football

Gower College Swansea's Football Academy has won the English Colleges FA Premier League title. After a busy end to the season, the team became the first Welsh college to win this title and now progress to the ECFA Champions League where they will play off against the top eight colleges in the UK.

"This is a massive achievement for a young squad after a number of experienced players finished college last season," says Student Sport Manager Rob Baynham. "The boys have won a league that includes some of the top English sports colleges such as Hartpury and SGS (Filton). Congratulations to all the squad members and the coaching team of Richard South, Anthony Wright, Martin Evans and Ashleigh Hopkins."

This success comes on the back of last year's ECFA Premier Cup and Welsh Schools Cup double. The team are also through to the final of the Welsh Schools Cup for this season and will play this fixture at TNS F.C. on the weekend 11- 12th May.

Squad: Luke Flemming, Josh Chanda, Kyle Cockings, Tom Grey, Josh Doyle, Adam Robbins, Richard Brain, Ryan Thomas, Colin Harris, Nikki Parvin, Andrew Trick, Daniel Smale, Will Kehoe, Scott Hayward, Ben May, Jordan Vickers, Ryan Argyle

Gower College Swansea’s Football Academy has been awarded the prestigious FAW Trust Focus College Award.

This award was presented in recognition of the achievements of both the college’s men’s and ladies’ football academies.

“To qualify, our football programme had to meet set targets in terms of player welfare, coaching, training and facilities,” says Gower College Swansea’s Student Sport Manager Rob Baynham. “This is a major achievement for the Football Academy which aims to develop elite level footballers and increase the number of quality coaches in the community through development work.”

This season has seen exciting progress for all college academy teams. The men’s academy is currently top of both the ECFA Premier League and the ECFA Regional League, competing against the best college teams in the UK.

The ladies’ academy is top of the Welsh Colleges League with one game remaining and is through to the final play off stages of the British Colleges Cup.

Following this success eight boys and three girls* have been selected for the Welsh Colleges International teams for their forthcoming fixtures.

Players from the ladies’ football academy have been very busy recently promoting ladies football for 14-16 year old girls in Swansea. This involved organising a 5-a-side competition for local schools with the students organising, officiating and helping with coaching at the event, which saw Gowerton Comprehensive beating Bishop Gore in an exciting final.

Meanwhile, coaches from the men’s academy will be hosting a football coaching clinic for local comprehensive schools on 25 March. This event will provide Year 9 and 10 pupils with the chance to receive academy coaching while developing their skills.

Anyone interested in the Football Academy programme can email richard.south@gowercollegeswansea.ac.uk for more information.

*The students selected for the Welsh Colleges International teams for their forthcoming fixtures are:

Men's Welsh school: Kyle Cockins and Ryan Thomas

Men's Welsh Colleges: Luke Fleming; Josh Chanda; Kyle Cockins; Tom Grey and Josh Doyle

Men's Semi Pro Welsh Squad: Richard Brain and Adam Robbins

Ladies Welsh College: Zoe Hatch; Angharad Jenkins and Amy Marie Evans.

Photo shows Wales Manager Chris Coleman and Minister for Education and Skills Leighton Andrews presenting the award to Principal Nick Bennett.

Sport students at Gower College Swansea are looking to become the next generation of football coaches in Swansea.

The students have been studying for their Football Association of Wales (FAW) Football Leaders Award (Level 1). This is a 15 hour course that provides a basic introduction to the organisation of football practices in a fun, safe environment. With an emphasis on skill development, this is a mandatory award for all coaches involved in junior football in Wales.

"This is a great achievement for all the students," says course tutor Ashleigh Hopkins, who is also a UEFA "A" Licence Coach. "They now need to gain as much experience as they can within the football community, coaching all ages and abilities, and hopefully one day they can move up the Coach Education pathway to the UEFA C Licence."

Gower College Swansea students have won a host of titles in the recent round of Welsh Colleges sports competitions.

All of the following individuals / teams have won their regional competitions and will now represent Wales in the British Colleges Championships in Bath 2013.

The Men’s 5-a-side team won the Welsh Competition for the third consecutive year (not losing a single game in the competition.)

Men’s Football (5-a-side)
Swimming – Charlotte Bryan and Jenna Hussey
Golf – Elliott Anderson
Tennis Doubles – Luke SImeone and Joe Lewis

In addition to this, our men’s Table Tennis team have reached the singles and doubles finals of the Welsh Championships. This event will be played against the winners of the North Wales event. James Lewis, Ashley Fulford and Callum Mansel will represent the college at the next stage.

In Ladies Football the girls narrowly missed out, losing to Cardiff and the Vale College 3-2 in the final. This is the second year in a row that the girls have reached the final of this competition.

There is another round of competition next week with Ladies Hockey, Men’s Hockey and Basketball all looking to retain their Welsh titles from last year.

Many thanks to the following staff and students for helping to organise the following regional events:

Jayne Bateman – Tennis
Rob Evans, Holly Curson and Public Services Year 2 – Cross Country
Lee Hopkins – Swimming

The Sports Academies at Gower College Swansea have hit the ground running at the start of the new season.

The Hockey Academy have had 10 players selected for the Welsh Colleges hockey squad, with all of these players progressing to British Colleges trials in the near future. The Hockey Academy play in the Welsh Colleges League and British Colleges League with competition against top English Academy sides.

Players pictured left to right: Hannah Brown, Hannah Griffiths, Beth Bingham, Phoebe Perkins, Angharad Jenkins, Toni-Lee Lambert, Rhiannon Griffiths, Ashleigh Bastin and Evie Ham (Chloe Alpine not pictured.)

