Siobhán O’ Reilly

25/05/2022

I have been a member of UL Fencing club since my first year of college. I was initially an Ordinary Committee member. I helped out with the general running of the club and gained a greater understanding of the sport. As I learned more about the club, I decided to put myself forward for the role of Public Relations Officer. I was voted in at the Annual General Meeting when I was in second year. As we were still in lockdown, I felt that I did not have a great opportunity to learn about being PRO. Consequently, I decided to run for the same role this year and was re-elected. Our in-person events were able to return at the start of semester one, which meant I had more chances to post about our training and social events. I felt that being PRO this year enabled me to refine and develop my skills further while also taking part in a sport I enjoy. In order to create a more united team within the club, I organised new club jumpers that aligned with the new club colours of green and black. These jumpers were worn to competitions or members participated in throughout the year. I am currently in the process of organising matching shorts and socks to complete our competition gear. This was our first time having our own club gear.

This year, we held a competition in UL, which is the first competition since 2012. A lot of preparation was required to organise this event. I played a key role in the creation of this event. I arranged the design of the medals, which included our new logo.

If I could change something within the club, I would like to improve our presence on TikTok and collaborate with other fencing club accounts across the country. While I did post actively, it was difficult to post weekly due to training schedules.

 I have gained several valuable skills over the last year as public relations officer. Going forward, I hope to use skills such as organisation, effective communication, and delegation in my future career and life. As a physiotherapist, I will require the ability to liaise with the wider multidisciplinary team and be able to give clear instructions to patients. I hope to continue to volunteer my time to the fencing club and other voluntary organisations in the future.