Student wins BUCS Chris Potter Bursary
Neurodevelopmental science PhD student James Findon was today named the recipient of the 2016 BUCS Chris Potter Sports Bursary, in recognition of his continued efforts with both the King’s College London Athletics and Cross Country Club and wider University of London athletics.
The bursary, which is an annual award, has been running for the last 25 years in memory of Chris Potter, a student at Bristol University and Athletic Union President in 1987/88, and is awarded in recognition to a student who has demonstrated a significant contribution to student sport at their university.
Since arriving at King’s in 2013 to study for a masters, James has been continuously involved with university athletics and cross country club and played a key part in expanding the club to develop an active track and field squad which now competes regularly at university and external meets alongside the cross-country squad.
In 2014-15 James was elected club athletics captain - a role he combined with competing for both King’s and University of London teams - whilst also earning successive level 1 and level 2 coaching qualifications in order coach to fellow club members.
In keeping with his desire to help grow athletics and cross country across the university, James has also been a key advocate in involving the KCL Athletics and Cross Country Club to lead weekly BeActive programme running sessions from halls of residence and Regent’s Park, whilst also coaching sprinting technique to students from across the university community.
Beyond King’s James has also been heavily invested in developing athletics within the wider London university community. In 2015, with support from the University of London and England Athletics, he was responsible for founding the inaugural London Colleges Athletics Series (LCAS) – a “Diamond League” style track and field series that saw 11 universities and over 200 athletes compete in the three meets across London.
This was followed later in the year by the creation of London Universities and Colleges Athletics (LUCA), which brings together all athletics competitions exclusive to London universities under one banner. In November 2015, the first ever LUCA Indoor Championships took place at Lee Valley. Organised by James, over 230 athletes attended the event from 15 different universities. In a latest project LUCA has now launched a focus club scheme to support new and developing athletics clubs across London universities.
The Bursary award, which carries a value of £750, will officially be recognized at the BUCS Awards Dinner in July later this year, with James stating that he intends for the funds to be shared between LUCA and KCL Athletics and Cross Country Club.
To see James’ reaction to the award and the full BUCS press release, please click here
James was recently involved with the King’s Sport sprint technique workshop, helping to deliver a coached session on top speed maintenance to students from a variety of the university’s sports teams, including GKT Men’s Rugby and Women’s Hockey.
