On Wednesday 29^th May LSBU Active celebrated and recognised students involved in sport at LSBU supported by London South Bank Student’s Union. The sold-out event saw over 100 students coming together from sports clubs, the social Just Play programme, sports scholars and student sports coaches on the Sports Ambassador Scheme. The event recognised the impact, engagement, development and sporting performance of all the students. It was an amazing night celebrating all of the students achievements showcasing how much sports enhances the student experience at LSBU. The sense of belonging, social connections, and pride in being an LSBU student in the sport for student programme really stood out. 

The award winners:  

Sports Ambassador of the Year- Impact: Katerina Efenberkova, School of Arts and Creative Industries 
 
Sports Ambassador of the Year- Development: Seon Kabia, School of Business 

Social Sport of the Year – with Special Mention:  Cricket and Emdad Shah

Club Leader of the Year: Nayana Gash, Cheerleading Club Leader, School of Applied Science 
 
Unsung Hero: Florence Smart, School of Health and Social Care 
 
Club of the Year- Impact: Women’s Football 
 
Club of the Year- Engagement: Cheerleading 
 
Club of the Year- Development: Women’s Rugby 
 
Sportsperson of the Year: Maxwell Jones, 1^st year, School of Health and Social Care 
 
Team of the Year: Men’s Rugby  
 

Iliyan Stefanov, Director of Student Services enjoyed attending the event: “It’s fantastic, there is so much energy in this room, I can’t believe it!” 

Nicole Louis, Chief Operating Officer of The LSBU Group joined in with the celebrations: “It’s been a real reminder of how important sport, recreation and team spirit is, I’ve been really impressed with all of the teams, all of the individuals. It’s the energy, it’s the fun, it’s the team spirit and most importantly it’s LSBU Active!”  

Over the weekend (18 – 19 May) two current LSBU students competed on the international stage of sport. Maxwell Jones, School of Health and Social Care, was out in Shanghai as part of the British Fencing Senior squad, with Jennifer Eduwu, also School of Health and Social Care, called up for the England Athletics Senior squad at the Loughborough International Athletics meet.

For both these students this is their first senior call-up to their national teams and LSBU Active are very proud to be able to support them both.

Following her performance at the BUCS (British University and Colleges Sport) Outdoor Athletics Championships representing LSBU, Jennifer received her first call up to the England Athletics team. Jennifer represented England in the 4x100m relay, as well as also competing as a guest runner in the 100m individual event, finishing third in her final. The Loughborough International Athletics meet is widely recognised as the opener to the outdoor season with past and present British Olympians competing at the Paula Radcliffe Stadium. The event invites teams representing England, Wales, Scotland, GB&NI Under-20s and the National Athletics League to compete against each other as the outdoor season gets underway.

Jennifer Edwu said: “Being on the England Senior athletics Team was a great experience, positive vibes all around as the coaches and team leaders were very supportive. It was nice to meet people in the track community as 100m is an individual event, but the relay is really a team effort so bonding with the girls on the team was lovely. I am also very pleased with my performance in the 100m, definitely heading in the right direction just need to stay focused and enjoy the journey along the way, as this is just the beginning”

For Maxwell it was his first senior call up to represent GB, previously competing in the Junior teams. Maxwell travelled out to Shanghai for the FIE Grand Prix two-day event as part of the British 12 man squad, Max started off the event well, progressing out of the group stage and into the knockout rounds where he won his first round 15 points to 7. Maxwell finished inside the top 100 ahead of previous Olympic medallists and scored the third highest placed British fencer at the event.

Maxwell said he was very happy with his performances at the event and LSBU Active are proud to have been able to support in his journey.

Maxwell has also previously represented LSBU at the British University National Championships.

Over the weekend we also saw a bronze medal for LSBU Alumni Ellis Miller. Ellis Miller, LSBU Alumni and previous LSBU Active scholar, secured a bronze medal on the European stage. Ellis secured third place as part of Great Britain’s C1 Womens team at the European Canoe Slalom Championships in Tacen, Slovenia. Previously Ellis has medalled in other events, including wearing LSBU colours where she secured gold and silver medal in 2023 at the BUCS Canoe and Kayak championships, as well as the Gold in the 2022 championships. Ellis is looking ahead with the aim to be selected for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Congratulations to Maxwell Jones for his first call up to the senior GB Fencing squad for the Shanghai Grand Prix event.

Maxwell Jones, School of Health and Social Care, has recently had his first call up to compete as one of a 12-man squad for Great Britain in the FIE Grand Prix event taking place in Shanghai. Max, supported through the LSBU Active scholarship program; allowing him to balance his studies and student experience with elite sport, has previously represented LSBU at the British University National Championships as well as regularly competing for Great Britain on the junior stage, and on the national stage with his club outside of LSBU.

Max said the following about his selection:

“I have recently been selected to represent Great Britain at the senior Grand Prix in Shanghai, China. These events are the highest level of international fencing bringing together past, present, and future Olympic medallists to compete, to gain points towards their world rankings. Countries may only send a maximum of twelve athletes to represent them and I’m lucky to be amongst this small group. This will be my first experience fencing at such a competition, so I’m really excited about getting to fight against this calibre of opponents and really test my abilities. This will hopefully be the first of many events that I can represent the nation for at a senior level, and will look forward to trying to carry on my performance into the future.”

