{"id":1636,"date":"2023-07-25T10:36:10","date_gmt":"2023-07-25T09:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student-views\/?p=1636"},"modified":"2023-08-24T14:38:28","modified_gmt":"2023-08-24T13:38:28","slug":"how-ollie-followed-his-passion-for-rugby-at-uwe-bristol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student-views\/how-ollie-followed-his-passion-for-rugby-at-uwe-bristol\/","title":{"rendered":"How Ollie followed his passion for rugby at UWE Bristol"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Ollie, BA(Hons) Business and Events Management <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before joining UWE Bristol<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the age of 9, I would play football every Saturday and rugby union every Sunday. When I was about to start secondary school, I had to choose one to continue playing, which was an easy decision as I enjoyed rugby more and was naturally better at it. Since joining secondary school in Gloucestershire, I had been playing for my school team and avidly supporting Gloucester rugby. As I progressed through school, I briefly quit playing to focus more on my upcoming exams. This was difficult but ultimately the right decision for me at the time. After leaving school I was very eager to get back into the sport I love, so I knew that I would try out for the UWE Bristol team as soon as I was accepted onto my course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I was very eager to get back into the sport I love.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Joining the UWE Bristol rugby team<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I remember being extremely nervous when going to the societies fair. I\u2019m normally quite a confident person and nothing really fazes me, however I was very aware that I hadn\u2019t played rugby for a long time and would be signing up at the same time as 100 other lads, so might be a bit out of my depth in terms of ability and experience. Despite this I signed up and was welcomed to the squad with open arms. Going along to my first training session was great. I felt like I was in school again, I was not only grateful to get some exercise and fresh air, but also to meet some great lads who had also spent time away from playing and were apprehensive to start back up again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Becoming a part of the team<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a couple of weeks\u2019 of training the club was divided into four teams depending on ability and experience, with the opportunity to progress to a higher team. The first and second teams trained together and the third and fourth teams also trained together on a different day. I was put into the third team playing as a prop. For as long as I can remember, my position has been as either a tighthead or loosehead prop, so I was very grateful for this outcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First game for UWE Bristol<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was very excited and honoured to play my first game for UWE Bristol against Cardiff Metropolitan.  Although they were a lot better and we got absolutely battered, I still had a great time representing the university in my red and white kit and enjoyed a drink or two with my teammates after the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

I was very excited and honoured to play my first game for UWE Bristol against Cardiff Metropolitan.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The social side of rugby<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of the team, I\u2019ve attended some great nights outs and themed events such as Christmas parties and team dinners. This is a huge part of being in the UWE Bristol team as it makes you closer to your teammates and helps unwind from juggling the stresses that can come with uni assignments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why I\u2019m glad that I joined the UWE Bristol team<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting rugby again has given me that enjoyment that I really missed when playing as a young boy and has introduced me to some good lads who I will keep in contact with for years to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discover what you could get involved in<\/a> at UWE Bristol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ollie, BA(Hons) Business and Events Management Before joining UWE Bristol Since the age of 9, I would play football every Saturday and rugby union every Sunday. When I was about to start secondary school, I had to choose one to continue playing, which was an easy decision as I enjoyed rugby more and was … Continue reading “How Ollie followed his passion for rugby at UWE Bristol”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":1617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":150,"footnotes":""},"categories":[150,2,147],"tags":[16,203,204,65,11,12],"class_list":["post-1636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-societies","category-student-experience","category-student-life","tag-clubs-and-societies","tag-social","tag-socialising","tag-societies","tag-uwe-bristol","tag-uwe-bristol-experience"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student-views\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student-views\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student-views\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student-views\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student-views\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1636"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student-views\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1699,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student-views\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1636\/revisions\/1699"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student-views\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student-views\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student-views\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student-views\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}