University Sports - Ask Away

[Claudia]

Dear Elizabeth,
It's unfortunate that our meeting times clash but as the riding club have said, both clubs are very close and there would be no conflict if you wanted to join and ride in both. We book lessons and chukkas in the meetings but if you cannot attend you can always just send us an email. We have lessons throughout the week and chukkas on Wednesday afternoon or weekends so it is quite flexible. Also we don't have a set team for the year so you would very easily be able to compete for riding and polo.
I hope this solves your problem and if you would like anymore infomation please send an email to poloclub@st-andrews.ac.uk. Also have a look at our website www.standrewspolo.com.
I look forward to seeing you at the sports fair when you can sign up to the club.
Claudia Niblett
Polo Captain
07799644841

[Claudia]

Dear Axel,
Your polo club membership covers your insurance needed by the Athletic Union to allow you to get involved with any club activies.
On top of that riding lessons are £15 with very highly recommended teaching. Also you will be provided with a horse and any kit you may need.
Polo lessons are £25 for a good hour and a half of polo, the equipment you need and a quick bit of instruction on the woodern horse to start with.
We also play competative chukkas which will cost a bit more but depend on how many chukkas you wish to enter and if we play locally or have to include transport costs.
I hope this answers your questions. You can find more infomation on our website www.standrewspolo.com or you can send us an email to poloclub@st-andrews.ac.uk.
I look forward to seeing you at the freshers' sports fair.
Claudia Niblett
Polo Captain
07799644841

[Jaspar]

It says on the list of sports that St. Andrews offers Badminton. I've never played competitively, but I quite enjoy playing when I get the opportunity to. Does the badminton program accomodate players who haven't done anything competitive before?

[cberry]

The Badminton Club has both a inter-university Competitive team as well as a recreational and instructional programme. To compliment this, the Departement of Sport and Excercise also offer drop-in recreational badminton sessions. So there are plenty of opportunities to play or learn Badminton, and perhaps work your way up to the competitive level. The Badminton Captain can be contacted by emailing am632@st-andrews.ac.uk.

[TB]

Hello I'm an American that's going to be starting up at St. Andrews this coming term and had a few team specific questions. First of all I was wondering if Rugby and Cricket are good alternative to American Football and Baseball because I play both at home. And along those same lines I was also wondering how good the Rugby, Basketball, Lacrosse, and Cricket teams are in a usual year? Thank you.

[DrAlex]

Quoting TB from 00:30, 6th Sep 2006
First of all I was wondering if Rugby and Cricket are good alternative to American Football and Baseball because I play both at home.

I'm not affiliated with any of the above teams, but I am a big baseball and cricket fan and I assure you that balls you hit with a bat is the only similarity between these games. By all means try to get into it, I suggest watching a few games with someone who can talk you through it, try playing, but they are two very different games.

Similiarly rugby and football have numerous differences, but the conversion of one to the other is much easier, especially if you play league rules.


[hr]

"Listen to DrAlex."-Polli
http://standrews.facebook.com/profile.php?id=37100343

[cberry]

Quoting TB from 00:30, 6th Sep 2006
Hello I'm an American that's going to be starting up at St. Andrews this coming term and had a few team specific questions. First of all I was wondering if Rugby and Cricket are good alternative to American Football and Baseball because I play both at home. And along those same lines I was also wondering how good the Rugby, Basketball, Lacrosse, and Cricket teams are in a usual year? Thank you.

Cricket:
As a former baseball player myself, and I can tell you that Cricket is a bit of a challenge to pick up- every time I tried “bowling” my friends kept telling me that I was actually “throwing” the ball, which is illegal. But it is good fun, and the Men’s team competes at a high level within BUSA and train regularly. The women field a team which also trains throughout the year, and there is also an intra-mural league during 2nd semester.


Rugby:
Whether or not one is a good alternative to another is a question that, as an elected official, I probably shouldn’t comment on! That said, people with an American football build and reasonable ball-handling ability would likely be able to pick the sport up fairly quickly. The first team plays at a very high level within BUSA, and there is also a very active 2nd and 3rd team (for men) and a ladies team.

Basketball:
The Men’s Basketball Team have recently been promoted to the highest league in Scotland, this following their best year to date (that I know of). The team made it to the semi-finals of the BUSA Shield Competition. Next year they should benefit from additional training times in both the indoor and the new outdoor basketball court and should be able to thrive in their new league. The Women’s Basketball team also competes in the highest Scottish league. For less competitive basketball players there are both drop-in sessions and an intra-mural league.

Lacrosse:
Lacrosse has recently been selected as a Performance Sport at the University and as such will hugely benefit from an large increase in resources. The Women’s team already competes at a high level within BUSA, and they have a tradition of being a consistently high-performing club. Men’s Lacrosse is a young but growing sport in Scotland, and the recently formed St Andrews team should be well placed to score well in the new league.

email me at aupres@st-andrews.ac.uk if you want to get into touch with any of the club or team captains or if you have any other questions on these or any other sports.

Chris

[V]

How is the Rugby scene in St Andrews for those Intermediate guys. I played for my school team for the past two years though I played 7's as numerous schools in my country who play rugby dont have enough guys playing rugby so 7s was all I got to play. So anyways are there any teams where guys who are not good enough to make it in the first or 2nd teams could still play.

Thank you