5 Stymies Captains! – Tommy Zhao (Jesus), George Crawley (Churchill), George Webster (Pembroke), Ben Munton (Gonville and Caius), Ernest Pretzlik (Pembroke) enjoying the London Dinner

President’s Introduction

Gentlemen Hawks,

I’m delighted to be writing to you on Christmas Day, and I hope that this newsletter provides you with some reading material this festive season.

The Hawks’ Club has enjoyed yet another busy Michaelmas Term, with 144 Resident Hawks and more on the way, alongside 164 Resident Ospreys all inhabiting our home at 18 Portugal Place. Hawks returned in September to a hotly anticipated preseason House Party and a packed bar. Our new Steward Tom Petty (Wolfson, CURUFC) was in for a real baptism of fire as the fast pace continued through the term, with the Dining Room booked out more often than not for sports club dinners. Simultaneously the Resident Members have shown no signs of slowing down, and the appetite for a Triple B (beers, burgers and brownies) remains insatiable. Testament to this was the best ever evening of bar takings following the LXs game against Stockman and the Koster Cup, all set against a backdrop of the Stymies Match against the Oxford and Cambridge Golf Society. These events combined to create a perfect Toma fuelled storm, and a few sore heads come Sunday morning. It is down to the hard work of Tom and the Committee that the place is as lively and enjoyable as ever!

A splendid new Hawk watches over the dining room – Donated by Matthew Bullock. Harris has migrated to the bar where he can continue to receive the affection of the Resident Membership.

 

Sport is of course underway and many of our winter sports have had successful terms. CURUFC in particular continued their strong form having been named Team of the Year for 2024. The Men’s Blues won 5 out of their 6 fixtures and notably the 76th Steele-Bodger Match. This fixture was first played in 1948 when Mickey Steele-Bodger, a legendary Hawk and England international, brought an invitational side to play the Blues in a pre-Varsity warmup. The standard of the game remains high, and is often one of the toughest games our Blues play before the Varsity Match in March. This year the Blues reversed last year’s fortunes and ran out 34-28 winners. The Steele Bodger match is also a hugely important day for the Hawks’ Club, as we operate a hospitality tent, which this year like any other was hugely successful, with vital funds raised for the Hawks and Ospreys Charitable Trust as well as the Club itself.

Away from Cambridge the first Varsity fixtures have also occurred, with the Varsity Cross Country on Saturday 7th December, the historic course even caught the attention of World Athletics, who took to Instagram to say “Now this is cross country” with regards to the impressive river crossing and steep banks. Unfortunately, the Men’s side came out second best against a very strong Oxford side who fielded the Olympian Jared Ward. Many of the Athletes will seek to right these wrongs in May at the Athletics Varsity.

The golf club have successfully navigated Michaelmas taking on many of the best local and national golf clubs, and in a first for the Club,  the Blues are led by an exceptional female golfer Chloe Royston, an Osprey, who some of you will have had the pleasure of meeting at the Hawks’ and Ospreys’ Golf Day. The Blues recently made the trip to Royal North Devon, the site of this year’s Varsity, where newcomer Dylan Griswold shot an impressive 73 in tough conditions to win the medal. This highlights the strength of our incoming cohort and hopefully is a positive sign for our Varsity there in March.

The Club is of course much more than the Resident membership. From the London Dinner at the Savoy to Mark Hancock’s (Hughes Hall, CURUFC) series of lectures culminating in a visit to the Clubhouse from Ed Smith (Peterhouse, CUCC) it has been a pleasure to meet so many alumni this term. Furthermore after attending James Furber’s (Gonville and Caius, CUGC) memorial in November it was heartening to see such a strong contingent from the Hawks’ Club, emphasising the continued importance of the Club beyond residency. As always there has been a steady flow of Alumni Hawks dropping into the Clubhouse to meet the current students and trade stories and long may this continue. As we look forward to the Welsh Dinner and Varsity Fixtures next term, I encourage you all to drop in for a drink next term, we would love to welcome you back to the Club.

Finally, it feels appropriate to mention a long time servant of the Club, Matthew Bullock (Peterhouse) who has now stepped down as Chairman of both the Hawks’ Company Limited and the Hawks’ and Ospreys’ Charitable Trust, to be replaced by Mark Hancock (Hughes Hall, CURUFC) and Ian Hodgson (Downing, CUCC, CULTC, CUSRC) respectively. Matthew has worked incredibly hard to help the club navigate some difficult years, and leaves both organisations in an exciting position for his successors to take over. I am extremely grateful for his generosity and hard work over the years, and look forward to working with Mark and Ian to continue successes of recent years.

The Club has maintained its position at the forefront of Cambridge sport, uniting Light Blue sportsmen and women, and remains central to the busy student lives of the Resident membership. Thank you for all your support in 2024, I wish you and your families a very Happy Christmas and New Year.