LSBU Active are incredibly proud to support Max as part of our scholarship program and wish him the best of luck out in Shanghai.

During 15^th – 19^th April, a total of 37 staff and students from LSBU teamed up to complete a virtual 64-mile walking challenge. The theme of the activity – ‘Walk the Bridges with LSBU’ is a play on both the route, which involved virtually walking across 26 of the Thames’ footbridges, as well as encouraging individuals to build bridges with others during the challenge. Participants were required to log their daily walks on Strava whilst they collectively moved through the virtual route. 

The Make Your Move campaign was focused on promoting individual wellbeing through getting active on your own or with others. There are huge links between an increased level of exercise and improved mood, concentration, and alertness – which LSBU were encouraging staff and students to discover.

As well as participating virtually, some in-person sessions were integrated in this challenge, including a ‘treadmill session’ with a trained instructor and a group wellbeing walk from LSBU Active to Lambeth Bridge and back. The week ended with the group going above and beyond both the initial 64 ‘bridge-walk’ target, and the additional challenge of walking the marathon route (bringing the total up to 90 miles) with a total of 97 miles complete.  

At the end of the challenge, Nicole Suliman a residential community ambassador from LSBU, posted on the Strava group: “Would love if we could do something like this on the regular. Maybe a virtual run club?”. After the challenge, she went on to say “I thought the challenge was a great way to keep others and myself active. I’m a frequent user of Strava and love seeing other people’s workouts and sharing mine as well.”  

Daniel, the fitness manager at LSBU Active, also claimed, “I enjoyed taking part in Friday’s Lambeth bridge walk, great view, good weather and great company. The walk helped refocus my thoughts, and it will ensure I get more active breaks into my work schedule as the benefits are well worth it.” This positive feedback only highlights the benefit group members felt that activity had on their wellbeing and enjoyment of being part of the LSBU ‘Make Your Move’ initiative. 

On Saturday 23rd March, the LSBU Cheerleading Squad travelled up to Birmingham to compete in the ‘Legacy’ Cheer and Dance Competition! For this weekend, universities from all around the country come together to showcase a range of performances. LSBU Cheer gave it their all in a dazzling performance that included stunts, coordinated dance moves – as well as an incredible effort from all involved. After the event, students gave glowing reviews of the weekend, with one first time attendee, Amber White, 1st Year, School of Applied Science, saying she “loved performing and found everyone very supportive”.

Other returning students remarked on how “team spirits were high”, with one student saying that for their routine “the team worked together amazingly the progress from last year was tremendous. The new uniform and bows also made a huge difference as the team felt a lot more unified” – Amelia Bywater, 2nd Year, School of Business

Members from the entire squad picked up on the unity and team spirit the weekend had brought. “At this moment, we didn’t feel like a team, we felt like a family” remarked Joe Soriano, 2nd Year, School of Business. 

Final words from the cheerleading squad club leader – Nayana Gash, 2nd Year, School of Applied Science: “it was a lovely feeling to see everyone so proud of themselves and the journey they have been on. The progression from the team from last year was massive. This was one of the biggest teams LSBU cheerleading has had with one of the best routines the team have performed and it was an honour to captain the team at this competition” 

On Wednesday 6th March, the LSBU Men’s Rugby first team headed to Surrey Sports Park to compete in the BUCS Southeastern Conference Shield final against London City University with the hope of bringing home the ‘Conference Shield’. After a fantastic season of matches, the men’s rugby team were hoping to come away with an LSBU win. Getting as far as the finals only highlights the successful efforts that LSBU Men’s Rugby have put in to developing their squad over fixtures this season. It has been great to watch their efforts paying off! Captained by Daniel Goldhill, a core squad of 22 players, some diehard LSBU spectators plus some supporting staff members from LSBU all headed down to Guilford, to either watch or play the game.  

With pitch side warmups and pep talks complete, the starting whistle went off at 3pm sharp signalling the beginning what turned out to be a very tight but exciting match. The first half consisted of some early tries from London City (2 with conversions one without), quickly bringing their score up to 19-0. There were also a few injuries stop starting the match, but both sides played well testing each other’s limits.  

After a quick break and team regroup, the second half kicked off with two fantastic tries scored by LSBU, both successfully converted. With the score coming up to 19-14, the game was becoming a much closer match. With more back and forth, City were awarded a penalty earning them an extra 3 points bringing their score up 22-14. Not long later, LSBU came back with another successfully converted try bringing the score up to 22-21. The last moments of the match saw some impressive rugby from both sides. Having played together all season, the impactful social connections formed between the LSBU players were particularly clear in the last moments of the game when the team put in a last push for that all important finals win. 

Though the game did not end in victory, making it as far as the final is still a huge achievement for LSBU, as well as a memorable moment for students. Some post-match words from the captain were “Today we’re at Surrey sports centre and we’ve just played in the cup final.” “The boys put in a shift, unfortunately they (City) got a couple of early tries, but we brought it back and it became an intense game” “I’d like to thank all the team for showing up, our coach and LSBU Active for supporting us today”. As LSBU staff, we could not be prouder of our squad for how far they’ve come this academic year and can’t wait to watch the team grow from strength to strength in the years to come.