Our clubs and societies are inclusive of everyone, regardless of experience, and they provide a friendly atmosphere for a break from your studies. They are also a great chance to try something new regularly and make new friends! If you have any questions about our clubs and societies or you want to get involved in a society, feel free to get in touch with the Clubs & Societies Officer: cs.ustinovgcr@durham.ac.uk or by messaging the Team Ustinov page on Facebook!
Quick links to our clubs & societies
Our Sports Clubs
Basketball
Men’s Football
Women’s Football
Hockey
Table Tennis
Ultimate Frisbee
Volleyball
Squash
Tennis
Badminton
Grey College Boat Club
And more…
Our other Societies
Allotment Society
Gaming Society
Ustinov College Choir
St Mary’s College Intercollegiate Beekeeping Society
Knitting and Crochet Society
Ustinov Pool Society
Our facilities
Starting new societies
A word from the Clubs & Societies Officer, Jamie Hunter (2022-23)
One of the best ways to spend your free time and make new friends is joining a club or society. The Ustinov GCR has a wide range of sports clubs and societies to choose from, catering to a range of interests. No matter your skill level, you are free to join them. I would suggest joining as many clubs or societies as you can and hopefully you will find some that you enjoy and can focus on. For many of the sports clubs on offer, you can even choose to represent Ustinov and compete against other colleges! And for those who do not wish to join a sports club, we have some interesting societies on offer too. Scroll down to find more information about the current clubs and societies and don’t hesitate to contact me (cs.ustinovgcr@durham.ac.uk) if you have any questions about them!
Sport Clubs
Our sport clubs represent Ustinov in a college league and could also be chosen to represent Durham University in varsity games. No previous experience is required to join a team — beginners will easily be introduced to the sport and become an active member of the team. The current list of sport clubs consists of basketball, football, hockey, table tennis, ultimate frisbee, volleyball and squash!
Basketball
Ustinov Basketball is a club for long-time players and beginners alike. We usually train in Durham School once a week.
For the more competitive minds, we also take part in the popular college league against other undergraduate colleges. Currently we have one men’s team and one women’s team. Both teams play in the highest league they can. We are a very friendly and diverse group and we’d love to have you!
Men’s Team Captain: Gregorio Higuera-Gutierrez (gregorio.higuera-gutierrez@durham.ac.uk)
Facebook Page: Ustinov College Basketball Club
Men’s Football
If you’re a postgraduate student at Durham University, we invite you to join the Ustinov men’s team! Our team is open to both members of Ustinov College and any other postgraduate students and we welcome players of all abilities to join us at training, usually held on a weekday evening. For Spring 2023 term we train on Thursdays 7-8 pm at Maiden Castle Sports park on pitch 3G2.
If you’re interested in joining, simply send us a message on Facebook and we can add you to the group chat where we send info about training and matches. We’d be happy to answer any questions and provide more information.
Club Captain: Pietro Cannatella (pietro.f.cannatella@durham.ac.uk)
A Team Captain: Dominic Taylor (dominic.j.taylor@durham.ac.uk)
B Team Captain: Ben Graham
Facebook Page: Ustinov College AFC
Women’s Football
Ustinov women’s football team is open to all female staff and postgraduates, whether experienced players or complete beginners. For the 2022-2023 season we have been training once a week on Wednesday evenings at Maiden Castle, using the rubber crumb pitches. We play in the college league on weekends and in the college cup competitions. We also try to have regular social events, whether that be a casual pub trip after training and games, or organised activities like bowling or dinners out. All training and matches are held at Maiden Castle Sports Centre.
Club Captain: Lauren Rowntree (lauren.rowntree@durham.ac.uk)
Hockey
The Hockey club is open to both men and women and training is mixed. Single sex matches are also played in the colleges’ league and additional matches are available in the colleges’ trophy competitions. The Hockey club also enter the Durham City HC Mixed Festival in May. All players, of any standard, are welcome — including those who have never played before. Training and matches normally take place at Maiden Castle.
Currently training is every Thursday 7-8pm on Maiden Castle Pitch 2.
