Sports


Here’s a list of Sports Clubs at Mary’s, along with their Club Captains. If you have any questions about these specific sports, please feel free to contact the relevant Club Captain.

On the Experience Mary’s pages, you’ll find regular updates from our Sports & Societies:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/experiencemarys/

Instagram: @experience.marys


Badminton

Club Captain: Jay Boyd

Hey everyone! St. Mary’s Badminton Club is a hugely welcoming club, with plenty of opportunity for casual play, as well as a chance to up your game and compete in the college tournament through terms 1 and 2. We’ve had a great year in this respect, with promotion in the Mixed Doubles League after a 0-loss season, 3rd place in the 1st division of the Men’s and 4th place in the Premiership for the Women’s. We plan to run multiple (at least 2!) sessions a week, as well as additional match and training days for those who want to get involved and build on their skills.


Basketball

Club Captain: Janson Cheong

At Mary’s basketball club you can expect to develop an affinity or strengthen the love for basketball. We strive to educate and empower our members through playing casual, recreational, and competitive basketball. We host training sessions twice a week which consist of basketball drills and exciting scrimmages. Games within our division in the college league will give us the chance to clap other colleges fortnightly. And of course, we will host several fun socials for everyone to engage new people! Mary’s basketball club will also be combined with Trevelyan college to provide you with the best experience.


Cricket

Club Captain: Jake Hubbard

St Mary’s College Cricket Club is a great club to join if you have any interest in the sport at all. Whether you’re a pro or not, we’re one of the most welcoming and sociable sports clubs with a number of relaxed socials taking place throughout the year. We play in the intercollegiate T20 league and after last year’s success, we’ll be entering the indoor cricket league again to keep away those winter cobwebs!

Hopefully meet lots of you soon. 


Croquet

President: Alex Wright

Who doesn’t want to spend a summer’s afternoon out on the Mary’s lawn playing some croquet? We are a relaxed and friendly society who predominantly meet during the warmer months. We always new members!


Dance

President: Emma Lang and Freya Robertson

Mary’s Dance is a non-auditioned team that welcomes dancers of all abilities! We are known university-wide, performing to enthusiastic crowds at balls, fashion shows, charity events and more – often gaining discounts to attend the events!  

We enjoy high energy and confidence enriching styles predominantly in commercial, street and jazz, but we would love to see the range of styles expand. Our classes run twice a week and are an energising hour to have a boogie and relieve some stress! We encourage anyone to come, whether it’s for a pop-in dance or to learn choreography for a range of performance opportunities. If you’ve never danced before or you are a trained expert, we’d love to see you there! 


Darts

Club Captain: Callum Goddard & Eoin Beevers

Ever wondered why people are so fascinated by a game of darts? Come and find out at the Freshers’ Fair! But now, I leave you with a poem:  

Oh SMCDC you do touch the hearts,  

Of many who do throw their shiny new darts,  

7’9-1/4″ away from the boards, 

At the oche is where you’ll find the hoards,  

Of keen students late on Monday night,  

To the fortress we go, for Mary’s we shall fight. 


Football (Men’s)

Club Captains: Joe Birdsall & Gwilym Davies

The football club is one of the biggest clubs at Mary’s, with three teams in different divisions in the inter-collegiate league. For the serious footballers, the A team is looking for the calibre of players to help them mount a title charge in the Premier Division. The B team are looking to rebuild and start playing the laborious but technically gifted football that they are best known for. If you have unfulfilled potential and/or little respect for referees and opponents, this team is for you. For the more casual footballers, the C team regularly manage to comfortably scrape survival in the 5th division, whilst channelling the spirit of Havant & Waterlooville in their yearly attempt of a first round giant killing in the College Cup. If on-the-pitch football is not your forté, there is a striving social scene; who often are hold key positions in the club. With three teams and the social section, the football club’s social events are exceptional fun. A yearly post-exams Tour is as good a time as you can have at Uni, and indeed social members usually constitute half the tour! If you are interested in playing or joining the club, look out for information in Induction Week and in particular at the College Freshers’ Fair.


