Ethan Lopez is a third-year Mechanical Engineering student who is running for the position of VP Sports. Throughout his time at Lancaster, Ethan has been Captain of the Men’s Darts and Football B’s teams for Pendle College and has played for the Pendle A’s Pool Team. As well as participation, he has been the JCR Sports Officer and President for Pendle College and has been involved with organising and helping with events like Pendle Cup, Warriors and Roses for the past two years.
Ethan states that his motivations for the role are based on the three points of his manifesto which is inclusivity, community and experience. Ethan wants to run for VP Sports to encourage a more community feel in sports, channelled by the Student’s Union and to improve the three points outlined in his manifesto which he feels the Student Union has overlooked. Overcoming these issues will hopefully lead to a ‘better sporting environment’.
When asked what sets him apart from the other candidates, Ethan states that he prides himself on being involved with sports from the beginning of his university career, having been involved with pool, darts, dominos, football, watching netball, table-tennis – “there’s not much I haven’t done!” Whereas Ethan feels the other candidates are focusing on what they have done and applying it to their campaigns, Ethan is focusing on what he has not done in order to encourage others to do the same and consider what the possibilities are for the Student’s Union regarding sports.
If elected, Ethan wants clearer communication between the Student’s Union and its students regarding the issue of sports, and issue that would take precedence from the beginning of his first term in office. He wants communication to begin at the beginning of Michaelmas Term in order to begin preparation for major sporting events early rather than the current approach of gathering plans slowly throughout the year. Ethan states that clarity in the Student’s Union is their main issue, with little information being communicated to students. “The union should be a union for the students.”
Ethan also expresses a need for more funding to go towards college teams who currently rely on their own funding, whereas sports societies affiliated with the Union can rely on them for funds. To remedy this Ethan suggests a possible re-allocating of Student Union funds to benefit college sports teams or support from the Union to allow colleges to get sponsorships in order to provide funding. He wants to achieve this by taking advantage of local businesses and with regards to Roses, there is the possibility of getting sponsorship from businesses in York to aid with Roses funding. An improvement in funding for Roses would also improve the Lancaster spectator presence at the event.
Another aspect of Ethan’s manifesto focuses on training for exec members of sports societies and college teams to provide the best experience of socials for all members – “I’ve seen a lot of socials, either going well or going wrong.” Ethan is aiming to offer guidance on how to run a social to the best ability regarding finance, welfare and enjoyment.
