Archie Annan

Candidate for Sports Participation Officer

Photo of Archie Annan

Key Points

  • Increase participation for individuals who may have little sporting experience
  • Create opportunities for high standard athletes to reach their peak performance
  • Involve more students in officiating and club organisational roles
  • Ensure individuals who don't consume alcohol still feel confident playing
  • Make the viewing of a variety of sports more accesible

Hi Everybody,

My name is Archie Annan and I am a first year student at the university studying BSc Population and Geography. Away from my studies I am a passionate hockey, football and cricket player having played all three sports from a young age. Despite growing up on the island of Guernsey where transport to and from mainland UK often proves to be a challenge, fortunately I was given many opportunities to test my sporting ability against local, national and international teams for all three sports mentioned above. Being able to participate in competitive tournaments such as the U16 England Hockey Tier 2 Championships, play an annual 11 a side football match against Victoria College in Jersey (a fixture with over 100 years of history) and represent my school (Elizabeth College) in the 2018 Sporta Cricket tournament at the Zayed Cricket Stadium has made me realise how powerful and effective sport participation is for mental/physical health and social interaction.

After my arrival at the university in September 2022, I was in awe of the number of sporting opportunities which cater for the most elite athletes striving to perform at county/national level or for those individuals participating in sports to create new friendships and use it as a form or escapism. From well known sports such as football and tennis to lesser known sports like canoe polo and korfball (both of which sound very entertaining!), there are many opportunities to try something new and discover a sporting passion you may have never realised you had.

As a Sports Participation Officer, I would aim to increase participation for individuals who have little sporting experience by arranging taster sessions and short introductory meetings with the senior committees from all sports. For example, a taster session for cricket may demonstrate skills such as the bowling action. Introductory meetings would also be recorded and avaiable online and for cricket, may show some clips of previous matches. For those athletes aiming to reach higher levels of performance, I would aim to connect them with students playing a related sport or with similar long-term goals. It would then be possible to link them with pathway centres and develop specific training programmes assisted by senior players, gym staff and coaches. Although sporting participation commonly refers to playing, I would also aim to involve people in officiating and organisational roles. For example, organising umpiring courses and getting people who don’t play to consider helping with each club’s social media accounts. Moreover, I would like to ensure that individuals who do not consume alcohol still feel confident participating. With the Football World Cup approaching, we will likely see an increase in students watching sport, a trend which could remain by streaming a variety of sports in different campus locations.

Although I am only a first year student, I believe that my passion and love for both social and competivie sport will enable me to increase levels of engagement and thereby make the university a more innovative and inclusive sporting environment.