Football (Women’s)

Club Captain: Dana Al Tajer & Nesrine Maidi

 
SMCWFC welcomes anyone that is interested in playing football! As the FIFA women’s world cup just finished, there isn’t a better time to join – we are inclusive of all sporting abilities, whether you’ve never played before uni or can bend it like Beckham. Last season we finished in 3rd place in Division 1 and this year we hope to soar to even greater heights. At the end of the day though, having fun and team spirit is more important than any league table rankings. With many players leaving this year we hope to get lots of new freshers involved in the team this year through regular matches and socials. If you’re interested in playing check out our Facebook page or Instagram @smc.wfc ⚽💜 


Futsal

Men’s Captain: Charles Bishop


Hockey

Club Captains: Freddie Saint & Zoe Kaye

SMCHC is one of Mary’s biggest mixed clubs, with both Men’s and Women’s teams enjoying success in the past few years. We’re a very inclusive club, welcoming all abilities whether you’ve played hockey before or never even heard of it! We run dedicated taster sessions at the beginning of the year to give everyone a taste of the sport and the club, and then friendly training sessions each week throughout the year to give the teams time to develop together and regular matches against other colleges give everyone and anyone a chance to get involved. Frequent whole club socials welcome active and social members, and our Old Boys weekend in January is a big event in the Mary’s social calendar! We look forward to seeing you both on and off the pitch and welcoming you into the club!


Mixed Lacrosse

Club Captain: Mollie Matthews & Hannah Tunnicliffe (sfhl54@durham.ac.uk, kdpb44@durham.ac.uk)

Mary’s Mixed Lacrosse is definitely a unique society in college. The majority of our team are beginners, so if you’ve never played before don’t let that put you off! We have welcoming and fun sessions that people at any level can enjoy, and you’ll learn the game a lot faster than you think. Despite the relaxed vibes we get to a pretty high standard and we love winning! This year we’re adding a B team to the club so even more people can get involved. We have regular silly socials but nothing too intense. Most importantly- Live laugh lax! 


Netball

Club Captains: Beth Sargent & Lily Marsden

SMCNC is the largest sport society in college, made up of over 150 girls (and guys!) of all netball abilities. We welcome everyone  – whether you’ve been playing for years or haven’t even heard of the sport. Our teams range from A-E and we also have our ever-growing mens team. Every Wednesday afternoon we train on the Marys courts (so easy to access!) but if you’re still not convinced the sport is for you we have a number of members who just join us in the evening for our legendary socials. Being awarded club of the year speaks for itself, so join SMCNC if you want to get involved in a proper community who occasionally play a bit of netball! 


Pool

Club Captain: Harry Chantrey

Pool is open to everyone. Casual players can partake in intra-Mary’s tournaments, use either of the college tables (JCR and Donaldson Room) and come along to social nights. But if you fancy playing more regularly, we have teams in all three of the university leagues, with matches held on a weekly basis. It’s not all about being able to play well and we really do have a laugh. Come and give the pool club a try! 


Rounders

Club Captain: Marcus King


Rowing

Club Captain: Caitlin Fox

St Mary’s College Boat Club (SMCBC) welcomes both experienced and beginner rowers (even if you have never been in a boat before!) We have had great results this past year in both intercollegiate and regional competitions and hope you will join us to continue this success! Our regular socials throughout the year ensure that the Boat Club is one of the most enjoyable and friendliest clubs to be part of. If you would like to try rowing or coxing, perhaps inspired by the impressive performance by GB Rowing at the Olympics, come and visit our stall at the Fresher’s Fair!


Rugby (Men’s)

Club Captains: Callum Goddard & Ronan McKay

SMCRFC is a friendly, supportive and inviting rugby club, welcoming the gentlemen of St Mary’s College since 2005. We pride ourselves on having a strong club bond and – whether you’re keen to play for the team or simply get involved in the social scene – there’ll always be a seat for you at our table. Please come and see us at the Freshers’ Fair and hear what we are all about! 


Rugby (Women’s)

President: Pending

St Mary’s Women’s Rugby club is excited to welcome all new players to the club. Whether you’ve been playing for years or an absolute beginner, we’d love to have you on board! St Mary’s Women’s Rugby is still a reasonably new club, having only begun two years ago, but each year we have gone from strength to strength and are looking forward to continued growth and success in the season ahead. With weekly training sessions and matches most weekends, even the newest of players will pick up the sport in no time as well as a love for the game. Mary’s Women’s Rugby is an inclusive, friendly and sociable club who are proud to be part of one of the fastest growing sports in the University and beyond. We look forward to seeing you at the Freshers’ Fair and the taster session in October and if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.


