HIGHER

Chris Cook, special interview

Movember and Sunderland

LOWER ?OR

Marathon runner, Aly Dixon, reveals how the benefits of altitude training can help

her to secure a place at London 2012

CONTENT:

10

15 1923

Sumque nihici qui ra pratur ra­

tumqui offictem acimet fugiae del­

labo. Es cum vendemq uaspeles

aut enda int lictur aut entectur sa

quiscimodi derendunt qui dolup­

tate non nobit pe volendit alias

into eatis doluptat.

Uptur aute rempor sime eos nul­

latibus et lab inullisite volupta

sinvent officii stiate sinctiassi

optat quasped quasi nitem asit

esequam erum exerum earcidis

rectem fugit, te volore voluptia

dolluptae volor rem iumque vo­

lenis non nimint laboreriae labor

mi, simpor repere di rem facese

optatia volupie nietur, sinus do­

10 TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS

13 NETABLL GAMES AND PLAYERS

18 RUGBY TEAM - NEW HOPE

10 VOLLEYBALL STORIES

13 NETABLL GAMES AND PLAYERS

18 RUGBY TEAM - NEW HOPE

10 VOLLEYBALL STORIES

Sumque nihici qui ra pratur ratumqui offictem acimet fugiae dellabo. Es cum ven-demq uaspeles aut enda int lictur aut entectur sa quisci-modi derendunt qui dolup-tate non nobit pe volendit alias into eatis doluptat.Uptur aute rempor sime eos nullatibus et lab inullisite volupta sinvent officii stiate sinctiassi optat quasped qua-si nitem asit esequam erum exerum earcidis rectem fu-git, te volore voluptia dollup-tae volor rem iumque volenis non nimint laboreriae labor

Whats inside:First words: Danis sam

quistru ndip-sam rem

dolorest, quam volorem re re

nus dolupta tquasin rem. As vidunt et,

quam rehendis

Danis sam quistru ndip-

sam rem dolorest, quam

volorem re re nus dolupta

tquasin rem. As vidunt et,

quam rehendis

Danis sam quistru ndip-

sam rem dolorest, quam

volorem re re nus dolupta

tquasin rem. As vidunt et,

quam rehendis

Danis sam quistru ndip-

sam rem dolorest, quam

volorem re re nus dolupta

tquasin rem. As vidunt et,

quam rehendis

Danis sam quistru ndip-sam rem dolorest, quam volorem re re nus dolupta tquasin rem. As vidunt et, quam rehendis

Danis sam quistru ndip-sam rem dolorest, quam volorem re re nus dolupta tquasin rem. As vidunt et, quam rehendis

Danis sam quistru ndip-sam rem dolorest, quam volorem re re nus dolupta tquasin rem. As vidunt et, quam rehendis

Danis sam quistru ndip-sam rem dolorest, quam volorem re re nus dolupta tquasin rem. As vidunt et, quam rehendis

6

24

8

28

Superb response from

Mens Rugby 1stsAfter being torn to shreds down at Hull last week, Sunderland 1sts responded with a much improved performance – thumping York 3rds 50-9 at Ashbrooke. Tries from Tombling, Burn, Bryan-Victory, Charles, Francis, Jeal and a Fotheringham brace sealed a win for the Wearsiders, who were compre-hensively beaten 67-0 down in Yorkshire in their last fixture.

The hosts needed a strong start and did exactly just that, when some great work from the forwards turning a scrum against the head lead a blindside attack between No.8 Luke Bryan-Victory and scrum-half Tom Burn, who eventually offloaded to Tom-bling to touch down in the corner – with just two minutes on the clock. Fly-half Tombling failed to add the conversation.

After the Sunderland forwards conceded slop-py penalties, York were back in the game when their fly-half slotted home a penalty, to narrow the margin to just two points.

However, yet another response came from Sun-derland, when a strong carry down the wing by Ainsley Charles created a quick ball for scrum-half Burn to snipe down the narrowest of blind-sides, to make the scores 10-3 to Sunderland. Tombling failed again with the conversion.

York could not handle the Wearside forwards – who were helping to create

Bus ut quo testibus, comnim et harumquatur as esedis que molum repro bea nia corempe solent.

