Sports: Football - Suryansh Mehta
- Year: Third
- Subject: Philosophy, Politics, and Economics
- Sport: Football
- Position: Goalkeeper
Details of your sporting career at Merton and Oxford
I've started pretty much every game of Merton/Mansfield football over the last three years, all in front of goal. In my first year, we were successfully promoted to the top league of reserves football (where we stayed for the next two)! Admittedly, we were less successful with the first team, except for a cuppers run that ended in defeat at the semi-finals in 2020.
Besides football, I also play cricket and badminton for the College. I’m also on the University team and executive committee for baseball, which I only really picked up in second year.
What got you started in your sport?
Sport in general has been really important to me since I was a kid: it lets me blow off steam and feel like a part of something bigger than myself. I started playing football in my neighbourhood park back home, and never looked back!
How do you manage to stay competitive in your chosen sport while maintaining the level of academic work required?
While I’ve definitely sacrificed a bit of work at times to go and play sport, I think that playing football has been a crucial part of my academic success at Merton. The two periods when injury prevented my participation were much tougher for me, because I lost a great outlet for stress and a big source of enjoyment.
What’s special about the sporting side of life at Merton?
I think the Merton/Mansfield spirit is a huge part of why I enjoy sport at Merton so much. We’re often underdogs struggling to put out 11 players for a match, but everyone who shows up is fantastic and committed. No one takes it too seriously, but we all enjoy a good bit of competitive spirit!
What’s been your greatest moment on the field of play so far?
Once in first year, I made an incredible save one-on-one in a reserves match, diving to the left and pushing the ball away with my fingertips. The entire opposition team — and especially the striker — just stood silent for a few seconds, almost in shock, and then the striker just said, “there’s no way you’re a seconds' keeper”. It was brilliant!
…the worst...?
In our cuppers run in 2022, I let in a disastrous goal shot from the half line, and we lost the game 2-1. That was definitely the low point of my goalkeeping career.
...and the weirdest?
The weirdest period of play was in a match against St Hilda’s in first year, when we just kept conceding goals from corners. We were the better team otherwise, but we lost something like 6-3, with all their goals from corners.
Finally, what word, phrase or mental picture do you use to get yourself through the tough times in your sport?
It’s a bit morbid, but at the worst of times I often think just: “it can still get worse”. As ‘keeper, it’s my job to make sure it doesn’t!