The Impact of rising costs on Univeristy Sport

Protests, turning into riots, ensued at the news of an increase in University tuition fees. This had absolutely no impact on Westminster's decision to push forward with increasing the tuition fee cap to £9,000 a year.

For those who have been burdened with this price hike have also seen the cost of accommodation rise to the extent that in some cases their maintenance loan from the government no longer is enough.

If I was to get a maintenance loan starting in September 2013, according to the student finance calculator http://www.studentfinance.direct.gov.uk/calculator/studentfinancecalculator , I would be given - £3575

Below are a couple accommodation fees from two different universities:

Loughborough

Cost	Catered hall	Self-catered hall	Rented house (shared)
Hall fees/rent	£5,200 (32 weeks)	£4,300 (38 weeks)	£3,900 (52 weeks)
Utilities	£0	£0	£300
Food	£375	£1,450	£1,450
Laundry/household	£160	£190	£190
Travel	£250	£250	£250
Course costs/books etc	£350	£350	£350
Insurance	£100	£100	£100
Telephone	£285	£300	£300
Clothing	£225	£225	£225
Leisure	£865	£865	£865
Other	£100	£100	£100
Total	£7,910	£8,130	£8,030

Sheffield Hallam - Devonshire Court

Number of rooms	Number of weeks	Annual rent 2013–14	Weekly rent 2013–14
295 Single en suite	44	£4,048	£92
21 Large single en suite (3/4 bed)	44	£4,268	£97

The impact this has on sport is that students now struggle to find the time or money to afford to play sport.

With the rise in tuition fees students feel that more hours should be available for seminars and lectures, what this does is limit the times that students can designate to training. What is more disturbing for sport minded students is Universities using time that would have been previously dedicated to BUCS fixtures (British Universities & Colleges Sport) being taken up by classroom hours.

Yes students should focus on their studies, but not to the extent that they can no longer play sport. Take away time from the bar for contact hours by all means, but Wednesday is sacred for University sports and should not be touched.

Each year the cost to join sports clubs has risen, for example the University of East Anglia Sports Association Membership, which is method of becoming insured by the University, has risen from £30 in 2010 to £45 in 2014. This is only a small difference compared to other Universities.

I personally cannot understand why students see this figure and get put off joining a sports club, however this is the case with some.

With the maintenance loans not always covering accommodation some students cannot afford this extra cost. Sometimes, in order to make ends meet, they have to sacrifice training sessions for work shifts or even sacrifice joining a club all together.

This lowers the standard of University sport across the board as athletes are not either training enough to improve or cannot play in the first place.

Some may argue that if they wanted to be an elite sportsman they would have joined an academy instead of joining university. In some sports this can be true but in many, such as Cricket and Netball, University matches play a key part in producing future professional talent.

If Great Britain want to continue to be a presence on the world sporting stage then the growing trend needs to be halted otherwise we will face the prospect of an ever declining sporting nation.