Adit volupta temporumqui necus que exerian iendita

Replacement scrum-half Matthew Francis did not take long to get involved in the game, when another scrum was taken against the head and the Welshman acted instinctively to snatch the ball and touch down from close

range. Tombling failed with the conversation.

At the final whistle, Sunderland were re-lieved to get their first win of the sea-

son – following a demoralising defeat last week.

Coach Matt Fieldhouse said: “This week’s per-formance was 10 times better, we were far more organised and looked dangerous ev-ery time we had pos-session.

Sportsbyte’s Guide to Indoor Cricket

The regional rounds of the Men’s Indoor Cricket Championships have begun and here’s Sportsbyte’s guide to the structure of the championship

and indoor cricket as a whole.

Indoor Cricket ChampionshipThe regional rounds of the championship consist of nine pools, with six teams in each from across Britain. The pool is then divided into two groups of three, with the top team in each of the smaller groups qualifying for the semi finals in November.Sunderland travelled to Edinburgh for their regional round but two disappointing losses meant they were unable be progress further in the championship.The semi finals take a similar structure to the regional tournament with the top six teams from all the semi’s competing for the championship in the final at Lords

Indoor Cricket RulesAn indoor cricket match is made up of two teams of six players batting and bowling one 12 over innings each. Players can bowl a maximum of three overs each.Similar to outdoor cricket, batsmen can still score fours and sixes. The wall located behind the bowler is known as the boundary wall. If the batsman hits the wall with the ball with no bounces a six is scored and a four is scored if the ball bounces on the way. Batsmen are out if a fielder catches the ball after it has hit the ceiling or a wall as long as the ball has not touched the ground and it isn’t the

Once a batsman scores a personal tally of 25 he must retire. However, the batsman may return to bat if all other batsmen are out before the maximum of 12 overs have been bowled.When there is one batsman remaining, a player who was previously out may return to the crease but only as a runner for the player who is still in.The winner of the match is the side who scores the most runs in their innings. Should this be equal then the team who conceded the least wickets take the honours. If that is also equal then the winner is determined

by who scored their runs in the fewer number of overs. If even after that it is still equal then players must par-take in a ‘bowl off’.This is where each member from each team bowls at the wickets without a batsman present. The team who hit the wickets the most are the winners.

FUTSALThe University of Sunderland are ready to unveil their latest summer addition to their sports provision; Futsal.

Each team is allowed a maximum of 12 players in their squads, with five starting and the other seven substitutes

being used on a roll on, roll off basis as many times as the coach/team dictate. Interestingly, given the furore

regarding the application of the rules in football, there are two referees in Futsal. The first referee applies the laws,

while the second referee is there for guidance.

Sportsbyte’s James Wild examines the difference between Futsal and it’s more familiar older brother, Football, ahead of the season’s kick off on October 23rd.

Futsal is similar to 5-a-side football, with the pitch being the same size as its sister sport. Most games are played indoors, but with a smaller ball which has less bounce than a normal sized ball, this lets the players concentrate on improvisation and creativity. Technique and good ball control is essential.

The same old

cliches can apply as Futsal

is ‘a game of two halves’, although each

half is only twenty minutes long. However, the length of

the half is extended if there is any penalty or direct free kicks to be taken.

Like 11-a-side football, Spain are dominating futsal and top the World rankings. The spanish

have won two out of the last three World Cups and have also won the European Cup six times out the last

eight tournaments.

With no Spanish in the way at the Sunderland Futsal league its anyone’s game; but one thing that is promised is a fast, exciting and

technical sport. Anyone interested in joining the Futsal training sessions

Snowboarder’s are a rare breed. Almost nocturnal like as they come out toplay when everyone else hides away from the cold. The winter is their lunchhour and the snow their grass. As the masses sit in anticipation for the firstray of spring sunshine, ‘boarders hold onto every last flake of snow theycan carve the edges of their board on. Often pigeonholed as a bit crazy, a bit different, you could say a bit unique.