Running

Club Captain: Pending

Group runs organised by the exec have not only introduced people to running routes around Durham but also enabled people to meet each other and socialise through this popular sport. Also important is the club’s Facebook group, which has enabled members to connect and organise their own runs. All abilities are welcome as runs of different levels take place and the most important thing is to just enjoy the runs, and of course the socials! The DUCK Santa Charity Fun Run this year was a brilliant opportunity for our club to interact with a wider university society and raise money for charity, and events like this are sure to continue next year. We have had a fantastic first year and hope you will join us in helping the next be just as good.


Squash

Club Captain: Jebous Cappendell

Mary’s Squash Club meets twice a week at the racecourse to train, and we currently have a men’s and a women’s team in the intercollegiate league with matches usually on a Sunday. We welcome, and encourage, players of all abilities, whether experienced or novice, and I’m always happy to teach new players. We also represent Mary’s in the Mary’s-Trev’s varsity. If you have any queries, then please feel free to email me or message me on Facebook. Joining the squash club gives you a great opportunity to get fit and represent your college in college sport.


Swimming

Club Captain: Holly Timmis & Jonathan Mullet

Swimming is open to all abilities whether you want to paddle and chat or you swim competitively. We run sessions twice a week at Freemans Quay Leisure Centre and we’d love to see you there!!


Table Tennis

Club Captain: Harry Grocott

The club meets once every week for training in the college basement where we do a mixture of drills, match-play and fun games. We’re a tight-knit group, and sessions are played in a friendly, sociable atmosphere. In addition our very own college principal, Simon Hackett, is a table tennis whizz, known to show off his skills and invite us to use his ball machine for practice! Last year, we had our most successful ever season. The A team won the Premiership title and the College Festival of Sport competition, achievements that saw us named Sports Club of the year for Mary’s. The B team, meanwhile, finished 4th in Division 1. Overall, we were Team Mary’s most successful club. Determined to retain our title and improve our B team, we are in need of some new players. If you are interested in one of our teams, or just fancy playing casually, please visit our stand at the fair.


Tennis

Club Captains: Ellie Ogilvie & Charlotte Hamilton

Whether you’re a competitive player or simply want to hit casually, St Mary’s Tennis Club welcomes players of any and all ability. Run by two captains, Ellie Ogilvie and Charlotte Hamilton, and vice-captain Frances Fraser, we meet weekly (or more) at Maiden Castle for training sessions. This allows members to simply hit (with rackets provided) or train more competitively through match practise and drills. In 3rd term we have matches against other colleges. Last year we put forward a strong A team who won the league as well as winning the Varsity match against York University. We also put forwards a B team for any players who want to try competitive tennis for the first time. Either way, is a fantastic way to practise more competitive tennis and meet people from other colleges.  

SMCTC can be both a casual or competitive opportunity for you to better your tennis. We welcome all levels of tennis players and love new faces and highly encourage students of all years to come along to our training and give it a go! 


Ultimate Frisbee

Club Captains: Patrick Giblin & Maia Hobbs

Hi! We’re SMUF, or St Marys Ultimate Frisbee, and we’re the Mary’s frisbee team. We run college ultimate training sessions every week, and on weekends play against other colleges as well as having socials and spoons trips. Last year, we were amongst the best college teams in the uni, winning two leagues and going to the feast of champions, and this year we hope to carry on that winning streak. Frisbee is a great sport and super accessible for everyone, played a bit like American football meets netball with a frisbee disc, and we have loads of fun on socials too, each of them normally complete chaos. If you want to stay up to date with what we’re up to follow @stmarys_fristagram


Volleyball

Club Captain: Callum Madeley (qmkq86@durham.ac.uk)

This is Mary’s Volleyball! Whether you’re a seasoned pro or complete beginner, all are welcome to join. We spend the first term training with different colleges each week, honing our volleyball skills and growing as a team. Second term sees us compete in a huge inter-collegiate competition, playing fixtures to decide which college is crowned champion. In third term the annual Festival of Sport gives players the opportunity to enjoy outdoor volleyball with a full-day knockout tournament. The team recently acquired its own outdoor net, allowing a game of volleyball to be played whenever and wherever. And last but certainly not least – keep your eyes peeled for volleyball socials throughout the year!