Society Showcase: Southampton Solent Men’s Rugby team

Hype: Can you tell us a little about yourself and your role in the team?

Southampton Solent Men’s Rugby team: Hello! So I used to be the Social Secretary for the Solent uni rugby team, while I was doing this I took on the role of planning Movember for the club for the last 2 years. Something I massively enjoyed during my time at uni. we were then honoured with the chance to play for the MoBros student team last year as a celebration of how much we raised. Now that I have graduated I play for the MoBros men’s side as an ambassador for the university where I get to talk and play with people all across the UK as a way of raising awareness for Movember.

Hype: What made you and your team want to get in on the fundraising action this year?

Southampton Solent Men’s Rugby team: I’m fortunate enough to have not lost a man in my life to something such as testicular cancer or prostate cancer, however, on a personal note, I’m not afraid to say I have had my mental health struggles this year. What originally pushed me to participate in Movember was the connection that Rugby has with the charity. It’s something that I have seen growing up and not paying much attention to but then once I came to uni I really understood the importance of men’s mental health; particularly between the age of 18-24. It’s something that I have seen affect friends and it’s something that I feel is still growing in terms of breaking the stigma that men can’t chat, even to their nearest and dearest. This is what makes Movember and raising awareness so important to me.

Hype: What sort of things will the money your team has raised go towards in terms of men’s health?

Southampton Solent Men’s Rugby team: As you mentioned earlier, Movember highlights the importance of Men’s health such as prostate and testicular cancer, as well as men’s mental health. The money that is raised by not only us but hundreds of thousands around the world is used for workplace and community grants who provide fantastic schemes to highlight the importance of speaking not only about men’s mental health but also providing courses on how to check for testicular and prostate cancer in day to day life, this ranges from Ireland and the UK, all the way across to Australia and New Zealand. More can be found about what money raised goes towards can be found at https://uk.movember.com/report-cards

Hype: What will you be doing this year to hopefully match last year’s donations?

Southampton Solent Men’s Rugby team: This year there has been a lot in the works for what can be done at the university level. As I still stay in contact with many of my rugby friends still at Solent rugby I know there have been plans of events such as doing a 24-hour sport-a-thon against other fellow uni sides in sports they aren’t particularly skilled in such as basketball, football and hockey; a true test of sporting endurance against Solent’s finest, as well as looking at doing a 48 move-a-thon which involves lifting weights, cardio such as running and rowing across the whole club in a 48-hour running period. But a favourite of mine is the annual game against our fellow Solent uni rivals of netball where we have a returners game and a fresher game where we get to show our netball prowess. This has always been a lot of fun against our female adversaries where a true rivalry comes out for a fantastic cause

Hype: Coming together for such an important cause shows a real sense of community within the team, what has been your favourite fundraising event so far?

Southampton Solent Men’s Rugby team: As a team, the most fun event is definitely the games against Solent netball where there is a great sense of competition. However, my favourite has to be the walk we did from Bournemouth to Southampton. This was such a tough but rewarding day where we walked over 34 miles in one day as a team of around 12 of us. Where we faced extremely tough conditions, and to do it as a team and struggle together all while raising a lot of money for such a fantastic cause made the blisters on the feet all worthwhile

Hype: How can other teams or societies join in on the Movember challenge?

Southampton Solent Men’s Rugby team: It can be quite easy to assume only men’s university sides can get involved in Movember. however, as mentioned earlier, we have been really happy to work with women’s netball at uni to really bring a new audience to the charity. As a part of the MoBros rugby side, we have seen the emergence of the MoSistas who have helped to help to highlight the values the charity brings. Having women’s sports sides and just, in general, can only help to bring eyes to the charity. University sides are always coming up with fantastic and unique ideas of ways to raise donations for the charity and there are always different ways every year I see that are brilliant. Something I think our team did last year brilliantly with the walk from Bournemouth to Southampton as well as a shoutout to my friends at @abertay_rugby and grantpaterson_ up in Dundee did this year who completed 1,000,000 kg of lifting weights in a consecutive 24 hours last week.

Hype: How can people support and donate to your fundraising?

Southampton Solent Men’s Rugby team: People can check out my personal MoSpace where I am just £40 off of my target. It’s understandable that many students are unable to donate due to lesser income but the main way they can raise money is by sharing it across all their socials and with friends and family which can raise a lot of money! I have been running 60km over the month to highlight the 60 men we lose suicide across the world hour, this is one a minute. To put a twist on this I’ve been doing them in 10 x 6km stints where I have been running with a different person every time. While we have been running I have been having a mental health talk without them ranging across a variety of subjects. In addition to this, I will be running a half marathon on the 30th of November in stints with each of my housemates