Sussex's student sport teams have had their most successful year ever, with eight teams winning prestigious British Universities Sports Association (BUSA) competitions.
CJ Lee, the University's Sports Development Manager, said that it is an "unparalled success for Sussex and it has raised the expectations of all of our teams to achieve their full potential".
The men's 1st squash team won their BUSA league without dropping a match; this was despite having to battle against, effectively, their own side in the form of the Sussex men's 2nd squash team. Also triumphing in their leagues were men's football, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's volleyball and women's netball.
The icing on the BUSA cake, however, was the promotion of women's basketball, a team CJ himself coaches, to the Premier League - a feat never before achieved by any Sussex team.
So what's the secret of Sussex's sporting success? "The introduction of professional coaches," answers CJ. "A few years ago, talented students taught other students. But this meant these students concentrated on coaching rather than playing." In 2003 things began to change when professional coaches were paid to help promising teams.
Improvements started straightaway; last year Sussex jumped 40 places in the overall BUSA championships and more teams than ever before reached knock-out stages. This year 12 teams reached knock-out stages and promotional play-offs and three either won their leagues or were promoted.
Sussex can now count an ex-West Ham footballer and the coach of the high-flying Fulham junior women's football team among its roster of coaches: "We have coaches who now genuinely develop our student athletes and this has helped us retain more beginners and elite players than ever before," says CJ. A new innovation this year has seen coaches attend many team matches, helping out their players when it's most important. "The kind of investment we've made in coaching is clearly paying off," says CJ.
However, one cloud on the horizon is the upcoming Sports Awards Dinner and the troubling task of how to pick out the actual winners: "It's going to be really tight this year for team of the year," confides CJ, "not just between the BUSA teams but other clubs, such as Outdoor Pursuits, who have also done really well."
The annual Sports Awards Dinner is on Friday 6 May at the Hilton Metropole Hotel. Tickets for the black-tie affair are £35 each and are available from the Activities Centre, Falmer House, from Monday 18 April.