Text 4 d. University Sport in the United Kingdom

1. What kind of organization is BUCS?

British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) is the governing body for university sport in the United Kingdom. BUCS is responsible for the promotion of inter-university sports activities. Its objective is to enhance the student experience in three key areas: performance, competition and participation. It organizes 50 inter-university sports within the UK and representative teams for the World University Championships and the World University Games.

2. What proves that BUCS is a large scale organization?

BUCS is a membership organization for 157 universities and colleges in the UK. It coordinates competitions and leagues for the 2.3 million students, organizes 150 individual final or championship events each year. In the 2009/10 season over 4000 teams competed in 16 league sports. BUCS organizes a national championships event called the BUCS Championships hosted by Sheffield. In 2009 over 5,500 student athletes competed in 24 sports over five days across 14 venues.

3. What is BUCS Overall Championship?

BUCS awards points in all its competitions towards the ‘BUCS Overall Championship¹’ – a ranking of member universities’ sporting achievements. In recent years the top three positions have been Loughborough, Bath and Birmingham, followed by other “red-brick” universities and institutes with strong sports departments.

4. How did history of British University sport begin?

Competition between various universities had existed for many decades before the twentieth century, especially the rivalries between Oxford and Cambridge, and those between the country’s medical schools. However no association existed to oversee or promote more widespread inter-university competition. In February 1918, the Presidents of University Unions conference in Manchester called for establishing such an association and the following year the Inter-Varsity Board of England and Wales held its first inter-varsity meeting, with representatives of nine universities present.

5. What university sports organizations existed in the UK before BUCS was created?

In different periods there used to be a great number of separate men’s and women’s organizations governing sports activities at colleges, universities and polytechnic schools of four parts of Great Britain and at the national level, such as the Universities Athletic Union (UAU) established in 1930, the British Universities Sports Federation (BUSF) founded in 1962, British Universities Sports Association (BUSA) formed in 1992 as a merger² of UAU and BUSF, University and College Sport (UCS) established in 2000. In June 2008 UCS and BUSA merged to create British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS), one national association for university sport.

Notes:

¹ BUCS Overall Championship – общий рейтинг команд университетов и колледжей-членов BUCS, учитывающий выступления в сезоне;

² merger – слияние

Post-reading tasks

Task 1. Find a key sentence in each paragraph.

Task 2. Entitle each paragraph.

Task 3. Write the summary of the text following the outline:

– the origin of the British University sport;

– the functions of British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS);

– the BUCS competitions.

Task 4. What do you know about the University sport in Belarus? Write a story

describing your sporting activities as a student athlete.

Task 5. Look through texts A, B, C, D again. Write down the answers to the

following questions to form the topic “Sports in Great Britain and USA”

1. What is sport in people’s lives in Great Britain?

2. What are the most popular athletic activities in Britain?

3. What sports and Games were invented and developed by the British?

4. What game beats the popularity of all sports in Great Britain?

5. Who plays football in Great Britain?

6. How was ruby football born in England?

7. What’s the difference between soccer and rugger?

8. What game is considered to be the English national summer game?

How is it played?

9. Is golf as popular as cricket?

10. Are there many people in Great Britain playing tennis? Why?

11. Why does the Wimbledon tournament draw a large number of spectators?

12. What other sporting activities are popular in Great Britain?

13. What sports have long traditions in the British Isles?

14. When did organized games begin to appear in Great Britain?

15. What did help to mould a new kind of popular culture in Great Britain?

16. How did organized sport help schoolmasters teach pupils?

17. How is the era of modern international sport connected with the expansion of

the British Empire?