Lukas Tupi is no exception. After growing up in the very small villageof Koenigsdorf, which translates into ‘kings village’, 30-40 miles out ofMunich, Lukas became known as a ‘shop-rider’ within the snowboardingcommunity. Meaning he had proved himself good enough to gainsponsorship from a snowboarding shop, which, considering the hugenumber of snowboarders in the Alps, Tupi was delighted with.

A daily diet of jumping off cliffs with his mates listening to reggae whilstavoiding the odd small off-piste avalanche here and there fuelled Tupi’sadrenaline cravings and this was how he lived his life week in week out.This was until, while enjoying his second passion in life - his motorbike, hewas hit by a newly passed driver and hospitalised aged 17.As in any car-motorbike crash Lukas was lucky to come away alive, butby no means did he come away unscathed. He suffered a broken leg andbroken shoulder as well as having two metal plates and 17 screws insertedinto his broken arm.

And to add insult to injury he was told that he wouldnot be able to snowboard for a year: “After having the crash they said youcan’t go snowboarding for one year, so obviously I had to stop for oneseason and the whole sponsorships and all that had gone.”

As well as snowboarding Lukas’ other passion had been his motorbike since he had learnt to ride.Reflecting on his year out from snowboarding and the time after his crashTupi said: “That was the hardest time of my life ‘cause I lost my motorbikeand the ability to go on the racetrack for at least that time, I didn’t know how long that would be.”

“I was in a wheelchair at the beginning and I couldn’t go snowboardingand everything was just gone. I had to repeat a year in school because I hadthe crash during exams and I couldn’t retake the exams and everything wasgone in that year.It was an eye-opener definitely, I just realised you know it can happen so quickly.”

The motorcycle and Tupi’s arm after the accident

After Tupi’s year out he found it hard to go back to snowboardingthe way he used to. It took him along time to get back to the morehardcore ‘boarding that he had done previously, jumping off cliffs and skilifts alike. “I was very scared at the beginning, I didn’t do anything likethat (cliff jumping(at the beginning I was just riding normally.

SNOWBOARDERSARE A REAR BREED

I never came back to that real hardcore stuff that I did before you know. Especially because I had the metal stuff in my arm they said if you go snowboarding perfectly fine but if you fall then the metal obviously is stronger than your bones and therefore the bone will crack in 17 pieces because of those 17 screws, so I was terrified of that.”

“That was the hardest time of my life, I didn’t know how long that wouldbe. Everything was gone in that year.”

Lukas now aged 20 finds himself living a completely different lifestyle overhere studying business and management at the University of Sunderlandand he is loving it, when I asked why Sunderland? He replied: “I came toSunderland and I thought I like it here, I like the sea. At home(I live inmountains and then the sea is something really exotic to me you know soit’s completely different and it’s a really nice university, I came to the openday and people were quite friendly and I thought why not.”

Munich and Sunderland are at complete opposite ends of the spectrumas far as lifestyle goes for Lukas: “It doesn’t compare at all, they are thecomplete opposite.”

“What I experience here is proper student life, everyone’s poor, I’m sittingthinking I can’t go out because I don’t have any money anymore, I reallylike that you know without all my friends spending, I dunno, seven or 800quid on a night out in Munich.”

After his switch from Munich, Tupi has joined the snowsports club here atthe university and is enjoying the social side of the club at the moment, andwatching the others enjoy the practical side of the society. I asked if he will be experi-encing a dry slope for the first time anytime soon: “Yeah I guessI’m going to give it a go sometime, I wouldn’t say I’m nervous although I’venever been on a dry slope.”

“I was in Edinburgh the other weekend (with snowsports( and that was thefirst time in my life that I had seen something like that. I really like the fact

that people here try to at least go snowboarding you know they just don’tsay well we don’t have anything so we can’t go but they actually make aneffort to try something like that, it’s a lot harder from what I’ve heard frommany people and therefore I think it’s probably a good thing because if youcan do it there then it will be easier on snow, so I think it’s a good thingdefinitely, but of course yeah I’m going to give it a go.”

Lukas’ final thought’s on the University of Sunderland SnowsportsClub: “It’s absolutely amazing I really really like the people I really get onwith them and I kind of really felt welcome and I came there and everyonewas just like ‘hey cool where are you from what’s going on...’ it’s just reallynice, open and friendly. I really like that. getting drunk all together, it’sgood fun, it’s really cool.”

