New sports club making big waves at GCU

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Kaleem teamed up with students from the Optometry course at GCU to help set up the Surf Club

GCU Students’ Association has launched a brand new sports club thanks to a student’s experience while on holiday.

Final year Optometry student Kaleem Anwar stepped onto a surfboard for the first time when he visited Dubai two years ago – turning the tide towards a new opportunity for students at GCU.

He explained: “I was at one of the water parks and saw this automatic wave machine – I just decided to give it a go! I must admit, I wasn’t very good at it but I absolutely loved it!

“When I came home I just decided to give surfing a go. I stay in Falkirk, so I’m right between Glasgow and Edinburgh. The nearest place for me is Dunbar so me and a few of the guys from my course decided to head to Belhaven Surf School for a day out. It was amazing - we’ve been hooked ever since!

“I’m definitely not an expert by any means, but I have improved. It was my birthday recently and my parents got me a surfboard, so I just need to get a roof rack for my car to take it places.”

As a fully converted surf-fan, Kaleem wanted to move away from being a novice while also introducing other students to the benefits of the sport.

“I wanted to develop my surfing skills, but there wasn’t a surf club at GCU even though there’s one at Strathclyde, University of Glasgow and most other places! There was one years ago at GCU but I think it fell away during the pandemic, so I just decided to get it going again.

“Me and one of my mates had a stall at Freshers. I wasn’t expecting many people to come but we ended up with around 40 people signing up as being interested! We weren’t expecting anything like that so it was a massive shock. We’re now live on the Students’ Association website and we’ve got quite a few actual members, so it’s really exciting times.

“We’ve not had a lot of meetings yet. We did have one gathering where we went to the Students’ Association and introduced ourselves so that they could put a face to a name. It was also a good way for us to talk about the back-story to the Surf Club, and talk about where we’re from and why we want to surf.”

Kaleem would love to see more students get involved and reap the benefits that come with being part of a sports club.

“I was part of the basketball club last year and it was a great way to make new friends while also positively impacting my mental health,” he explained.

“The social side of joining a club or society at University is a real bonus – I’ve made so many friends outwith my course just from getting involved during my time here.

“The good thing about the Surf Club is that none of us so far are experts, we’re all in the early stages.

“I’m really keen to build the foundations of the Surf Club so that it can continue to grow long after I’ve graduated.”

You can find out more about the GCU Surf Club here

By Ross Clark      
Got an SHLS or GSBS story? Email me at Ross.Clark@gcu.ac.uk or message me on Twitter