Are the costs of sport and JCR membership justified?

Well. Technically pool teams get their money from the subs, and they have to pay something like £15 per team to register in the league. If they need extra money they have to apply for grants, which I don't imagine pool players need to do that often. But for other teams it's great - for example, HB's male squash team travel to tournaments all over the north and they probably get a clubs and socs grant to help with this. Any team can apply for extra money if they need it, they just fill in a form and the Grants Committee will decide how much they get. I'm chairing it next year

Having said all this, I'm not sure how other colleges work it. Come to think of it, I played for the University Women's Pool team last Easter and we got NOTHING from the uni at all - had to pay all our travel/entry/accommodation costs all by ourselves. Never has the sports levy felt like more of a rip

On the other hand all college bars operate under a club license and only patrons of the club may use its facilities. As such people who opt out of the levy cannot use the bars otherwise they are in breach of the licensing laws

We put the levy at Aidans up to £35 a year this year as it hasn't been raised at all for 4 years so the raise covers inflation during that period. But the increase in revenue is going to some good places including providing more acitivities during freshers week and a subsidy on formal meals.

Also, don't forget if you opt out of the levy you don't get to put your college on your graduation parchment!

Sports levy goes toward a hell of a lot. Maden castle maintenance costs are ridiculous not to mention staff costs and the organisation that goes into organising dozens of sports and leagues

NGARRONDI - you yourself want to join the pool league - where do you think they get their money from??? College pool teams get their money from the college sports budget which comes out of a JCR bank account. This account is funded mostly by funds from the University designated to better the student experience. However the university league doesn't have access to such funds.

Yeah I'd like to know how much individuals have to pay for the sailing. Pool and sailing are my only interests really to be honest. Looked on their website and participants certainly pay some money towards attending events at a fiver a time. I'm not sure if this is subsidised however.

That is certainly not the case across all colleges. Bear in mind if you opt out you are only opting out of your JCR, not your college, and as such you remain a full member of that college. Trevelyan Bar (for example) is not owned, licensed, or operated by the JCR, rather the Bursar is the holder of the Premises licence, and the management is done by a subcommittee of College Council, which has both students and college officers/members of college council on it.

Hmmm, I'm not sure. The stuff I was saying about the grants committee only applies to college level sport and I don't know a lot about university sport except that women's pool isn't deemed "important" enough (which hacks me right off, given how much I've paid!). If you go on the DSU website, you should be able to find an email address for the president of the sailing society and then you can contact them to ask?

Sometimes I think I shouldn't have bothered with the levy - however, then all the squash I've been playing would be illegal and I'd probably be really uncomfortable with that!

I might just do that. Cheers. You seem to be a rather sporting person. Guess I can get away with calling you fit then. Only other sport that mildly interested me is lacrosse. I suspect the Durham Flying Club has dissolved though. That was the one sporting event I was seriously interested in, even if it damn expensive.

*plays Top Gun theme tune*

Doesn't Hild Bede have a professional bar steward? That may be the difference in that if there is a full time member of staff running the bar (and is licensee) then the university is happy for the JCR/SRC to formally manage/own/run it, but if it is their Bursar on the hook they want to have a fairly big say in things.

FLYING CLUB, WTF

That is certainly not the case across all colleges. Bear in mind if you opt out you are only opting out of your JCR, not your college, and as such you remain a full member of that college. Trevelyan Bar (for example) is not owned, licensed, or operated by the JCR, rather the Bursar is the holder of the Premises licence, and the management is done by a subcommittee of College Council, which has both students and college officers/members of college council on it.

Also, if your statement is literally correct, then why do the college bars serve those from other colleges, who are certainly not members of that particular JCR?



I'm sure it is. I think the JCR fees come in for a lot less stick than the sports ones do, as this poll shows.



Do you have a source for that, again I am only talking about those who opt out of their JCR, rather than those who disaffiliate from the entire college.



Yes, the cost of running Maiden Castle is high, but a lot of emphasis seems to go on trying to improve the elite end of university sport. Team Durham might help the university be able to claim affiliation with more olympic champions in future, but it is diverting funds away both from the average student who forks out for the sports levy, and also the teams that are playing because they enjoy it, rather than because they just eat sleep and train.

We had a few students this year (the sort who own 10 yachts and think Argos is for peasants) who opted out of the JCR levy purely for the parchment reason. If you don't pay the levy you aren't paying the membership fee of the JCR hence you aren't allowed to call yourself a member

Yeah, actually I assumed other bars did as well - mainly because we don't get to choose how much we pay her (which sucks IMO, it IS our money). I wonder what details I'm allowed to go into on an internet forum??? Probably best not to say more ...

We had a few students this year (the sort who own 10 yachts and think Argos is for peasants) who opted out of the JCR levy purely for the parchment reason. If you don't pay the levy you aren't paying the membership fee of the JCR hence you aren't allowed to call yourself a member

Dont forget that lottery grants and other funds are attracted to maden castle through shining examples of sportsmen/women who have gone onto great things not to mention publicity for sports at Durham which is invaluable. Also the average joe also uses maden castle - for example our rugby team (who aren't top notch!) cost maden castle a lot of money this year when they played a match when the pitch was too muddy to, and so the grass was ruined. I myself play squash darts and pool but still use maden castle a few times a term

Hey All,

I am the Athletics Union President for 2008/2009, which means I am the person who represents the students on all sporting matters whether it be College Tennis or University Basketball. This is my first time on this forum (thanks to Si) and found your comments really interesting as it helps me gage how people see Durham sport before they come to Uni.

The sports levy, which gets you a sports card for 3 years at Durham, needs to be paid regardless of whether your playing at College level or University level. The sports levy, although at £126, seems like alot, covers so many things. Maiden Castle is the main sporting venue at Durham and your sporting levy goes towards the maintenance of all of these: 5 football pitches, 1 high-performance weights room, 4 rugby pitches , 2 lacrosse pitches, 2 squash courts , 3 training pitches , 1 aerobics studio, 4 lane athletics track, 3-court sports hall, 1 sand-based astroturf, 1 water-based astroturf , changing areas, Offices & meeting room, 1 fitness suite, Bar and restaurant, Over 20 ergos and 11 boat houses. And it goes towards: the administrative costs of running over 50 University sports teams, all of college sports and most importantly Athletic Unions blanket personal insurance cover.

For example if you were using your College Gym for a work out and you hadn't paid your sports levy, you would be doing so illegally and you hurt yourself working out you would not be covered for insurance.

Hope this clears somethings up. If you have any questions regarding sport at Durham, at any level, for any sport, please email me at [email protected].