By Ryan Niven

Pool competition organised to help students settle into accommodation. 

Staying in student halls moving away from home for the first time can be a very scary experience. That is why last night a pool competition was organised by David Crombie, Keir Hotchkiss and Jake McKill. The competition was held in the common room of the university. accommodation featuring 16 players battling it out for the ultimate crown. 

The idea came around to stage the event when it was noticed a core group of students really enjoyed playing pool. Accommodation staff saw the interest the students had and asked the question about holding an event.

“The staff noticed we all really enjoyed playing pool and asked us we would like to have a competition. We thought it could be a fun night.” 

To host an event like this with two weeks’ notice takes a lot of planning. Ties to be drawn, format to be decided and players to sign up. I asked David about how the planning was for the competition   

“We had to get enough people for round of 16, quarters, semis and final. Once we managed to get the right amount of people, we drew up a table using a random generator.” 

Spending time with friends and meeting new people can be so important whilst living away from home. With the stress of university life and the potential mental health struggles that could follow, this was a key reason behind the decision to go ahead with the idea  

David Crombie said: A lot of people who showed up we haven’t really seen. “Having that sort of competitiveness allows people to have a laugh and socialise.  

In terms of how the competition went, organiser David crashed out in the first round whereas Jake and Keir progressed through to the quarter final stage before crashing out. The final was a battle of England V Scotland with the Tartan Army coming out on top. Renditions of Loch Lomond and Yes Sir I Can Boogie belted out across the common room. 

After the event was such a success friends were made parties were had and fun memories were made I quizzed David on whether more we planned “At the moment no but if there will be I would certainly try to get another one done.”