Vivika Sahajpal
The end of 2023 saw an annual fixture for Medics’ IMS Sport, The Badminton NAMS (National Association of Medical Schools) tournament. This year it was once again UoN’s turn to host the event and the 2023/24 Medics Badminton committee did an incredible job of organising the tournament, ensuring it all went to plan and making sure each team had a great time on the day. Led by the society’s President, Ishani Mehta, they hosted Medics Badminton Teams from 14 different universities across the UK in the DRSV sports hall, marking another year of UoN successfully hosting this significant event in the Medics calendar.
The day started strong as all of the teams made their way to University Park Campus ahead of a packed day of matches
The teams in attendance were from Aston, Birmingham, Bristol, Imperial, Leicester, Leeds, Manchester, Preston, Sheffield, Southampton, St George’s, UCL, Warwick and of course, our own Nottingham Medics Badminton team. Given the number of universities in attendance, the committee developed an adapted four-round tournament to accommodate this. The day started strong as all of the teams made their way to University Park Campus ahead of a packed day of matches.
Last year’s winners and hosts, Birmingham, were named the team to beat, along with UCL, by many of the team captains and their performance did not disappoint. Nottingham also played a very skilled game, showcasing the team’s expertise as they progressed through a fast-paced first round through to the second along with Bristol, Birmingham, UCL, Sheffield, Aston, Leicester and St George’s. Speaking to the teams as they progressed through the rounds showed that each remaining side was confident that they’d secure a place in the final.
As the day went on and more teams got knocked out of the competition, we reached the final where St George’s and UCL were battling for 3rd place, leaving Bristol and Leicester competing for the number one spot. After a series of spirited doubles matches, the NAMS 2023 tournament ended with UCL finishing third, Leicester taking second place and Bristol as the winners!
NAMS is one of many IMS competitions that take place throughout the year
NAMS is one of many IMS (Intramural Sport) competitions that take place throughout the year across different sports between different university societies. Nottingham Medics have a range of sports teams from volleyball to badminton that all offer a fun and rewarding alternative to the heavy fees of the UoN sports membership and help foster the wonderful sense of community that each team and our own Nottingham Medics Badminton team emphasise the importance of, especially while doing such a demanding course.
IMS offers students who still want to partake in the active, competitive aspects of university sports but participate at a less serious level an opportunity to do so making it a key part of many student’s experiences and making it an important thing for the student body to support.
The Nottingham Medics Badminton committee spoke about the challenge of organising such a big event and how rewarding it was to pull off successively with Ishani (President) drawing attention to the importance of the volunteers in making sure that the event ran smoothly. In the evening, our team and committee, alongside the other Medics Badminton teams, celebrated in the city with a well-deserved social after a long day of intense planning and playing.
Vivika Sahajpal
