Sport
We are serious about sport – playing it, supporting it and encouraging people to take part in it through Team Derby, the University’s sports brand
Team Derby is the focal point for the further development and delivery of sport here at the University and provides students, staff, and members of the public with a world of sporting opportunity, fitness and activity.
Our inclusive attitude to sport, exercise and health shows we passionately believe in the ethos of ‘Sport for All’.
Partners
We’re major partners with:
- Derby County Football Club
- Derbyshire County Cricket Club
- Nottingham Panthers
- Stockport County
- Derby Trailblazers
We are headline sponsors of the Annual Derbyshire Sports Awards, and in 2011 were awarded Active Workplace Award Winner.
Facilities
Our facilities are used by 300 young people every week including local junior football teams, Derby County Ladies and the Derby County Academy Development Centre.
We have invested over £5m in sports facilities recently, with a further £5 million committed as part of the sports development strategy including:
- £750,000 All weather pitch
- £3.3 million Team Derby fitness centre
- £1.4 million Harpur Hill sports hall refurbishment
- £4 million planned sports hall development in Derby.
The new gym includes 45 exercise stations with the latest Technogym equipment, a free weights area, changing rooms and integrated TV monitors. Other facilities will aid the training of sport and exercise degree students, such as a physiology laboratory and a research and consultancy room. Late in 2012 we opened the new Strength and Conditioning facility, which will be the Derbyshire Institute of Sport and Team Derby Performance Hub.
Performance
As we continue the olympic legacy, Team Derby will be launching its own Performance Programme which provides £20,000 in sports scholarships and support to talented student athletes. The programme is being led by British badminton star Donna Kellogg MBE.
Donna comes from Spondon in Derbyshire. She represented Great Britain in badminton for the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics, had a career world ranking of fourth and won 11 English National titles, as well as Commonwealth Games and European gold medals.
Donna has since been joined by Commonwealth Games Gold medal winner Gareth Herbert who will head the University Table Tennis programme, and Jamie Mawdsley, Head Coach of National League 1 side Derby Trailblazers, who heads up the Basketball Programme.
Team Derby in the Community
In 2011, as part of the University’s commitment to the Olympics, the Team Derby in the Community initiative was to provide opportunities for students to act as assistant coaches and volunteers in schools. Successful students will have delivered over 1,220 hours of volunteering and in return gained valuable work experience, mentoring and the chance to gain coaching qualifications for free.
A major boost
In 2011 we secured £176,929 in National Lottery funding from Sport England in 2011. The funding is used to deliver the Different Degrees project, which aims to get more students playing sport as part of the mass participation legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Sporting successes
- Team Derby has made a significant step towards its target of achieving a top 50 place in the British Universities and Colleges Sport league table, rising to 77th – that’s a rise of 32 places since Team Derby was launched in 2009
- The University was awarded Most Improved University in 2011/12 by British Universities and Colleges Sports
- Derby County Football Club’s first team came to our sports scientists for help, to ensure they were in top shape for last season. Using a next-generation x-ray machine – one of only 17 in the country – they were able to assess body composition, growth and development
- Lecturer in Exercise Physiology Dr Peter Brown and sports science students have been helping Derventio eXcel swimming club carry out detailed research into how different ‘swim down’ recovery strategies affect a swimmer’s next race.
