Monday 03-11-2025 - 09:30

Hello, readers! 

What a whirlwind first 6 weeks it's been for our sports teams and societies at QMU. I've taken up the role of Sports Officer, no mean feat given I'm following in the footsteps of the amazing Ruth Lawlor. It's been a privilege to meet so many new people and get stuck in with the teams and Students' Union. I've felt really welcomed and supported in the role, and it's been great to see the enthusiasm and passion from every one of our sports. From our old hats to our newcomers, you've done brilliantly so far.  

Memberships and participation have both gone up- an important part of my campaign manifesto- and I hope to see those numbers continue to rise throughout the academic year. We're about to start our Movember campaign, and we're hoping to once again smash it with some fantastic fundraisers and events throughout the month.  

Finally, I'd like to express my gratitude to every student, member of staff, and coach who I've met so far this year. You've made a daunting task much more manageable, and every one of you brings something unique and special to your teams. From games, to socials, to practice sessions, and everything in between, it's been a pleasure to watch. I'm very proud to be your SO this year, keep up the amazing work! Now, without further ado, let's hear from some of our sports teams! #bleedblue 

Joe Agnew, Sports Officer 2025/26

This article includes news from: 

• Dance
• Badminton
• Swim
• Run Club
• Women's Basketball
• Women's Football
• Men's football
• Netball
• Rock Climbing
• Hockey
• Ladies' Gaelic Football

Dance 💃 

To kick things off, we’ve had 65 members join so far — and the number’s still rising! It’s been amazing to see so many new faces joining our dance family. We held auditions at the start of the month and have already begun our competition prep. Both our recreational classes and competition teams have been going really well — the energy and commitment this year have been incredible! 

We also had our first social, a Sober Mocktail & Mingle, which was the perfect chance to get to know our freshers before our big Freshers event the following week. The theme was a hit, and everyone had such a great night! We’ve teamed up with Cheer for our upcoming Movember event, and we’ve officially signed up on the Movember website so we can start fundraising soon — watch this space! We’re also planning a joint social with Football, and hopefully a few more collaborations with other societies soon — we love bringing everyone together for fun events and community vibes. 

This month, we’ve also introduced a Buddy System, where two returning members are paired with a fresher in a group chat. It’s a great way to help our new members settle in, make connections, and have someone to turn to if they need anything. We’ve been putting a big focus on wellbeing this semester too! Our amazing Wellbeing Officer has been leading the charge with Motivational Monday posts and Wellness Wednesday features. We even have a dedicated Instagram highlight for these, so everyone can access tips and positivity whenever they need it. It’s been such a strong start to the year, and we can’t wait to see what November brings! 💫 

Badminton 🏸 

We had our welcome drinks at three sisters with the theme “dress as your degree”, we then had a “I’m a celebrity get me out of here” social at three sisters where we had “bush tucker trials” and great attendance. We had our first match against Edinburgh 4s. Was a great match and great win and even more great that it was everyone (apart from me :( )’s first ever BUCS match. We did our first fundraiser of the year where we played bingo and had a raffle and managed to make an amazing £350 for the society! And finally we had our game against Stirling 2s. Although this was a loss, the games were so ridiculously close, with a lot of 3 setters and it really could’ve gone either way. And again some players first ever BUCS match. 

Basically big shoutout to this year's BUCS team as it is brand new and they’re all working together so well. But also big shoutout out to the social players as couldn’t be without them, Tuesday sessions are going great and we are getting really good attendance at our Wednesday socials ☺️

Swim 🌊 

It’s been an amazing two months for QMU Swim! We’ve secured full pool access for our training sessions and now offer two sessions every week, designed to suit different experience levels. Even better, our swim community is bigger and more welcoming than ever, bringing together swimmers of all abilities.   

We’ve also been busy planning a range of fun socials with our sponsor, Frankenstein’s!  including themes such as Dress Up as an Artist and a Think Pink night in support of breast cancer awareness. We’re currently in the midst of organising a friendly competition against Edinburgh Napier Swim Team, along with a social afterwards to celebrate. Alongside all of this, we’ve also been organising a Halloween bake sale for QMU Swim! Since pool hire can be quite expensive.  

To help lift team spirit, the committee decided it was time QMU Swim had its very own mascot! Meet our adorable pink teddy axolotl, its name will soon be revealed on our Instagram @qmuswim!  Finally, the committee has decided to introduce a new role to our team, a Wellbeing Officer. While we’re dedicated to providing great in-pool experiences for our swimmers, we also want to make sure that everyone feels valued, supported, and seen both in and out of the water. 

Run Club 🏃

We've been so happy with how our semester has started. Our numbers have almost quadrupled since last year, and we're now offering sessions 4 days a week to cater for everyone.  

Our Monday circuits are back by popular demand, and the effort being put into them has been incredible to see. Our Wednesday runs provide our largest turnout of the week, and offer all students a chance to run/walk and chat together. We usually cover around 4-5km, but some weeks we get a bit carried away! Thursday is a new session that is girls only. This gives the girls a chance to run/walk with a supportive and tight-knit group who are extremely encouraging and make sure any newcomers aren't left behind. Sunday sees our long runs in Edinburgh and we cover around 8-10km with a cafe stop at the end to refuel! 

Women’s Basketball 🏀 

The QMU Women’s Basketball team is off to an exciting start this season, with plenty of new faces joining the team. A strong group of recruits has brought athleticism, and enthusiasm to the team, creating a competitive and supportive atmosphere in training. 

