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