GDBO,

Cameron Mitchell (Robinson, CUCC, CUGC)

Hawks’ Club President 2024-25

Sam Papps (Trinity Hall, CUCC, CURUFC), Myself and Simon Callaghan (King’s, CUCC) are reunited at the London Dinner 

 

London Dinner

Members of the Hawks’ Club who played for CUAFC in the early 1980s

The Annual London Dinner occurred at the Savoy this year, probably for the final time. It was a pleasure to see so many familiar faces as well as a few new ones. Pleasingly there was again a sizable contingent of recent graduates and Residents who attended alongside members elected in 1960. The room heard from our Chairman Angus Pollock (Trinity, CUCC, CUAFC), and Speakers Eleanor Oldroyd (Girton) and Nick Hancock (Homerton), who recounted stories from their time in sport and at Cambridge. Many thanks to the London Dinner Committee, particularly the Dinner Secretary Ed Hyde (Jesus, CUCC, CUSRC, CURTC, CURFC) for their hard work in organising another fantastic evening at the Savoy. Finally, thanks also to Richard Brooman (Trinity, CURUFC, CUJC) and Patrick Delafield (Jesus, CUBC) who wrote the new Hawks’ Grace for this dinner. I hope the Grace becomes a fixture of the dinner; it has been hugely positively reviewed. We would be grateful to receive any pictures taken during the evening for upcoming newsletters and look forward to seeing you at the London Dinner next year.

 

Welsh Dinner

The 51st Edition of the Welsh Dinner will take place at the Cardiff and County Club, Westgate street, Cardiff, CF10 1DA. Friday January 17, 2025. 7.00 pm for 7.45. Black or Club Tie. Please email Stephen Whitehead (whiteheadstephen3@googlemail.com) if you would like to attend.

 

Interview with Fergus Hughes (St Edmunds, CURUFC, CUCC) Men’s Rugby Union Captain

 

Q: Coming off the back of a record win last year, how does that affect your outlook on this year’s match? 

In an ideal world I’d like to say it doesn’t at all. As a group we always want to be looking forward. However, we only have three or four lads who have experienced what I’d call ‘a proper Varsity Match’, so I think a big part of mine, as well as the leadership group’s job this year has been removing any kind of complacency from the club. We know, looking at Varsity Match history, that last year was an anomaly, so a big part of this year has been about making the group aware of how tough it is to win Varsity Matches and how tough it is going to be in March.

 

Q: Many would have noticed the brand deal with RM Williams, how did that come about and how excited were the boys for some new boots in time for Christmas? 

Haha, funny you should ask, I don’t think I’ve taken my boots off since I got them. We were fortunate enough to have them reach out to us and ask if a few of our best-looking boys would head down and help them promote their new store- unfortunately only myself, Gomps, Dave, and your very own Tom Petty were available, but what we lacked for in modelling ability we made up for in gratitude. A special mention must also go to Matt Riddington who narrowly missed out on the modelling gig, despite having the official RM Williams logo tattooed on himself.

 

Q: Who are the most exciting players we should be watching out for at StoneX this year? 

I think we are really lucky this year, in that we are a well-rounded team with strengths all over the park. Having said that, the backline looks particularly strong this year and US Sevens super star Ryan Santos has been a large part in that. Along with him, Matt Riddington will be looking to build on his stellar performance from last year, as will Charles Kantolinna and Makoto Tosa in the pack.

 

Q: Could you tell us about an unsung hero at CURUFC? 

I am glad you have asked this question and to be honest there are loads I’d like to shout out. From the ground staff, and operations managers to the physios and coaches, all involved make CURUFC what it is, and allow us players to do what we love. Having said that I would like to give a personal shoutout to Seb Barker who feeds us after both trainings and games. Eating together three times a week as a group is a big reason to why we are such a tight-knit group and that wouldn’t be possible without Seb’s generosity. Only thing I’d ask is if we can have Burittos more often.

Interview with Luca Ferraro (Peterhouse, CUBC) Men’s Boat Club President

How are this year’s crews shaping up for the Boat Race, Cambridge have had some seriously impressive years recently and I’m sure the new crews will be looking to replicate these performances?

The crews are shaping up well! We have a very strong squad this year with multiple U23 world champions and senior internationals, so the bar is set consistently high in training; we also took a big win in October at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, beating most of the top US college crews. All eyes are on the Boat Race, and this year’s squad are hungry to write their own chapter among the recent run of light blue domination.

 

Who are the rowers who we should watch out for this year in any of the boats?

James Robson and George Bourne, two of our Peterhouse senior internationals – both British, both narrowly missed out on selection for racing crews in Paris. They’ve thrown themselves into Boat Race training impressively, and are a force to be reckoned with on the water; I expect to see them both with Olympic medals round their necks in the years to come!

