot topics in the exciting world that is Scottish Student Sport.

Episode 1

00:00 – 08:00 – Intro and Welcome with Stew & Gav

08:00 – 24:30 – Interview with Georgia Moran, Edinburgh Napier University

24:30 – 28:00 – Live musical performance from Georgia Moran

28:00 – 31:00 – Competitions update and reaction

31:00 – 50:30 – Interview with Malcolm King from the Big Sleep Out, previewing the event in December which SSS will be participating in

50:30 – 53:00 – Round up and upcoming events with Stew and Gav

How to listen:

You can find us on spotify, stitcher, spreaker and all other good podcasting sites.

Listen to “Episode 1 | Georgia Moran & The Big Sleep Out” on Spreaker.

Get in touch

If you have listened to the podcast then we want to hear from you!

Tweet us your thoughts on the podcast using the hashtag: #SSSPOD. Whether its praise, criticism , support or if you have a great idea then let us know! We will read out the best tweets on the next episode…

If you would like to appear on the podcast then drop as an email: info@scottishstudentsport.com 

If you are interested in joining our SSS Sleep Out team on Saturday 7th of December to help raise money and fight homelessness in Scotland then all the sign up information can be found here.

 

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Thursday 14th November 2019

2018/19 was another belter of a year across the Scottish Student Sport membership – recap on all our highlights and successes from the past 12 months.

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Thursday 14th November 2019

Look out your thermals, jackets, scarves, headwear – whatever you have and join us in sleeping out. We are inviting you to join the movement and Sleep Out on Saturday 7th of December to raise funds and tackle the problem of homelessness is Scotland. Find out more here!

Scottish Student Sport have joined forces with Will Smith, Dame Helen Mirren, Georgia Moran and Chris Martin in a one-off global campaign – The World’s Big Sleep Out. On Saturday 7th of December the Scottish Student Sport team will be taking to Princess Street Gardens to sleep out for the night to raise money and support the charity Social Bite – who are doing remarkable work to help fight homelessness in Scotland.

SSS will be sleeping out along with 50,000 other people on Saturday 7th of December in a campaign which will stretch across 50 cities worldwide. We have arranged for free spaces to be available for all Scottish Student Sport clubs, members, institutions, staff, students and friends to participate in this unique event.

📽 WATCH | Georgia Moran, Will Smith, Dame Helen Mirren and Chris Martin invite YOU to sleep out.

Here’s how to register: 

  1. Follow the link to register and join the SSS Sleep Out Team
  2. Click the first option – Sign up as an individual or team – don’t worry the £15 charge will be waived after registering.
  3. Register your own information name, address, contact details etc.
  4. Submit a fundraising goal.
  5. When it comes to the ‘Create/Join a team section’. Select find and search for SSS Sleep Out. Join this team.
  6. Before you hit continue make sure you enter the discount code: SSS19 this will clear the £15 registration fee.

Important Information: 

  • Your ticket is free and you don’t have to pay the registration fee, however you still need to commit to raising as much money as you can with your fundraising to help people in a situation of homelessness in our area and throughout the world.
  • When you register using this discount code, you will be join the Scottish Student Sport Team and will be fundraising and participating together for this important cause.
  • For more information head to the World’s Big Sleep Out website.
  • Read more about the great work Social Bite are doing to help fight homelessness in Scotland.

SSS are delighted to support this amazing one-off campaign and are excited to join the movement to tackle homelessness in Scotland and throughout the world.

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Friday 1st November 2019

Having undertaken a review of the SSS National Squad programme over the summer, SSS are happy to confirm the sports for which there will be a National Squad in 2019/20.

Having undertaken a review of the SSS National Squad programme over the summer, SSS are happy to confirm the sports for which there will be a National Squad in 2019/20. The sports that will be delivered are:

  • Athletics
  • Cricket – Mens
  • Cross Country
  • Curling
  • Football
  • Lacrosse – Mens
  • Sailing
  • Shinty
  • Volleyball

There are a number of sports that will NOT be supported this year that have been in previous years. Please be very clear this is a decision for the 2019/20 season and does not reflect an end to a National Squad programme in any sport. However, it had become clear that there was a large range of programme being delivered in terms of support and through a review endorsed by both the Competitions Committee and Exec we have taken the chance to reset some of the programmes and the expectations around those programmes.

A number of key criteria were identified (proposed by a previous SSS Exec working group and endorsed by the Competitions Committee) in order for a programme to be delivered and there was as follows:

• Offers an enhanced programme beyond the BUCS/SSS domestic offering
• Provides some element of performance support
• Engages the most appropriate students into the programme
• Provides appropriate opposition for competition

In any sport where there were not at least three of those criteria in place then the programme was not endorsed for 2019/20.

Finally, it is a requirement for all of our sports to have either a Chair or a Team Manager in place in order to be delivered and where this is not the case (and we have advertised the role) there will not be a programme for the coming year.

Our expectation is that this review process will happen annually (and earlier in the calendar year) so that we have clarity over our programmes heading into each new academic year.

If you have any questions about the National Squad programme then please get in touch with Ben Philip, Head of Competitions ben@scottishstudentsport.com

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Monday 27th May 2019

NEW! SSS Medal Table to celebrate the achievements of student-athletes across the membership!

New for the 2018/19 season, the SSS Medal Table is a method for institutions to see how successful their student-athletes have been over the course of the SSS season.

In addition, the table provides a good indication of the scope of the programme with 1289 medal events delivered over the course of the last 9 months.

The table includes all events in which medals were awarded during the 2018/19 season.

National Squad members are still to be added with Cricket, Fencing, and Sailing still to send teams to competition in the coming months.

The table defaults to alphabetical but can be sorted by any of the column headings.

 

SSS Medal Table 2018/19

InstitutionGoldSilverBronzeTotalNational Squad Members
Abertay University688226
City of Glasgow College23051
Dundee & Angus College23381
Edinburgh College50050
Edinburgh Napier University498219
Glasgow Caledonian University1199297
Glasgow School of Art00001
Heriot Watt University814143624
New College Lanarkshire20021
Queen Margaret University12143
Robert Gordon University192120609
Scotland's Rural College01010
Stirling University3224258128
University of Aberdeen3433289528
University of Dundee2128318018
University of Edinburgh129796627465
University of Glasgow49544214543
University of St Andrews52504714936
University of Strathclyde46432711627
University of the Highlands & Islands24176
University of the West of Scotland986235
West Lothian College02020
Z-Guest Entries30212071

 

Total Events: 66

Total Medal Events: 548 Men | 533 Womens | Mixed 214

 

Last Updated: May 27th 2019

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