Sunday 13 November 2011

Portsmouth student makes FA Cup history


The FA Cup is known for producing fairytale stories where individuals and teams excel themselves with performances beyond all realms of expectation.

This is true for Stefan Brown, a third-year University of Portsmouth student, whose non-league side AFC Totton burst into the second round of the competition with an 8-1 demolition of Bradford PA. In this game, Brown scored three goals within 15 minutes, to claim the unique record of being the fastest hat-trick scorer as a substitute in the competition’s 140 year history.

His achievement is quite remarkable – especially for a student who plays at semi-professional level. To put it into perspective, the FA Cup is a competition which has been graced by some of the finest footballers to ever play the game, players such as Gianfranco Zola, Eric Cantona, Thierry Henry and David Beckham. Brown has achieved something none of these could.

Brown, who studies Sports Development, was delighted with his performance: “I was happy to score a hat-trick as anyone would be, but when I found out about the record it was surreal. I didn’t know what to think about it – and still don’t – because it’s unlike anything I’ve achieved before. Not many non-league players can say they’re in the FA Cup history books.”

The mood around the ground was equally euphoric: “Everyone was buzzing for me. They were all just as surprised as I was.” The game also brought about other records: Totton secured the biggest win of the round and in doing so became the first post-war non-league team to score eight goals in the main FA Cup.

It was AFC Totton’s first time in the main cup, an achievement in itself as they had to win four qualification rounds to get there. Having qualified from the Evo-Stik Southern League Division One last season, they are now leading the South and West Premier League.

Totton host League Two side Bristol Rovers in the second round on Sunday 4th December in a game that will be shown live on ITV. Brown explained the team’s mood ahead of the game: “Everyone is so excited to play in that next game that they’re hardly thinking about our league game in between.”

The significance of the match, and the hype surrounding it, is enormous. Brown says, “If we have a really good game on ITV, there’s a chance to turn professional. With the number of people watching and with the exposure created from it, anything can happen.”

The prospect of playing in front of the nation for the Totton players is massive. However, Brown played down his chances of making the starting XI: “We have five very good strikers so there’s no guarantee who will start, and we would all love to start.”

After Brown’s performance on Saturday one would think that there will be pressure on manager Stuart Ritchie to start the first round star.

Sunday 2 October 2011

Coach recognised for 1,000 hours of volunteering

This morning he had been at Portsmouth College, training young 16-19 year olds from the local community. Last night the Hampshire Centre for Excellence, where he coaches a very talented under 17s girls side.

And just before he would leave to train the University 1st and 2nd teams, Pugwash News were delighted to catch a minute with Bruce Suraci, an aspiring football coach and student from the University of Portsmouth.

In June, Suraci collected an award from the center of Wembley stadium. He was one of only ten students selected by British Universities and College Sport (BUCS) and the Football Association (FA) to receive a national award celebrating commitment to the game and exceptional personal achievement. “It was nice to be at the stadium”, Suraci said modestly, “however, it wasn’t about the award, what was special for me was being recognised.”

He has accumulated over 1,000 hours of coaching in his free-time over the last three years. Put differently, it’s the equivalent of 25 weeks – or almost half a year – of full-time work.

Of all the teams Suraci coaches, he puts the University team as his favourite. “The University players are more mature and because they’re students with the mindset of going to lectures and learning, they seem to be a lot more receptive to coaching and bettering themselves. The University has a good learning culture.”

He speaks highly of his other projects too. The girls at the Hampshire Centre for Excellence are “excellent players, the best in the country”. The actual aim of the centre is to “push players on to England”.

Suraci fulfils his demanding coaching duties at the same time as studying for a degree in Sport and Exercise Science. There’s no magic to how he manages his busy lifestyle. “I make sure I don’t waste time. If I go out, I get up early the next day. I work as hard as I can and I learn relatively quickly.”

“The great sense of personal achievement that you have helped a player fulfil their potential”, is one of the reasons Suraci gives for his enjoyment of coaching. “I like to see people improve themselves, and to play an active part in their development as a coach and as a person. Coaching is sociable and outdoors, involves talking to people and trying to read people”.

He has a vision for how he will get the most out of his players, and what he hopes to achieve. “I like working to a plan. The University team have a year plan and I am able to see how the team progress throughout the season. We use a match analysis sheet and take details every month”.

Currently, Suraci is looking to get his UEFA A License, known in footballing terms as a coach’s ‘degree’. It takes two years to complete and is only obtainable by working with national football association.

Unsatisfied with stopping there, however, Suraci hopes to quickly move on to bigger and better standing. “Once I’ve got that”, he says casually of the A License, “I’m going to look to go out to America and work in universities out there, or get a fulltime job in a football academy here.”

Saturday 17 September 2011

Enter the underwater world of Octopush

Take a massive gulp of air, plunge down to the bottom of a swimming pool, grip your paddle and find a way to blast a puck past your opponents. Welcome to Octopush, a wacky, fast-paced and exciting underwater sport first created in Southsea more than 60 years ago. 

Octopush, known among its devotees as Octo for short, was created by Navy men pondering ways to make swimming endless lengths more interesting for themselves. Their ingenious solution was to relocate hockey to the bottom of a pool, replacing shorts and shin pads with swimming trunks, a snorkel and fins!

The sport involves six players in the pool at once, with four at hand – ready to exchange at any time. It is a non-contact sport and is played over 15 fast minutes. The game is really one to get competitors’ adrenaline pumping. It’s both rapid-paced and tactical; with players holding their breath while underwater, there is little time to communicate and strategy must be well rehearsed beforehand.

Portsmouth is one of only 18 universities to play Octopush, so being a student here presents a golden opportunity to join a small community of underwater hockey enthusiasts. The university trains with the impressive local Southsea Juniors every Wednesday at Eastney Swimming pool – in the very same pool that the game was invented. 

Last year Portsmouth had a very successful run to the final of the National Championships, so we are currently ranked as the second best university team. As well as providing an element of competition, the tours are a great chance to meet players from all over the country, and see how far you and the team have advanced your skills throughout the year.

The first competition on the sporting calendar is the Valentines Tournament in Plymouth. Octopushers have always been very well cared for when visiting – Plymouth Octopush team put everyone up on a sofa and even provided a welcome cup of tea in the morning. The National Championships then follow in March and this season they will be hosted by Warwick.

It’s not all about the edge of competition – having fun is just as important to the Octopushers.
The Octopush President Rebecca Weicht is a final year student at Portsmouth and has been playing Octopush since 2008 after a recommendation from one of her flatmates. About to embark on a year abroad, Rebecca was so head-over-heels in love with the game after two years that she said "the first thing I did was check there were teams to play out in Brussels",

Despite stumbling into the unusual sport of Octopush by word of mouth, Rebecca is insistent that the founding Navy players "must have thought of me when making the game!".

Rebecca describes hockey as "a game for all abilities". The beauty of Octopush is its simplicity – the game uses no weighty oxygen tanks so movement in the water is not at all restricted. The UoP Octopush club will transform anyone from a casual swimmer into an Octo enthusiast in just one session. The club is well equipped, so all you have to do is bring along your swimming kit and the rest will be provided.

If you are looking to try something new at university, there can be no better option than the absorbing and ever-growing community of Octopush.