The club has some spare sticks to borrow — you only need to bring shin pads and spare clean training shoes! Costs for joining the club are £30 for the whole season for GCR members and £60 for non-GCR members and and this covers most training and match costs for the year!
Club Captain: Miles Hudson (miyls@aol.com)
Men’s A Team Captain: Vacant role
Women’s A Team Captain: Charlotte O’Brien (charlotte.o’brien@durham.ac.uk)
Table Tennis
The Table Tennis Club was formed in January 2018 after there was interest in the community to form a team to compete in the college table tennis leagues. In just two short years, the team made it to the highest tier of college table tennis after being promoted to the Premiership in 2019.
We welcome people of all skill levels at our training sessions and all equipment is provided. Currently training is at 7-8 pm every Tuesday in the Community Room located in Neville House at Sheraton Park. Training sessions provide a relaxed environment to learn, practice and play table tennis.
Please get in touch if you’re at all interested in playing!
Club Captain: Callum Johnson (callum.johnson@durham.ac.uk)
Facebook Page: Ustinov Racket Sports
Ultimate Frisbee
Ultimate is a non-contact, self-refereed team sport played with a flying disc (aka a frisbee). Two mixed teams of 7 compete to score points by passing the frisbee around in a fast-paced game of speed, skill, and spirit. How does a frisbee game work? The team in possession of the disc is on offence and their goal is to pass the frisbee up the pitch into an end zone to score a point. While in possession of the frisbee, a player cannot leave the spot they are standing on and must move the disc up the pitch by passing to another teammate in any direction. The aim of the defence is simple, to knock the frisbee out of the air or intercept a pass and catch the frisbee themselves. As soon as the frisbee touches the ground, the defensive team becomes the offensive team and can now score in the opposite end zone.
Ultimate Frisbee is lots of fun and you will find a close-knit team at Ustinov that is always eager to teach you a new throw or give you tips and pointers on how to improve. We are very friendly and always looking for new players no matter your ability. If you are interested, please get in touch!
Club Captain: Vacant
Facebook Page: Ustinov Spin Doctors Ultimate Frisbee
Volleyball
The Ustinov College Volleyball club trains 6.30-9 pm on Thursdays at Durham Chorister School and 7-9 pm on Fridays at Durham High School. It is a friendly environment to learn, practice and play volleyball. All abilities are welcome, whether you are excited to learn the basics or you are a pro looking for friendly matches.
We play in the college league and represent Ustinov against other colleges in Durham. Feel free to get in touch to join us and have some fun!
Club Captain: Mario Erandi Bonillas-Monge (m.e.bonillas-monge@durham.ac.uk)
Facebook Page: Ustinov Volleyball
Squash
The Ustinov College Squash Club welcomes every Squash enthusiastic. It’s for everyone: pro-long-time player – yes; beginner – yes; just want to give it a go – yes, this is the right club.
What is squash? Squash is a racquet sport played in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball. The players alternate in striking the ball with their racquets onto the playable surfaces of the four walls of the court. The objective of the game is to hit the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return. It can be played as a singles or doubles sport.
The club is very friendly with members who are always willing to teach either the basics or new techniques and give advice on how to improve.
Feel free to get in touch if you would like to join us!
Club Captain: Gregorio Higuera-Gutierrez (gregorio.higuera-gutierrez@durham.ac.uk)
Tennis
The Ustinov College Tennis Club runs a training session 2-5 pm every Sunday at the John Snow College tennis court. It is a friendly environment to learn, practise and play tennis. All abilities are welcome, whether you are excited to learn the basics or you are a pro looking for friendly matches. We will participate at the intercollegiate tournament representing Ustinov College. Come and join to have some fun.
Club Captain: Ellie Ashton-Cobb (eleanor.e.ashton-cobb@durham.ac.uk)
Badminton
The Ustinov College Badminton Club runs a training session 7-9 pm every Wednesday at the sports hall of Durham High School. It is a friendly environment to learn, practise and play badminton. All abilities are welcome, whether you are excited to learn the basics or you are a pro looking for friendly matches. We will aim to participate at the intercollegiate tournament representing Ustinov College. Come and join to have some fun.