18. What is the origin of the British University sport?

19. What is BUSA? What are its functions?

20. Why are American sports in many ways different from European ones?

21. What are the four most popular sports in the USA?

22. Why is baseball considered to be a “typically American sport”? How is the game played?

23. Do European and American football differ a lot? In what way?

24. What game is very popular with the American young people? Prove it.

Check Up Your Skills

I. Fill in the chart with the words and word combinations to describe a

game:

Two teams of 15 or 13 players; a slow and long game; to strike a ball with a club; a wooden bad; to hold the opponents by the shoulders and by the legs; a field with four bases; to hit the ball; a violent game; two teams of 11 players; to bat the ball; to get the ball back; to carry and kick the ball; to push the ball into a hole; an oval ball; to score runs (points); to run round the four bases; two teams of 9 players; as few strokes as possible, a hard ball; a course with 18 holes.

rugby	cricket	golf	baseball

II. Complete the sentences with the missing word:

Tennis basketball rugby baseball soccer cricket golf American football

1. … is rather like rugby. It is played between two teams of 11 players with an oval ball that can be handled or kicked. 2. … is played by schoolboys and by thousands of amateur and professional teams up and down Great Britain. The two best teams play in the Cup Final at Wembley Stadium in London. 3. … is typically American sport and it is played with a bat and a hard ball by two teams of nine players. 4. … is played by two teams of eleven players. One team bats first and tries to hit the ball and score as many points as possible. 5. The number of people who play … is great, some of them join clubs, others hire public courts. 6. … is played by striking a ball with a special club round a course with 18 holes. 7. … is American in origin, it is the most favourite pastime with the young Americans. 8. … is played with an oval ball by two teams, of 15 of 13 players. It’s a violent game and is highly popular in Wales.

III. Replace the modal verbs with their equivalents:

1. In rugby the players may hold their opponents by the shoulders or by the legs.

2. Tom was an experienced boxer he could beat anybody.

3. I must train hard if I want to qualify for the Master of Sport next season.

4. Victor can’t take part in the next championship because of his injury.

5. I must get up at 7 o’clock tomorrow, my training practice starts an hour earlier.

IV. Fill in the right modal verb (or the equivalent) which makes the action necessary:

1. To achieve success in sport you … study your opponents.

a) must; b) should; c) have to

2. My friend … attend training sessions. He retired from the competitions 3 years ago.

a) mustn’t; b) doesn’t have to; c) isn’t to

3. According to the competition schedule the final … to be held on Saturday.

a) must; b) is to; c) has to

4. His skis had broken and the skier … to the finish line on foot.

a) had to; b) must; c) was to

5. The coming qualifying is very important. We … beat very strong opponents.

a) will have to; b) will be to; c) must

V. Rewrite the sentences using one of the modal verbs which makes the action possible:

can’t; might have; must have; can’t have; must

1. He doesn’t know Minsk well. Perhaps he lost his way.

He … lost his way.

2. I can’t believe the forward was so rude. He always used to keep to the rules.

He … … been so rude.

3. “Don’t move,” the doctor said. “It is possible that you have broken your leg.”

“You … broken your leg.”

4. I doubt he will demonstrate good performance.

He … learn this element.

5. I’m almost certain he’ll win the prize. His physical condition is very

good.

He … certainly win.

VI. Choose the suitable modal verbs or their equivalents. Translate the

sentences:

1. He was training hard for the race and … run 100 metres in 11 seconds.

a) could; b) was able to; c) might

2. You look overtrained. You … have a rest before the competition.

a) must; b) should; c) ought to

3. People call American football the most scientific of all outdoor team games, as its countless rules state what each players in each position … or … not do and when.

a) must; b) can; b) may

4. Horse-racing is an expensive hobby, only rich people … afford to go in for this kind of sport.

a) may; b) can; c) should

5. You … be more active, do morning exercises go jogging or practice some sport.

a) must; b) should; c) ought to

UNIT 5. SPORTS COMPETITIONS

Grammar target: The Passive Voice

Texts for reading: 5A. Sports Competitions

5 B. The Championships, The World Gymnastics

Championships.

5C. The Tournaments, Wimbledon.

5 D. The Cups, FIFA World Cup

Lesson 1. Focus on language

The Passive Voice (Страдательный залог)