Photo by Kent Union

With Freshers’ Week fully underway, Patrick Kamalu provides a preview of the incoming BUCS season.

The arrival of the new 2015/16 academic year also signals the return of the British Universities & Colleges Sports (BUCS) league, the governing body for university sport in the UK. While Loughborough University have topped the overall points table every year since the league’s inception, the University of Kent sport teams will be hoping to build upon last year’s performance, which had plenty of positive results.

A number of teams enjoyed success during the 2014/15 season, such as the women’s UKC hockey 1^st team, who recorded emphatic wins over a number of London-based universities, including a 5-1 win over University College London. Maintaining a consistent level of results will be their main priority as they prepare for the upcoming season.

UKC lacrosse also experienced success on the field as they continued their outstanding dominance over their competitors and recorded 74 points, the highest points tally out of Kent Sport’s entries. The year also saw the emergence of a strong 2nd string squad for the men’s side for the first time in recent history. They will be looking to match and exceed last year’s achievements, which included yet another Varsity win of CCCU.

The Kent Falcons, UKC’s american football squad, will be looking forward to the new season, having already begun their preparations with the appointment of a new strength and conditioning coach, and the revamp of their logo. They experienced an impressive run of form during the last season and gained a large number of recruits who help to define the club spirit, which they will endeavour to emulate this year.

Positive results from the UKC women’s volleyball team, the UKC tennis squad and UKC badminton will hopefully continue from last year and provide an ongoing momentum as the 2015/16 gets underway.

Photo by bucs.org.uk

However, despite the individual triumphs, Kent ranked 69^th overall in the league, which is the first time in almost a decade that they have scored outside of the top 50. UKC’s cricket and volleyball teams will be striving to improve upon last season’s performances as the men’s side for both sports recorded shock defeats during Varsity 2015 and underachieved by their standards in the league.

Both the UKC men’s and women’s football teams will be hoping to bounce back from a disappointing season, where both the first and second squad suffered Varsity defeats. The men’s 1^st side in particular will also be seeking to record more victories after they went six games without a win in 2014.

BUCS Wednesday officially starts on Wednesday 14 October, and as the doors open for new recruits during Freshers’ week, Kent’s sport teams will be eager to inject some vigour and new talent into their respective squads.