A new Twiss on Sports

Alex Twiss will be the Union’s Sports Officer next year, winning by a substantial margin of 1327 votes versus Leo Matlock’s 1014 of the final vote.

Twiss was relieved and a little stunned after the election result. He said he felt like there was a “giant hairdryer blowing in [his] face” when his name was called.

The first issue he wants to tackle next year is sponsorship. He said, “The thing I need to do massively first is talk to every single sports club, treasurer, president and try and build up a contact base of all their sponsorship contacts before they leave.” He wants to “not only provide a contact list, but also help clubs present themselves to companies”.

Sponsorship has emerged as a big issue in this campaign, and both Twiss and the newly-elected Societies Officer James Hall have said they will try and create some kind of sponsorship database or reference guide to help societies and clubs through the recession.

Twiss is also keen to start preparing for inter-departmental and inter-hall sports leagues. He wants to get the leagues and execs set-up as soon as possible so that they’re ready for Freshers’ Fair in the autumn. He said it was “key to make sure we’re hitting the ground running at the start of next year rather than trying to play catch-up”. The leagues will probably involve netball, tennis and rounders in the summer based on the feedback Twiss has received from students in elections’ week.

One of Twiss’ manifesto pledges was a free physiotherapist for sports teams. He said of the current system, it is “too unfeasible, especially in the economic climate, to expect students to pay £28 a session, potentially having 6 or 7 sessions in a term. I just really don’t think that’s viable for them”. He wants to work closely with the University and Warwick Medical School to get the service set up.

Although funding may be difficult to find, he said, “I really want to campaign to the University saying this should really be part of the welfare you provide for your students”, adding “it would be beneficial for Warwick Medical School as well”.

Twiss said if he could do anything differently he would have had more publicity. He thought that he had been a little “poster shy” at the beginning, but that his manifesto with five specific points had probably helped him get an edge over the other candidates.