Welcome to UOP Sport

Abbie
The best part of playing sport is the sense of community that you have.

Ben
The amount of friendships you make is just awesome.

Leah
You become literally like a little family.

Carolina
So many different cultures, so many different people. It's like a second home.

Alfie
It doesn't matter what ability you are. We've always got space for everyone.

Carolina
We start with a beginners level, a development level and then our competition level.

Ben
It's not just about competing, it's about getting the best out of yourself, which for me is what really drives me.

Barney
Give Me Sport is a fantastic weekend where you have three days where you can try out any sport you want.

Josh
It really does open up a whole window of opportunity.

Alfie
You meet friends. It is a really great way to socialise in your first weeks of university. It's just a really positive experience.

Leah
As soon as I set foot into that trampolining centre, I was like, oh, I like the environment, I love all supportive people here and I love the sport. It was so nice to just try something new. It's that time where you can make mistakes and learn new things and why not give everything a try?

Abbie
The facilities that we have at the University of Portsmouth are amazing and ever-growing.

Ben
Ravelin is a state of the art leisure centre.

Alfie
We've got squash courts,

Barney
swimming pool,

Leah
sauna and steam rooms,

Barney
gym,

Alfie
sports halls,

Leah
strength and conditioning

Barney
and classes.

Alfie
I just couldn't ask for a better sports facility.

Leah
Training is an amazing escape sometimes from the stress. I have some days where I have a really long library session, I can go to training here in Ravelin and then go straight back to the library and it just completely refreshes me.

Carolina
Having sport alongside your studies allows you to relax.

Lily
It's a bit of a break away to meet your friends and have some fun.

Carolina
Take a moment to not think about anything else.

Josh
There's always lots going on. Each club will have a different event every week.

Carolina
We go out to Purple Wednesday, where everyone dresses up in a particular theme and then we all shout very loudly and have loads of fun.

Leah
But then we also do karaoke nights, game nights and we have a monthly quiz.

Carolina
We also have Varsity, where Portsmouth competes against Southampton in all of the sports here at the university.

Lily
There are chants, shouting and screaming.

Alfie
We're going to beat Southampton. (Cheers)

Lily
If someone is new to the university and thinking about doing sport, I'd say 100% do it. It's the best community you can ever be a part of.

Barney
It will give you great memories, it will improve your university life and make you meet friends.

Ben
The sense of achievement that you can have from it is fantastic.

Abbie
I was really nervous to do it and now that I've done it, I am a completely different person and it's made my university experience so much better.