Heston opens as the new home of sport

Heston, the new home of Medic sport, was unveiled on Wednesday the 15th of October, to a nibbles and ‘BUCS’ fizz reception. Debra Humphris, Vice Provost (Education), launched the day with a short speech commenting on the “continued evolution of our sports facilities” and the revealing of a plaque honouring Teddington and a piece of the hallowed Teddington grass.

The planes are as close as at Harlington, indicating quite how far West the new sports ground is. However, it took only 30 minutes by minibus to reach the new centre, a large sprawling complex that backs onto the swathe of sports grounds. Alex Savell, Deputy President (Finance and Services), has already scoped the ground and thinks at least two polo pitches could fit on the site, such is the expanse. Teddington was also honoured by the renaming of one of the bars (there were three open and operational on Wednesday) as the Teddington Bar.

The lack of Medic trophies and memorabilia from the last 130 years of Medic sport is unlikely to change in the near future: an ICMSU source said they were keen to consolidate most of their memorabilia in The Reynolds Bar, (the home of ICSMU bar within Charing Cross Hospital) to ease the loss of Teddington. The small piece of turf lifted from Teddington did stand out, initially because it was on a plaque, and secondly because the surrounding grass is in excellent condition. While much has been made about the complete disregard for student input, the groundskeeper at Heston obviously knows his stuff; the pitches are, in the words of an anonymous Medic Footballer, “excellent”.

Not only was the grass in excellent nick and the pitches reasonably flat, there was the correct adornment of Phoenix flags, much to the medics’ delight. The sports facilities were in full use all afternoon, with all pitches (6 football and 2 rugby), all the netball and all the tennis courts being used during a damp and overcast day in West London. Even the Medics President, Dariush Hassanzadeh-Baboli, managed to dig out a rugby shirt for a cameo seconds appearance, claiming he might even play at Varsity.

IC Cheerleaders were also in attendance as were representatives from ICU Dance who gave demonstrations to College and Union staff. The day was rounded off by a compelling speech from Tom Wheeler, Union President, and Abi de Bruin, Deputy President (Clubs and Societies), extolling the virtues of the new sports ground. Tom Wheeler said, “It was fantastic to see sports teams using the new facilities at Hestion and performance teams using the new space in the theatre that is also on the site. “It is important we don’t forget the history and tradition of Teddington and the siginificance of it’s loss. We are looking forward to celebrating Teddington this weekend at the Teddington Alumnus Day, as are excited for the future of sport at Heston.”