Michaelmas 2024 Club Report
Dec 24 2024
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, it’s finally time to revive the website! Hello and Merry Christmas to all CUEFC members and folk interested in what we do, we think it’s about time you got a chance to know what exactly we’ve been up to so far this year!
To begin with, I’d like to say a big thank you to last year’s (23-24) committee, especially the captains, for all the hard work they put in to bring the club to the numerous successes it had last year (victories in the Mixed, Unis and Richard Black Cup as well as serious work to restore the club financially). We, the 24-25 committee, were left in a very fortunate situation and as a result the club has thrived and been given the opportunity to grow over this Michaelmas, so a big thank you is more than deserved!
So, how did Michaelmas go? Let’s wind back the clock to the start of October. As usual, we had a great turnout to the Uni Sports Fair, with many people giving fives a shot and some quite impressive play for many who had never heard of the sport, let alone played it. Taster sessions at Magdalene were equally successful with several newcomers going on to become quality players for the club. As term kicked into full swing, we had good turnouts to training with many familiar faces returning for some games whilst also giving new players tips and tricks to success. At the end of October, the men’s side had a fantastic time at the Universities tournament [1], with 15 players representing Cambridge! Due to the fear of getting crushed by our dominant women’s side, Oxford (and elsewhere) failed to produce a team and so it was an all-Cambridge final with current and former captains Lucy Bland and Alex Davies winning a close match to retain the trophy. At the Richard Black Cup [2], a combined current and alumni team played brilliantly and was unlucky to have the effect of ineligibility make the competition more difficult. In addition, we were lucky enough to have North Oxford come and play at the Uni courts and managed ourselves to make it down to play at Westway. All in all, fixtures have been a great success thanks to the work of the secretaries!
This term also saw great Paisley representation throughout (our stash is unbeatable), as well as the continued tradition of Eton Fives memes (thanks to the Welfare ‘Soc’), swaps with Rugby Fives and CUMC (climbing and mountaineering) and other socials interspersed throughout, thanks to the Social Secretary. We’ve also implemented additional motivation in the form of music and food at certain trainings and had fun at Halloween with training in costume!
To round off term, Magdalene Fives Club put on the annual Wisteria Wok [3], the premier competition for beginner’s fives at Cambridge, which saw tough matches across the board. There was some great play from every pair which culminated in a hard fought final which Alex and Michael won, beating Conor and Tom. This tournament really showed how far new players had come in a single term and the pairs put on a show for all the spectators! We finished off term with the pub crawl afterwards and thank you to all those who came.
Lastly, this term there are two major thank yous to be made. Firstly, CUEFC has had the luxury of great coaching from Peter, who has made a real effort to help the club on all levels of play. Peter tirelessly gets us left hand volleying and keeping position well and we thank him for the journey he has to make every week to keep us improving. Secondly, the entire committee for all the work put in to make the term what it was.
See you next term!
Links to the EFA Reports for some of our recent competitions:
[1] https://www.etonfives.com/news/3623-universities-2024-oxford-and-cambridge-defend-their-titles
[2] https://www.etonfives.com/competition-archive/black-cup/3640-salopians-put-a-new-name-on-the-richard-black-cup
[3] https://www.etonfives.com/news/3646-wisteria-hysteria-hughes-hall-magdalene-win-the-wok