Sport's President Blog #3
Name: Jess Savage
Year of study: 2
Course: JHE Special and Inclusive Education with Sports Education
Club: Gymnastics
How long have you been involved in your sport and what inspired you to become Club President?
- I started gymnastics at the age of 4 and have competed at various levels but not elite
- I became a qualified coach at the age of 16.
- I am now Level 2 Qualified for artistic gymnastics and Level 1 for Pre-school Gymnastics.
- I coach in schools and clubs at home and help to organise and deliver schools county events
After being part of gymnastics last year, I wanted to be part of a growing sport which i am passionate in and can help develop its place within NTU Sport.
Give us a quick overview of what a day in the life of being president is like.
Spend the day checking and replying to emails from various people in NTU Sport and external people. I also make sure that the rest of the committee are on top of what they need to do and see if I can help in any way I can. There are meetings to organise and events to sort but that isn't every day. My course doesn't have many contact hours which allows me to sort issues etc.
What's been your proudest achievement so far?
One of my main aims was to increase the size of gymnastics and with a lot of our members last year being in 3rd year and leaving, it hasn't been as easy as I thought. However, at our most recent competition we had 8 female competitors and 1 male competitor, this is double what we had last year at the same competition and despite the fact we did not medal it was some of the gymnasts first comp and time in a fully purpose gym and the majority ended up mid table or higher out of 50.
What's been your toughest challenge?
Things don't always have the outcomes you wanted and however much you post of Facebook and Twitter you can't guarantee they will be in high demand. For example: constant attendance at training and events. You just have to do the best and hope for the best. You learn how adapt and change things to hopefully learn from.
What aims do you have for the rest of the academic year?
- increase club knowledge
- take part in more skill swap sessions
- organise fundraising event
- increase session attendance and competition entries
What's the best thing about being a President?
- enhances CV
- improve leadership and communication skills
- sharing my for gymnastics to others who may not have the chance
What advice would you give to anyone thinking about running for President next year?
- make sure that you have time to commit to all the events and meetings you have to go
- you need to love your sport and want to improve it
- like working in a team
Tell us more about your teammates
Funniest: Millie Tedesco
Best Dressed: Emma Walford
Best Taste in Music: Nicole Lang
Hardest Trainer: Danielle Rhodes
Social Butterfly: Lucy Henshaw
Cleverest: Kieran Bowran
Best Wednesday Fancy Dress: Daisy D'Mello
