By Kartik Bharadia
Vice President NHSF (UK)
Morning briefing at Tipton Sports Academy, Birmingham
Though NHSF (UK)’s annual National Sports Competition took place at a different venue in this, its eight year, the move did not reduce any of the event’s fervour, excitement and ability to impress. On Saturday, 18th February more than 800 students gathered at Tipton Sports Academy in the West Midlands, rubbing their weary eyes, but still ready to compete. Representing 30 universities across the UK, participants competed in 6 different sports ,including; Football, side Netball, Cricket, Kho-Kho and Kabaddi, the latter of which has become a major highlight of the event. A new introduction to the event list year this was Badminton.
The proceedings started off with the Gayatri Mantra and a breath taking view of 800 students being briefed in the main sports hall (pictured below). The day no doubt saw many twists and turns for teams striving to make it to the knockout stages. There were some momentous victories throughout the day, the most notable being a Sixth-Form Kho-Kho team from Ashton under Lyne emerging triumphant against University teams from across the UK . Other attractions included a ‘Sewa Hub’, where students were able to make personal pledges to make a difference they wished to see and also purchase greetings cards made by children under the care of our partner charity in India, ‘Manav Sadhna’.
After an exhilarating 117 matches being played throughout the day, the final winning teams were as follows;
Mens 6-A-Side Football – Hertfordshire University
Womens Netball – London School of Economics
Indoor Cricket – Central Zone Team B
Badminton – Loughborough University
Kho-Kho – Ashton Sixth Form Team
Kabaddi – Warwick University
NHSF (UK) would like to congratulate all the students who participated for their hard work and effort– all the games were played with a high level of professionalism, skill and team spirit. We should also take this opportunity to recognise the part played by the match referees, Tipton Sports Academy support staff and the NHSF (UK) National Committee members who were all instrumental in the smooth running of possibly the most organised and successful sport competition to date.
Ashton Sixth Form Team – Kho-kho winners
Kabaddi Finals – London School of Economics Vs Warwick