“The serve is just pure luck to me. One time it’s in, one time it’s out and other time I hit my friend in the head. During the game I always start with the float because it is easier and safer and in many cases more effective. Only if it is successful I will try the jump serve.”

What are your preparations before a match, do you have any superstitions?

No superstitions…just listening to music that puts me in a state where I’m ready to kill

What kind of music?

“Mostly heavy metal bands, maybe not heavy metal but Rock bands.”

What do you think can be done to improve volleyball popularity in the UK?

“I think you (UK) had a good start but there is always great need for success, I’m talking about the men’s team of course. Your clubs do not play in any European cups, which helped to make volleyball popular in other countries. I think Olympics are the best chance for now. If you some-how manage to beat some big and famous teams like Brazil, Russia, Italy or Poland that might speed things up.”

Because you are captain of the University team, I was just wondering what pressure comes with the responsibility of leading the team?

“Being the captain means only that I can talk and shout more than the other players. When we play, everybody knows what to do and if there is something going wrong everybody can see it so it’s not only me who will say ‘don’t worry forget about it’. During every single game a different person, who is doing great at that time, is leading us and showing us that we can do better.”

PLAYER PROFILE: MAREK GRZEBYKThe University of Sunderland’s Men’s Volleyball team captain Marek Grzebyk has had an eventful ride to arrive on Wearside. His quest for education has taken him around the world and his passion for Volleyball has seen him become one of the Univer-sity team’s key players.

Marek, a 2nd Year games software development student, has given Sportsbyte an insight into his journey to the UK and his Volleyball views on and off the court.

I just want to start off by asking you about where you grew up and how you came to study in Sunderland?

“I grew up in Rzeszów (Rzeszow) a city in the south east of Poland. I guess lots of American movies and the fact I really enjoyed learning English helped. One day I found out that I can go for educational exchange to the USA for a year. When I got back I had to finish one more year of high school so it was the time to pick University. I was crazy about studying in an English speaking country either the USA or UK. The UK was closer and easier to apply so I came here. I applied to two universities, Worcester and Sunderland. Sunderland was a backup plan just in case I didn’t make it to Worcester. But then I started reading about the Uni and I decided it was the far better choice.”

So how did you get into volleyball, did you play in America or did you start in Poland?

“I started in Poland. It seemed like a fun sport and the team from my city just started playing in the best league in the country so everybody was getting into it. I signed up for one of the best clubs in Poland, but of course I was not good at all. I spent my second year of high school in the USA just playing for fun in a local air force base. My third and last year before going to Uni I spent playing in local amateur leagues. I was not good enough to play it for real but good enough to play for fun.”

What makes volleyball more appealing to you than other sports?

“There is something exciting that can happen, even in the worse game there will be a time when one team will do something amazing. You also have constant action. It is a non contact sport so you can prove that you are better only by your own performance.”

Would you like to play volleyball at a high level or is it a sport you just play for fun?

“I think whenever you play a sport you always dream about playing at the highest level, but to me it does not matter, it would be great but since I can’t I just enjoy it.”

How would you describe your volleyball playing style?

“I don’t think you can say somebody have a certain style in volleyball. Everybody is different and even if you would cut his or her face off you would be able to recognize everybody just because everybody moves in different ways. I just watch the best players and from time to time I try to copy their moves.”

What are your strengths in volleyball and are there any areas that you could work on?

I don’t think I have any… I’m short, my reception is bad, set is not perfect and spike is weak, but as I said it’s good enough to play for fun. I wish I could have a better reception because I have always strug-gled with it the most.

You’ve had a bad start in BUCS with a defeat and then the next game being postponed, are the team ready and looking forward to the next game? “Yes we are, but right now there is something in the back of our heads telling us that we might not be good enough. The only way to shut this voice down is to play a great game and hopefully win.”

Marek and his team will be hoping to ignore any doubts and get some points on the board with their next BUCS league match away at Bradford on Wednesday 23rd November.

Marek hitting a spike in defeat against Huddersfield