Sports Nominees 2025

Sportswoman of the Year

Lauryn Foster

This year, Lauryn has played her final (of 4) years for the women’s basketball 1st team. throughout her time with the club, she has led the team to a national championship final as a captain, and won varsity this year in addition to her 2nd and 3rd year.

Lauryn is currently setting up a basketball cuppers team and enjoys taking part in other college sports like football and rounders. In her time as a captain of the OUBbC W1 team, she has FOSTERed a vibrant team culture. In addition to being a captain, she is also the only Brit on the team-a sign that she is working extra hard to beat the Americans at their own game. Vote for Lauryn she is the best and will not be with us much longer.

Louisa Kotzee

Louisa has brought solid and unwavering commitment to SJCBC all year.

She is of course very skilful and strong, but this is only part of the reason I am nominating her. She has patiently helped less experienced rowers to improve their techniques whilst maintaining commendable humility, kindness and patience. She has organised outings and training plans every week and maintained a cool head in very stressful situations and rarely gets acknowledged for this effort. She has contributed positively to a vast number of students lives from across different year groups and subjects.

Louisa has also been involved in powerlifting this year which I do not know as much about

Sportsman Of the Year

Johnny (Kibaek) Lee

My name is Johnny Lee, and I am the Fencing Men’s Blues Captain for the 2024-2025 academic year. Throughout this season, I have led our Fencing Blues team to achieve several accomplishments. For the first time in five years, Oxford Men’s Blues finished second in the BUCS Premier South League, for which I fenced all three weapons Epee, Foil, and Sabre. For the knockout rounds, we beat Edinburgh at quarterfinals to enter the semifinals for the first time in history.

In the middle of the season, we also had an Oxbridge vs London Diamond Cup match in Landsdowne club London. For this competition, I anchored all three weapons, and led the Oxbridge team to win the Diamond Cup for the first time since this competition was founded.

This year, we also won the Men’s Blues Varsity for the first time since 2019. This makes me the only captain to finish the BUCS League as top 4 in North and South Premier League combined, enter the semi-final for the knockout, win the Diamond Cup and Varsity all in the same year. Also for the past three years, I was the only person in the Blues team to fence more than one weapon.

Individually, I was the 2024 BUCS Fencing Individuals Championship Bronze Medalist for Epee, and I was ranked top 10% in the previous two years.

Besides the competition performance, I have also worked hard on team building and team welfare. I have organized team dinners, birthday events, and had welfare chats with individual fencers when they were in need. I was awarded the Amodio Cup, an award for effort and commitment to the club.

Tom Henderson

Tom has been an outstanding captain to the men's football 1st XI.

He has led from the front with passion and dedication for the club and his team mates this you don't see every year, he has led the team to div 2 championship and undefeated in the league, also the cup quarter finals, just an outstanding effort from him, he is a credit to the team himself and the college.

Yusuf Furniss

Yusuf received two nominations for the 2025 Sportsman of the Year prize. The text from both nominations is given below.

Yusuf is a finalist who has been dedicated to both college and university sport across his whole 3 years at university. At a college level he has played a key role in the success of the saints rugby team across the 3 years, being apart of deep cuppers runs and a league win. He also skippered the cricket team to a great season with plenty of success, and scored many runs against the formidable bowling of Ade Hunter in the fellows match. At a university level, Yusuf commited himself to Rugby League, earning himself a blue in Oxford’s recent varsity battering of Cambridge. He has even led the college pool team to an undefeated 2024-2025 season so far. He even plays regular squash, and has appeared for SJCAFC. As a total sportsman no man is more qualified for this award.

Yusuf Furniss is an outstanding ambassador for sport at St John’s and Oxford University. Through his dedication, leadership, and unwavering sportsmanship, he embodies teamwork and resilience, inspiring others to participate and excel. On the rugby pitch, Yusuf has thrived at both university and college levels. This year, he played in the Varsity Rugby League match against Cambridge, helping secure a memorable victory and earning a coveted Blue. For the past three years, he has been a key member of the Saint’s Rugby Union team, playing an integral role in their league win and Cuppers campaign. Beyond rugby, Yusuf has been a driving force in college sport. He captained the cricket team last year and led the pool team through an undefeated season this year. He has also represented the St John’s football 2nd team and is a familiar face on the squash courts, always eager to compete and bring people together. More than a talented athlete, Yusuf is a natural leader who uplifts those around him. His enthusiasm, commitment, and team-first mentality have shaped the sporting culture at St John’s, leaving a lasting impact on teammates and the wider college community. As he prepares to leave, his legacy of leadership and sportsmanship makes him an exceptionally deserving nominee for Sportsman of the Year.

Sports Club of the Year

St John's Cricket Club

The Johns cricket team has a tremendous year. Unlike our previous years, we did well in cuppers beating historically strong Trinity and New college teams and lost only narrowly to a Magdalen team littered with Blues leadership. Likewise, we also had a strong campaign in the top T20 league, unfortunately not winning, but being hampered by exams in the final game. It was a strong year for the club, solidifying itself as serious player within the College cricket club setup after years in the doldrums.

St John's Pool Club

We are a club which has only been set up this season, boasting over 15 members. Likewise, we are currently undefeated in the league.

Whilst many other teams rely on skills like “skill” and “athleticism”, the St John’s Pool team has instead exemplified strategic brilliance and camaraderie, cruising our way to an undefeated record and upholding the spirit of the sport. As a new club starting out, the team has cultivated to over 15 members, moving the notion of ‘pool’ from what many have considered to a ‘pub sport’ to a legitimate way to unwind and socialise, whilst also introducing many to the sport for the first time.

Outside of the club’s monumental successes on the table, particularly away from home, the club is a very inclusive and welcoming place due to the nature of the sport and large team sizes. In particular, this allows players to join who are otherwise unable to play sport, through for example injury, and keeping them within the St John’s sporting community.

Cast your vote by following this link: https://tinyurl.com/Sports-Dinner-Awards-2025

You will need to login with your St John's SSO account for your vote to count. Voting will close at midnight on Tuesday 29 April.