The team recently faced Heriot-Watt in their first match of the season, showing impressive teamwork and determination throughout the game. Despite a tough battle, QMU left the court proud of our performance and already looking forward to a rematch later in the season. Preparation has been intense, with the girls also taking part in a lively scrimmage against the QMU men’s team. This was a valuable experience that helped improve both sides’ skills and build friendships across the teams. With growing confidence, steady improvement, and a strong sense of ambition, the team is ready to make this one of their best seasons yet. We’re also still welcoming new members to join the team and be part of an exciting season ahead. 

Women's Football ⚽ 

We’ve had a fantastic start to the year in women’s football, welcoming over 20 new members to the team! Weekly training sessions have been going brilliantly, with everyone coming together, working hard, and making great progress while having plenty of fun. New players are still very welcome, so if you haven’t found time to join a club yet, or if women’s football is something you’d like to try, get in touch or come along and get involved! 

Our social calendar has been just as busy, from socials at our sponsor Pilgrims, to joint events with other societies, as well as relaxed non-drinking socials like our bonfire on the beach and Halloween movie night. On the pitch, we’ve already had our first game of the year. Although we didn’t get the win, we scored two goals and learned a lot. With three more matches coming up in November, we’re feeling excited, determined, and ready to push for our first victory of the season! 

Men’s Football ⚽ 

The season has kicked off in incredible fashion, following an outstanding GIAG session with a fantastic turnout. We now have 28 active members regularly participating, with even more keen to join in the coming weeks. The team has already played two pre-season and two league fixtures, securing impressive wins of 9–1 and 4–0. Attendance at social events has been consistently strong, and the recent change in training day has led to an excellent boost in participation. Our social media channels continue to thrive, with great engagement and a vibrant, eye-catching presence. It’s been a very promising start to the season — we’d love to see even more people come along and get involved! 

Netball 🏐 

Netball has started the semester off strong with welcoming many new members taking the total members up to 50. Give it a go week was a success for Netball with holding a taster session in the sports hall and introducing the new outdoor session on a Thursday, both having great turnouts. We continued to host our Wednesday socials at The Three Sisters and again these have been good turnouts and we have had the best socials which include, welcome drinks, dress as first initial of your name, welcome night (Men in Black and Aliens) and wig night. We can’t wait to see what the future of socials holds for us.  

Currently as games are underway with our 1s who are in BUCS 4A and our 2s who are in BUCS 8A, both teams experienced a lot of leavers last year which meant they are brand new teams with very few returners. Our 1s are sitting comfortably in their league right now but as a newish team the girls are working amazing together. Our 2s are sitting joint in the middle of their league with winning 2 matches in a row, again this is a newish team so again are working amazing together. Our Recreational team are working well in training and are hopeful to get a game in a couple of weeks. 

Netball has exciting plans for the new few months including lots of plans for Movember and fundraising for the 3 chosen charities which are Macmillan, Alzheimer’s Scotland and Endometriosis UK. 

Rock Climbing 🧗

Since the start of the year, the newly founded Rock-Climbing Society has been hosting many events for climbers of all levels. We have had extraordinary enthusiasm from the community at QMU from all climbing abilities. Our events have centred around our weekly bouldering sessions at The Climbing Hangar Edinburgh, where we have been granted a fantastic 50% discount for our members every Thursday evening. We also hosted our first monthly roped climbing session at EICA Ratho, a great success. We had a fantastic day out with Napier Climbing Club in a collaborative outdoor climbing session in North Berwick.  We have also been hosting well-attended social nights out.  

Given the excitement and enthusiasm shown by our members and the whole QMU community, we look forward to the club growing and evolving as we host different events and fundraisers. All in all, we're absolutely thrilled with the positivity of the club and very much looking forward to its future. 

Hockey 🏑

QMU Hockey have had a great start to the year! We have had a lot of new members join us this year, which has been amazing. We have also welcomed existing members back, and we are looking forward to what this year brings! We are creating fun training sessions and growing as players who have shown this on the pitch with a great win for our first match! We have a great atmosphere within the team and are having great fun.  

We have had a mixture of socials at our sponsors, 3 sisters, and chill socials, providing time for team bonding, which will help us on the pitch. We have provided awareness on breast cancer awareness month and hosted a fundraiser for this. We were joined by other QMU societies and wore pink; it was a great event, and we thank those who joined us. We have 4 matches in November that we are looking forward to playing, and our first cup match.  

We are looking forward to contributing to Movember and fundraising for such an important cause. Great start for QMU hockey so far! 

Ladies' Gaelic Football

It’s been such a brilliant start to the semester for us! We kicked things off with our Give It a Go session which had a massive turnout, great to see over 50 girls coming along, and we’ve had amazing numbers every week since for both our weekday and weekend sessions. It’s been great to see so many new faces, especially a lot of girls who hadn’t played in years but wanted to meet people and get back into the sport again.
We’ve been training every week and can already see huge improvements across the board. There’s been loads of craic too, from swims and coffees down at the beach, to after training coffees in Stockbridge, and of course a few well-deserved drinks in Malones! We’re delighted to have Malones Leith as our sponsor again this year. The friendships that have been made already are such a big part of what makes the team so special. Big prep is currently underway for our games starting this weekend. Looking forward to the rest of the semester:))

Thank you for reading!