Alumni support high performance sport

Alumni support helped the University of Exeter enjoy success in the 2018/19 British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) campaign, placing 5th out of 165 UK institutions overall.

An anonymous gift of £125,000 to High Performance Sport will help to develop facilities at Exeter, allowing even more talented student athletes to achieve their potential in their chosen field. The Performance Programme offers a comprehensive package of support services including state-of-the-art training facilities, expert coaching, strength and conditioning, physiotherapy, sports psychology, performance analysis and a range of performance athlete workshops.

Thanks to donations 11 students are currently supported on the Sports Scholarship scheme. This programme celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2019 and many of our graduating scholars have progressed to a professional level in their chosen sport and represented their respective countries on the global stage.

Alumni Stephen and Jennifer Harrow (History, 1967 and Politics, 1968) supported Exeter in a unique Women’s Cricket Super League.

Since Western Storm were formed four years ago, they have won the Kia Super League title twice, including in 2019. Having finished runners up in the other two years, this makes them the most successful side in the league. Western Storm used University of Exeter Sport as their training home: staying in University accommodation and utilising the cricket pitches at Topsham; the Sir Christopher Ondaatje Indoor Cricket Centre; the Russell Seal Fitness Centre and the Athlete Development Centre (ADC) for their training requirements.

A number of Exeter alumnae have been represented in the squad over the years including Freya Davies (Law, 2017), Lissy Macleod (Philosophy, 2016), Rebecca Silk (English and Spanish, 2018) and Amara Carr (Exercise and Sport Sciences, 2016).

2019 was a significant year for Freya Davies who gained her first full central contract with England Cricket and made her senior England debut against Sri Lanka in the first T20I in March. She also played a huge role in Western Storm’s winning the Super League 2019 season by taking the most wickets of any bowler in the league, finishing on a total of 19 wickets across the competition. Freya will be in action again soon with England and as part of London Spirit during The Hundred.