2013 Annual Report - Jesus College - University of Cambridge

130 SPORTS CLUBS I Jesus College Annual Report 2013
Squash
Squash at Jesus College has gone from strength to strength over the 2012/13 season.
Having won promotion into the top division last year with a strong set of players, the
first team capitalized on the opportunity to compete among all the other top colleges,
performing incredibly well to win the College League by a significant margin.
The second team have also become a formidable force in college squash over the course
of the year under the captaincy of Luke Woodliffe. Their strength in depth has helped
them to finish second in division 3, having gained promotion from division 4 earlier in
the season. This is an incredible achievement, as they are now by far the highest ranked
second team in the College Leagues. Players from both teams deserve their success,
having worked hard all year by attending weekly training sessions and playing regular
games on the college squash ladder.
Outside of the teams, Jesus College enjoys a large social squash scene. Over forty
college members take part in the active college squash ladder, allowing Jesuans easy
access to other players of a similar standard, and the ability to find new playing partners.
As a college we won a competition ran by the University Squash Club which encouraged
as many people as possible to play on a single day in order to help back the bid to get
squash into the Olympics in 2020. On top of this the club organised a set of training
sessions over an eight week period which were open to all players, and which were run
by the Cambridge University squash coach.
Although next year we will unfortunately lose some integral members of both college
teams, many strong members of the club are staying on, and the strength in depth of
squash at the college means that the 2013/14 season will be another great one for the club.
Tom Atherton
Mixed Netball
The 2012-13 Season was a tough one for the Jesus Mixed Netball Team, but one that also
showed exactly the kind of tenacious spirit and depth of ability which makes Jesus such
a renowned sporting college. Coming into the season we knew we faced the tough task
of refilling the male side of our squad, and rebuilding on the female side too. Luckily the
Freshers’ Fair proved the perfect place to recruit talent, and over thirty people had
signed down to volunteer themselves for duty. As such, over the next few weekends, our
core squad took shape, and there was not a single game in the term where we did not
have the numbers to put out a very competitive side. By the end of Michaelmas Term,
having put in some very strong performances against the entire range of teams in the top
division, easily seeing off Churchill at home, and coming out on top in an extremely
tight game against league leaders Gonville and Caius, we were well placed in the middle
of the table. The second half of the season was hampered by the weather, but when the
snow, ice, and driving rain finally let up in time for Cuppers, we showed that we really
did have strength in depth and some real finesse and quality, given that half the team
had been playing netball regularly for less than 9 months!
Easing through the group stages with only a handful of goals against us, we battled
to an unlucky loss in the quarter finals against eventual winners, Corpus Christi.
Next season will come with the usual challenge of restarting and regrouping, but the
Jesus sporting heritage will no doubt mean that we, yet again, have a very real chance of
aiming for the top.
Sarah Woods