Reshma Arukgoda, Candidate for BL Sports Officer
Role Description: Joining a sports club (we have over 60!) can be a great way to pursue passions and build strong friendships. Every year, we have thousands of new students eager to get involved and the Sports Officer plays an important role in being the voice of these students. As a Sports Officer, you will be given the opportunity to develop and approve new clubs, plan and deliver events as well as allocate funding, all while working closely with Students’ Union staff. You’d also ensure that BLSA sports clubs and the Students’ Union maintain strong communication so that everything runs smoothly!
What's your favourite moment from being a student here?
It's definitely hard to give just one moment that I've enjoyed more than others because since coming to Barts, I've enjoyed A LOT. I've loved feeling as though I was part of a community and feeling comfortable trying new things and achieving my goals. I've particularly enjoyed merger (which I attended in first and second year) because I thought it was a really fun event that brought everyone together to celebrate being a part of Barts - whether you're playing in a match, going to watch or even just wearing the face paint, it's a really enjoyable day.
What's something you've done that you're proud of?
I'm really proud of coming to university and forcing myself to try new things. In first and second year, I was really nervous when joining new clubs and societies. I did netball, dance and even volleyball just to push myself out of my comfort zone and get involved with some societies. Since then, I've felt so at ease trying new things and I've met some amazing people through joining these societies which I'm so grateful for! Aside from university-related things, I'm also proud of my progress as a runner. I used to only strength train or do HIIT cardio but since starting running in 2023, I've increased my distances and my paces massively and I'm so happy that the hard work truly has been paying off!
What is a problem facing students and how do you propose to fix it?
At the moment, with sports societies in particular, there's a lot of difficulty in ensuring they have an affordable space with appropriate timings to practise their sport. I work at Qmotion and, as a receptionist, have been in the middle of societies trying to book in spaces to exercise, and there not being any availability. It's insane how you have book certain spaces months in advance to make sure you can use them! I want to make this easier, for everyone. I also think there need to be more wellbeing related sports services provided by the university. At the moment, the uni has a great support network and people to talk to whenever you need, however, there should be more activities for students to do ,ESPECIALLY in exam season when exercise becomes less of a priority, because it really is the best medicine for most mental-health related problems.
