GCS students compete at AoC Sport National Championships

Students from Gower College Swansea competed at the recent AoC Sport National Championships in Nottingham, coming home with a Gold medal (in Ladies Rugby) as they helped the Welsh region to finish in tenth place.

Over 30 students - competing in a range of sports including football, netball, hockey, rugby, cross country and ladies football - travelled from the college to the University of Nottingham where they battled against athletes from colleges across England and Wales during the three-day event.

In addition to the Gold medal gained by student Niamh Terry as part of the Welsh Ladies Rugby team, the Gower College Swansea Netball Academy finished in fourth place.

"I'd like to congratulate all the students who qualified for these national championships," says Curriculum Leader Marc O'Kelly. "It was a fantastic opportunity for them to compete against students from all over the UK at truly state of the art facilities."

More than 1600 college students took part in this year’s National Championships (now in its 39th year) at a series of incredible sporting facilities including the University of Nottingham's David Ross Sports Village, Trent Bridge, Nottingham Wildcats Arena, Morley Hayes Golf Club, Nottingham Tennis Centre and Nottingham Tennis Centre.

AoC Sport chair, Mark White OBE, told FE Week: "We've had a marvellous weekend at the University of Nottingham at the AoC Sport National Championships.

"I've spent three days watching real enthusiasm and excellence in the students from colleges, who have competed with such passion and such talent. I've enjoyed every minute of it.

"AoC Sport is absolutely committed to supporting sport and physical activity across all of our college sector, and I'm already looking forward to next year's National Championships next spring."

The athletes competed across 13 different sports, including football, squash, hockey, basketball and cricket.

AoC Sport Managing Director Marcus Kingwell said: “What a fantastic weekend we've had at this year's National Championships.

"Thanks to the hard work of the University of Nottingham, Nottingham Conferences, Visit Nottinghamshire, volunteers, AoC Sport staff and, of course, the competitors, coaches and college staff, the past three days have been a resounding success.

"Congratulations to all who took part, we're already looking forward to seeing you all again next year."

Andy May, General Manager of Nottingham Conferences who helped organise the Championships, said: “It was great to see so many young people enjoying the huge variety of wonderful facilities we have available here at the University of Nottingham.

“The standard of competition was incredibly high and it was impressive to see the sportsmanship and professionalism shown by the athletes – they were a credit to their colleges.”

ENDS

Notes for editors

The 2017 AoC Sport National Championships was run in partnership with the University of Nottingham, Nottingham Conferences, Sport Nottinghamshire, Nottingham City Council and Experience Nottinghamshire - www.aocsportchamps.org

AoC Sport is the lead organisation for sport and physical activity in colleges. A subsidiary company of the Association of Colleges, AoC Sport’s vision is for every student to participate regularly in sport or physical activity, to achieve significant benefits in terms of education, employment and health - www.aocsport.co.uk

Thanks to AoC for this press release