Member Association News: BUSA Becomes BUCS
June 23rd, 2008
University Sport Gets New National Voice in GBR
BUSA and UCS merge to create British Universities & Colleges Sport
A new national organisation set up to promote the benefits of sport and physical activity in the higher education sector began business for the first time on June 16th. British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) draws together expertise and experience from two former representative bodies – British Universities Sports Association (BUSA) and University College Sport (UCS) – to provide a unified voice for sport, fitness and physical activity on university campuses. The new organisation will offer a comprehensive, multi-sport competition structure and manage the development of programmes, services and facilities for participative, grass-roots sports through to elite, high-performance athletes. BUCS will work with students, athletic union staff and elected officers as well as professional sporting staff, coaches and volunteers from around 150 higher education institutions. It aims to improve the sporting offer to students, staff and communities and to significantly raise the profile of university sport within government, sports governing bodies and the media. BUCS will be led by its new Chief Executive, Karen Rothery, former Commercial Director at England Netball and Chair of the Board, Ed Smith, a former Senior Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers and Chair of WWF-UK. Ed Smith, BUCS Chair said: “Putting sport at the heart of the university experience is central to our success. Encouraging more people on and around campus to get active, maybe for the first time, to improve their health and fitness as well as develop new skills is a commitment every higher education institution should be making. With our members BUCS will be working to improve sport and recreation for students, staff and related communities and supporting the case for high-quality facilities and healthy campus services. We have an ambitious and challenging vision for higher education sport – greater participation, better competition and a higher, national profile in the UK and overseas. At the 2004 Athens Olympics students took home 46% of the medals won by Team GB. We should have high hopes for this summer in Beijing, but all eyes will soon be turning to success in London in 2012. So for Government, university leadership, sports governing bodies and our students, our collective challenge is to raise the profile and quality of university sport and to showcase how sport can contribute to the UK’s economic and social aspirations.“
New Website
http://www.bucs.org.uk/
