20 January; Odette Lynch
College Sport is set for a great year in 2023, after the Intercollegiate Sports Council (ICSC) representatives were elected by their peers. Incoming ICSC President Baxter Aurisch and Secretary Lemoni Japhary shared their aspirations for the year to come.
Each year, MU sport works closely with the ICSC college representatives to further enhance the College Sport program, with a focus this year on equalising gender gaps and increasing participation across the variety of sports on offer.
Numerous changes have been discussed and approved to improve the student experience in 2023. To create a more equal competition experience, the men's and women's seconds crews in rowing will now both race the same distance, while mixed gender relays will be added into the swimming and athletics carnivals.
Additionally, the men’s and women’s Australian Rules Football teams will now both have equal game time and the women’s cricket team has been increased to 12 overs per innings. We hope the students enjoy the additional opportunity to immerse themselves in the sporting options.
Inter-collegiate Sport has been a foundational aspect of the university life with some of the first events being held in 1881.
Establishing an effective student-life balance is essential for enhancing students overall experience and success in university; many students appreciate the opportunity to periodically divert their focus from their studies to get active and spend time with friends over university the semester.
ICSC Secretary Lemoni commented, ‘The opportunity to engage in friendly competition with rival colleges is a highlight of my university semester, everyone is super welcoming and wants each other to do well. I have been able to challenge myself trying new sports such as squash, hockey, and cricket. I am excited to try new sports this year.’
With a goal to increase student participation, a second's Netball competition has been introduced as it has been one of our most popular intercollegiate sports. The swimming carnival has been moved to Semester 1 as more students showed interest to participate as there is less academic stress in this period.
Baxter Aurisch is optimistic for increasing participation in this year's intercollegiate sport: ‘A key goal is introducing the indigenous sport Buroinjin, with hopes of it becoming an official intercollegiate sport. In 2022 various colleges hosted a Buroinjin tournament, receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback as many students were touched to help promote this indigenous sport.’
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