News

Photo Caption: This is Mikey. She did real good at Uni Snow Games. That’s why there is a photo of her. Not cause she’s blonde. Promise.

For the first time in eight years Otago University did not win the Michael Forrestall Memorial Shield for the best team at the Uni Snow Games. Numbers were significantly down at this year’s event. Only 92 competitors from around the country represented their university this year, compared to almost 300 in 2006.

Voluntary Student Membership is the most likely reason for reduced numbers. Student associations were unable to offer subsidies to competitors this year, and the problem was exacerbated by the fact that Otago University is also not a member of the New Zealand University Sport Association, forcing Otago competitors to pay more than those from member teams.

The Otago team shrunk to 14 competitors this year, mostly because the event has become too expensive for poor students to afford. To make matters worse, many competitors Critic spoke to indicated that they would probably not compete next year unless the cost came down. It looks like organisers are going to have to seriously think about how the Uni Snow Games are run if they want the event to return to form.

Auckland University emerged the best overall team, making them the reigning champions of both winter and summer university sports. Otago disappointingly relinquished the title for the first time since 2004.

Though the Otago team as a whole seemed to lose its way this year, there were still some excellent individual performances. Mikey Austin was the standout performer for the Otago team, winning gold in the women’s ski Big Air, Slopestyle, and Half-pipe, and a silver in the Gravity X. Marc Andri Reidi also performed extremely well, picking up gold in the men’s Half-Pipe, Gravity X, and Slalom. Arran Stewart won the men’s ski Big Air and came second in the Slopestyle. Henry Schikker and Katie Logan managed third-place finishes in the Gravity X, as did James Webster in the Cross-Country.

Events were held in Wanaka over the mid-semester break. Treble Cone, Cardrona, and Snow Farm hosted events, with the last day being taken up by cross-country and a casual version of biathlon (a sport combining cross-country skiing and marksmanship). By all accounts competitors had a good time, not allowing the larger problems the event is facing to impact on their fun.

Otago University teams competing in national University Sport have been disappointing this year. In the past Otago consistently dominated University sporting fixtures, but less competitors, less funding, and poor results have resulted in a fruitless 2012 for our OUSA-backed teams. Organisers have the tough job of getting Otago students excited about University sports again, and getting Otago teams back into a position to clean up in all the competitions as they have in the past. University sports are often as much about the participation and the party as about winning titles, but with less and less students signing up much of the attraction there is fading as well.

I would recommend that as many students as possible sign up for University events like Uni Snow Games, because they can be a fantastic experience, but I can see why many do not. Realistically, the prices need to come down and OUSA or the University need to find some funding from somewhere to keep Otago students interested, or team numbers will continue to fall.

I was hoping to use some interesting quotes from members of the Otago team in this article but somewhere along the line they must have got a little over-stimulated, as the comments they provided were on the whole unusable. It’s a shame, but I remember when I had my first beer and it was pretty exciting, so I’ll let them get away with it.