For a sports society of just twelve members, underwater hockey does incredibly well. Expectations weren’t set too high when the 2018/19 season began, but the club has since blown them out the water.
“Getting a Brit Uni’s medal was more of a hope than a goal,” says secretary Harriet McNaughton. When the team travelled to Plymouth in March, however, they achieved just that.
Stirling claimed the bronze medal after an intense eight hours of competition. Only losing a single game, the team returned home with their status as the best team in Scotland retained.
This was following on from another fantastic performance in January, when Stirling visited Aberdeen for the Gowland Cup.
Stirling dominated the tournament and finished in first place, which was an important stepping stone for the team going forward.
“It’s the first thing that first years are exposed to,” says McNaughton, “so it’s nice to get the win.” This type of competition is great for team-building and can bring real excitement to the club going forward.
Getting everyone together for a game can be difficult in the first place though, and that’s been another focus of the club this year.
“We wanted to improve the accessibility to play together,” says welfare officer Corrie Docherty. The team often has to play three-on-three matches at training instead of the tournament-legal six-on-six, so even just a handful of missing members can impact their practice.
The small size of the underwater hockey club also means that member recruitment is essential. A large portion of the team currently consists of fourth year students, so bringing new players in will be a big focus next year.
Docherty hopes to improve the club’s social media presence in order to increase recruitment, hopefully showing Stirling just how successful the team is, and how fun it can be to get involved.
We’re bringing you season summary pieces for sports teams all across the university, so check back at 2PM every day for another edition of Bleed Green Round-Up.
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