The Loughborough Experience
Sport and Recreation
Loughborough offers a huge range of sporting opportunities. In 2008, 35% of Loughborough students questioned said that sport or physical activity was their favourite pastime, and 89% took part in sport or exercise at least three times a week.
The Loughborough environment has produced athletes and coaches of the calibre of Paula Radcliffe, Lord Sebastian Coe, Sir Clive Woodward and Monty Panesar.
Sport and recreation for all
Our sports facilities are available to all students, not just elite competitors and University team members. The University’s Sports Development Centre (SDC) organises fitness classes, coaching courses, and sports events on campus. Classes for beginners and more advanced levels include: tennis, aerobics, pilates and yoga, circuit training, swimming, aqua aerobics, aqua-jog and aqua circuits, squash, badminton, five-aside football – and there are many other recreational opportunities and facilities for casual use.
Loughborough gives you the opportunity to participate in sport at any level
Loughborough Students’Athletic Union (AU) provides membership to 54 different clubs. The AU prides itself on catering for everyone, whatever their level and commitment to sport, from beginners to international superstars. Each of the clubs is student run with a total membership in excess of 4,000.
Loughborough continues to play a lead role in student sport with achievements on and off the field second to none. Clubs compete in the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) competitions and in local and national leagues. In 2008 Loughborough University were once again crowned overall BUCS champions – the women have now won the title for the past 30 years, while the men have won it for the past 28.
Last year our clubs and teams achieved local, national and international success. These include clubs which dominate the BUCS competitions and other leagues, such as Rugby National Three North, Football Midland Combination Premier League, Hockey Premier League, and many other equivalents.
However, the AU is not merely about winning trophies and medals; it also places a very high value on a student’s personal development. Becoming involved in club life, off the field of play, is a great way to meet new people and develop communication, organisation, leadership and administrative skills.
Clubs
American Football, Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Basketball (men and women), Canoe, Cheerleading, Cricket, Cycling, Dance, Equestrian, Fencing, Football (men and women), Freestyle Kickboxing, Gliding, Golf, Gymnastics, Hockey (men and women), Hour of Power, Indoor Football, Jiu Jitsu, Judo, Kart, Lacrosse, Lifesaving, Mountaineering, Netball, Rowing, Rugby League, Rugby Union (men and women), Sailing and Windsurfing, Shaolin Kung Fu, Shotokan Karate, Sno, Skydiving, Squash, Sub Aqua, Swimming, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Trampoline, Triathlon, Ultimate Frisbee, Volleyball, Wado Ryu Karate, Waterpolo, Water-ski and Wakeboard.
Major sports facilities
All our sporting facilities, indoor and outdoor, are available to every student for recreational use. They include:
- Three-court multi use sports hall
- Four-court badminton centre
- Two-court netball centre
- Cricket indoor training centre (ECB’s world-class high performance centre)
- Gymnastics analysis and training centre
- Health and fitness suite
- Separate 1000m2 strength and conditioning centre
- Martial arts centre
- Dance studio
- 50m eight-lane swimming pool
- Five squash courts
- Water-based hockey pitch
- Two third-generation synthetic pitches
- Numerous grass pitches
- All-weather athletics stadium with 400m track
- Indoor athletics training centre
- Nine all-weather tennis courts complemented by an eight-court indoor tennis centre
- Sports medicine, sports science and technical analysis facilities
- Lifestyle and wellbeing assessments and packages
Sport events on campus
The events programme at Loughborough University offers students and community members alike access to an exciting range of sports events that few others can match. The Loughborough International Athletics match is the traditional athletics season curtain raiser and attracts numerous international athletes, including Olympic gold medallists. Other events on campus included the ‘Real Varsity Match’ an annual rugby showdown with 3,500 spectators, and 20/20 cricket tournaments.
International success
56 Loughborough athletes – students past and present and University based athletes – competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympics reaching 19 finals, breaking 15 national and two European records. The 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne was a great success for our students, and we look forward to even greater heights at Delhi in 2010.