Warwick Women: Katy Leigh Hall and Dany Levison, Aerobics

In honour of this year’s International Women’s Week, we spoke to some of Warwick’s most inspirational women. Katy Leigh Hall and Dany Levison are president and vice-president of one of the most female-heavy clubs on campus: Aerobics. This year, for the first time, it is considered a society rather than a sports club. This change amounted to the club more than doubling in size and engagement over the past couple of months.

What are your proudest achievements as president and vice-president of Aerobics?

Our proudest achievements are increasing membership by 2.5 times last year’s figures and more than doubling our class engagement. We tried really hard to build up our engagement this year so we did a full rebrand, really pushed the promotion and mixed up our class timetable to be more varied and fitting to our members’ wants and to see that all come to fruition is really rewarding. It’s great to see our hard work paying off and see our member’s enjoy the society and to be providing great classes.

Why did you decide to turn Aerobics into a society?

It didn’t make sense to be part of Warwick Sport anymore since they started offering their exercise classes within their basic memberships. The aerobics club came into existence to provide cheap and affordable exercise when it wasn’t available but if we continued as a sport club this was no longer possible. You had to spend x amount to just get the option to become a member and we’d have to increase the amount we charged to compete with Warwick Sport which we weren’t interested in doing as it went against our purpose as a club. The move to becoming a society was best because it gave our members access to the cheap exercise we’d always offered and we didn’t have to sacrifice quality. We now have more flexibility with the type of class we run, when we run it and the instructors we hire which gives our members a much better service at a much cheaper price. It was a very taboo topic and we’d actually been told not to do it by various people as it is deemed ‘better’ to be a sports club but it has been nothing but positive for the society and our members, new and old.

Do you think sport at Warwick is as inclusive to women as it is to men?  

We do generally think that sport at Warwick is equally inclusive to men and women, however we think sport clubs aren’t particularly inclusive in general. Sports at Warwick can appear to be both intimidating and exclusive for both genders. It’s not that we think that sport at Warwick isn’t inclusive to women, it’s that it isn’t necessarily the easiest environment to immerse yourself in whatever your gender. Sport at Warwick has a very ‘cliquey’ air to it and whilst the university does seem to be working to counter it, it hasn’t seemed particularly inclusive during our years at university. That being said though, I do think there is a stigma around ‘male’ activity and ‘female’ activity. When Aerobics was a sports club we often felt marginalised by other clubs as being not hard enough. We were seen as ‘weak’ and not a ‘real’ sports club by a lot of other clubs which, as any of our members will tell you, isn’t the case!

What is the biggest challenge you have faced as president and vice-president of Warwick Aerobics?

Without sounding like a broken record, our biggest challenge was the transition itself. It required a lot of negotiation with the SU and a lot of organisation and logistical changes. Katy actually ended up having to go into the SU over the summer holidays to negotiate the best deal for Aerobics going forward. By becoming a society we lost access to Warwick Sports’ facilities which meant we had nowhere to hold our classes, no equipment, no storage and not a lot of money to spend – we basically had to start from scratch. We worked a lot with the SU to sort out new facilities (we’re now in the Copper Rooms which isn’t anywhere near as sticky as it sounds) and we’ve purchased a whole suite of equipment including barbells, steps, matts, etc. The transition began mid-August but by the time term started in October, we’d worked out the logistics of the transition and got everything ready for the start of term. Those 10 weeks were a massive challenge but it definitely paid off.

Ultimately, what are your goals for the society?

The club’s main goals are inclusivity, quality and community. We want the society to be accessible to everyone regardless of money, gender, ability. We also pride ourselves on the quality of our classes – the instructors are all fully-qualified and run really good and enjoyable sessions for our members. Our prices might be cheap but our classes are really good workouts and we have a good variety to suit everyone’s tastes! Our most important goal for the club is that it is a community. We don’t just want people to turn up, workout and leave. We want people to make friends and bonds that spread across our classes and our socials. We’re an inclusive community, not just a society and we think that’s really important. Our ultimate goal is to make sure that these values are always at the centre of everything we do and that we lay the groundwork properly for future years.

What is the best piece of advice you have for young women at university?

It sounds cliché but just get involved in anything you’re interested in. The choice of activities at Warwick can seem quite daunting but if you’re remotely interested in something give it a go and you might love it! Being part of a society or sports club really enriches your time at university and helps you figure out what you like and helps you with career opportunities later too. Try not to worry what others are thinking or doing, do the things that you enjoy and that will enrich your time here. You don’t want to leave university regretting things you didn’t do, so just go out there and get involved in whatever takes your fancy before it’s too late.