Brunel University netball star Summer Artman insists her teammates can hold their heads high after suffering defeat at the hands of a Super League team in the BUCS Big Wednesday Championship final in Sheffield.

This year’s BUCS Big Wednesday saw 104 student teams descend on the Steel City to compete for 50 gold medals across 14 sports with Sheffield Hallam University playing host. Brunel faced a strong Northumbria University side who feature at the top level of English netball, and suffered a devastating 54-26 loss to miss out on much-wanted gold.

And although the pain of defeat was hard to bear, Artman, who hails from Bristol, admits she was proud of how her team fared against tough opposition.

“It was very disappointing to lose,” said the 18-year-old psychology student. “But all credit goes to them because they are a Super League side and so to have put up a really good fight against them is very positive.

“We’ve had a great season, including winning the league after losing only one game. We have put in a really great fight all year so it has been fantastic.

“I was really surprised at the standard of play here at BUCS, and our final really epitomised that.

“At Brunel we have six teams which just shows how much everyone loves the game, so competing at BUCS is great.

“It’s very important to participate here, it is an environment where you are having fun with your friends but where those friends push you and want to see you get better.

British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) is the national governing body for Higher Education (HE) sport in the UK, organising leagues and competitions for more than 150 institutions across 52 different sports. Partnered by Deloitte, BUCS supports athletes from a grass roots level through to Commonwealth and Olympic Games hopefuls www.bucs.org.uk