Club Contact: Jamie Hunter (vp.ustinovgcr@durham.ac.uk)
Grey College Boat Club
Rowing is a long established tradition at Durham University and Ustinov College has partnered up with the Grey College Boat Club to allow eager Ustinovians who do not fear the 6 am training sessions to participate! If you would like more information about this, please get in touch with the Clubs & Societies Officer (cs.ustinovgcr@durham.ac.uk)
And more..!
If you’re interested in another sport, do not hesitate to get in touch with our Clubs & Societies officer (cs.ustinovgcr@durham.ac.uk) who will help you start your own society and find members or allow you to get in touch with other colleges happy to have Ustinovians join their team!
Our other Societies
Our societies allow you to meet people who share your interests or to pick up new interests! They are always keen to hear from new members are cater to a wide range of passions — we currently have a board games society, a hairstyle & lifestyle society, and a choir! You could also easily start a new society to bring people together around your interests!
The Allotment Society
Fancy getting involved in gardening and growing? Ustinov has our very own allotment space near the Observatory. In the past, we’ve grown salads, potatoes, broccoli, beans and more! We also work on trying to do things sustainably – with a focus on repurposing material and building things ourselves. If you’d like to get involved, please get in touch!
Society President: Lucy Smith
Facebook Group: Ustinov College Allotment Society
The Gaming Society
This group is for Ustinov College students interested in gaming — this mostly means board games but could also include some role-playing. The College Bar has a good selection of games you can book out anytime and the society also has a number of own games which we like sharing and teaching! Regular titles notably include Junta, Kremlin, Family Business, Pandemic, Flux, Istanbul and more…
Under the current circumstances we’re unable to meet but if you’re interested join our Facebook group below where updates regarding our future meeting will be shared! When it’s safe to play again — feel free to join with your friends and have fun!
Society President: Tim James
Facebook Page: Ustinov College Gaming Society
Ustinov College Choir
The Ustinov College Choir aims to integrate Ustinovian voices in harmony and in a passionate and empowering environment to enjoy music. The Choir would also like to share music with Ustinov members and local community in relevant events. We have played in the Christmas formal last year as well as in Ustinov Live!
Contact: Rose Blyth (rose.blyth@durham.ac.uk)
Facebook Page: Ustinov College Choir 2023-24
St Mary’s College Intercollegiate Beekeeping Society
The St Mary’s College Beekeeping Society is an intercollegiate student-led group of beekeepers who maintain an apiary at St Mary’s college. Our society aims to promote the hobby of beekeeping and the protection of wild pollinators among the Durham University community. We currently have three colonies of bees, which will gradually increase as the society grows.
The society teaches practical beekeeping through the management of an on-site apiary and through a series of taught classes, lectures and practical activities. We are always keen to invite new members of the Durham University community to try this unique hobby and Ustinov GCR members are particularly welcome!
Facebook Page: St Mary’s Beesoc
Knitting and Crochet Society
Are you interested in a relaxing evening of yarn crafts spent with other wooly-minded individuals?
Then gets out your needles and hooks and head on over to the The Paddle on Sunday evenings between 7 and 9 pm!
We are a friendly group and we welcome anybody who is interested in getting crafty with knitting, crochet, sewing, or any other kind of fibre based craft project you can think of. We have members who are skilled in all types of projects that will be around to happily give you a helping hand, so we hope that even if you are a beginner you will come along and give it a try!
We will also have needles/hooks and yarn available for members to take home for practice.
Society President: Bethany Hardman
Ustinov Pool Society
The Ustinov Pool Society is a student-led pool society based in Ustinov College. We hold friendly tournaments in The Paddle (Ustinov Bar) every 2 months. Anyone, regardless of skill or experience, is welcome to join and compete. Beginners are also offered friendly training lessons from the president. This is a place to relax, meet new friends, and enjoy few drinks after some games!
Society President: James Meadows
Our facilities
The Ustinov College GCR has access to a number of sports halls and facilities. Click here to find out more about our facilities!
Starting new societies
We are always keen to hear from people interested in starting new societies — the process is very straightforward and our Clubs & Societies officer will happily help you get started. Click here to find out more about starting societies.
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