Another one to watch is Luke Beever, a third year engineer at Emmanuel who joined CUBC as a fresher in 2022. He’s been the life and soul of a couple of seriously fast Goldie crews over the last few years, and will be looking to step up to the Blue Boat and selection for the GB U23 team this year.

 

Are there any races we should be aware of in the lead up to the Boat Race to gauge how the Crews are performing?

The fixture season will run from January right through to the race – this year as well as the regular grudge match against Oxford Brookes we’ll be taking on some international combinations including one from the Dutch national team. In such a strong year at CUBC it’s good to race such high level opposition in the run-up to the Boat Race; I’m keen to see how we stack up to the international crews!

 

Could you tell us about an unsung hero at CUBC?

I don’t know whether he counts as unsung, but I would say the biggest hero at CUBC is our head coach – and honorary Hawk – Rob Baker. He’s done every job there is at CUBC, having started as boatman 20 years ago, and the recent run of success the men have had is entirely down to his leadership and the culture he creates.

Varsity Dates

Athletics

  • Saturday 17th May 2025, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge (150th  Match and 50th Anniversary of Women’s Match)

Boat Races

  •  Sunday 13th April 2025, Thames

Boxing

  • Town v Gown, Friday 7th February 2025, Guild Hall, Cambridge
  • Varsity, Friday 14th March 2025, Oxford

Cricket

  • 1st – 4th July 2025, Fenner’s Cricket Ground (4-day)
  • 50 over and T20 TBC

Golf

  • Blues – Friday 28th, Saturday 29th March 2025, Royal North Devon Golf Club
  • Stymies (Men’s 2s) – Wednesday 26th March 2025, Royal North Devon Golf Club

Hockey

  • Blues – Sunday 9th March 2025
  • 2s,3s,4s – Sunday 16th February 2025

Ice Hockey

  • Saturday 22nd February 2025

Lightweight Boat Races

  • Saturday 12th April

Rifle shooting

  • Smallbore 1st Varsity (Heslop) and Women’s 1st Varsity (Bentata): 8th March at Bedford rifle club.
  • Smallbore 2nds (Kensington) 3rds (Ex-Captains’) and 3 position (Lerman) Varsities are in Cambridge on the 15th of March.
  • Fullbore: Match Rifle (Humphry) on 17th of July and Target Rifle (Chancellors’) on the 25th of July both at Bisley Camp in Surrey

Rugby Fives

  • Saturday 22nd February 2025, St Paul’s School, London

Rugby Union

  • Blues – Saturday 8th March 2025, StoneX, London
  • LXs and Centurions – Saturday 1st March 2025, Iffley Road

Squash

  • Blues – Saturday 15th February 2025, Royal Automobile Club, London
  • 2s,3s,4s – Saturday 1st March 2025, University Sports Centre, Cambridge

 

Furthermore I have some information from CURUFC about Varsity Match tickets which may be of interest:

“The Hawks Club has secured an exclusive discount for its members to purchase hospitality at The 2025 Varsity Matches on Saturday 8 March at StoneX Stadium, home of Saracens.  To claim your 20% discount, please email hospitality@saracens.net , quoting code HAWVAR25.

This discount is valid for bookings made in the Tulip Club, featuring luxury match seats, complimentary drinks for the duration of the day, and a gourmet buffet, for the reduced price of £148 + VAT.

For more information on the Varsity Matches, including the full range of ticketing and hospitality options, please visit thevarsitymatches.com”

Christmas Messages

 

  • Wishing all Hawks a very Happy Christmas, particularly those serving overseas and apart from family.

We are all fortunate to belong to the finest Club in the finest university in the world, may our camaraderie and lasting friendships continue in a Light Blue 2025!

Yours ever,

Felix Craig-McFeely (Fitzwilliam, CUBC)

President 2023-24

 

  • On behalf of The Ospreys, I hope all Hawks – both alumni and resident members – have a lovely Christmas. Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year and all the best for 2025! 

Best wishes, 

Georgia Weeks

Ospreys’ President 2024-25

 

  • Christmas Greetings from the great city of Sydney — first in the Southern Hemisphere to welcome in Christmas Day.

Peter Breed (Downing ‘63- ‘66) sporting some fabulous Maroon and Gold 

Tennis  Blue – 1964, 65, 66: deftd (thrashed) the Other Place every year.

Oxford(3) & Cambridge(3) v Harvard & Yale @ Seabright CC ,New Jersey 1964…won 14-7 

US Open, NYC- 1964.

 

  • It’s a Christmas Miracle, but I’m sure there weren’t 2 virgins or a Hawk in the version I read. 

Dan Bray (Robinson, CUAC)