The Football Academy continued where they left off at the end of last season with comprehensive victories in the first two ECFA Premier League fixtures. In the first game they travelled to Bristol, defeating South Gloucester and Stroud College (formerly Filton College) 4-1 - following this up with a 3-0 win over East Berkshire College in the next game.

In golf, Gower College Swansea won both the team and individual honours at the Welsh Colleges Golf Championships. The competition was held at Henlle Parc Golf Club near Wrexham with nine colleges from around Wales taking part. The winning team was made up of Elliott Anderson, Max Davies and Matthew Walsh, with the team returning the best combined total on the day.

In the individual event, Elliott Anderson won with a round of 75 (five over par) in very testing conditions. Elliott will now represent Welsh Colleges at the British Colleges Golf championships in Bath 2013.

Swans star Joe Allen has signed-up for a new scheme to inspire and reward young people.

The Wales midfielder has been named as an ambassador for the new High 5 Awards being launched by Swansea Council this week.

The awards will highlight the positive actions and amazing achievements of children and teenagers in Swansea and have been sponsored by Gower College Swansea.

Allen, who has had an outstanding debut season in the Premier League, is thrilled to be involved in the awards, having overcome the odds to become one of the country’s leading young footballers.

Despite being told as a schoolboy that he was too small to be a footballer, Allen starred for Swansea City’s youth team before signing as a professional footballer at the age of 17.

He said: “I would not be where I am now if it wasn’t for the belief and support people had for me when I was a young player. I hope that the award winners will inspire young people to believe in themselves and work hard to follow their dreams. “I hope they will also remind everyone that we should be proud of the young people in our communities.”

The idea for High 5 came out of Swansea Council’s consultation with young people over recognising the positive contribution they make and to counteract the negative publicity young people get nationwide.

Jack Straw, Chief Executive of Swansea Council, said: “Whether it’s through personal achievement, working for others or caring for someone, there are inspirational young people in all our communities who too often go unnoticed. Their amazing achievements are something we should be recognising and be proud of. I’d like to see these awards build young people’s self-confidence and send a clear message everyone can achieve their goal.”

Nick Bennett, Principal of Gower College Swansea, said: “It’s extremely important that young people are recognised and rewarded for the good work they carry out within their communities. We are very proud to sponsor the brand new High 5 Awards scheme and join in the celebration of these inspirational individuals.”

Nominations are now open for entries into the High 5 Awards. There are two age groups -  those aged up to 13 and 14 to 19-year-olds. Nominations can be received in five categories – Achiever, Caring, Community, Enterprise and Environment.

Any individual, organisation or school can nominate a young person for an award as along as the young person nominated is aged 19 and under and is either a resident or educated within the boundary of Swansea.

Each winner will receive a £50 prize, a tailor-made prize involving a personal activity or opportunity and they will be invited to the celebration awards evening along with their nominator and two guests.

Go to www.swansea.gov.uk/high5awards to download or fill in a form or pick one up in the Civic Centre, Swansea, and return it to High 5 Awards, Canoldre Centre, Jockey Street, Swansea SA1 1NS.

Further details area available on the website or e-mail queries to High5Awards@swansea.gov.uk

The closing date for all submissions is August  10, 2012.

The High 5 Awards are being organised by Swansea Council with sponsorship from Gower College Swansea and kindly supported by Swansea Sound and The Wave, Swansea City F.C and the Rotary Club.

It was a sensational day for sport at Gower College Swansea yesterday!

Our rugby team won the British Colleges Plate Final, playing Hills Rd College Cambridge at Worcester RFC. The final score was 60-12.

Congratulations also go to our football squad for their truly outstanding achievement of winning the English Colleges Football Association Premier Cup yesterday in Oswestry with the hard fought but thoroughly deserved victory over Boreham Wood.

This is an historic achievement – we are the first Welsh team to win this level of ECFA competition.

The Men’s Football Academy at Gower College Swansea have made history this week, becoming the first Welsh college to reach the final of the ECFA (English Colleges Football Association) Premier Cup. In a dramatic semi final at Lilleshall National Football Centre, they scored twice in the last three minutes of extra time to beat Leeds City College 4-2.

The Swansea team started strongly, with Josh Roberts scoring after some excellent build up play to lead 1-0 early in the game. They then had to fight back in the second half after falling behind 2-1 during the middle period of the game. Dan Smale proved the match winner with goals late in the second half and the last three minutes of extra time. Sam Harrison then wrapped it up with a well struck free kick in the final minute of the game. Playing the better quality of football throughout, the boys defeated a very strong Leeds team who are currently top of their section of the ECFA premier league.

They now progress to the final against Boreham Wood College from London with the game to be played on 2 May at TNS Welsh Premier League Ground.

Results

Football
ECFA Regional League: Gower College Swansea 3 v Cirencester College 4
Welsh Colleges League: Gower College Swansea 1  vCAV (Cardiff) 3
Welsh Colleges League: Coleg Sir Gar 2 v Gower College Swansea 3

Rugby
WRU Colleges League
Gower College Swansea 19 v Coleg Gwent X Keys 16
Gower College Swansea 35 v Pembroke College 15 

The Men’s Football squad are also in the semi final of the WSFA (Ivor Tuck ) Cup on Monday against Radyr School.

And, on 30 March there are 50 students from Gower College Swansea representing Wales in a range of sports at the BCS Championships (including Men’s and Ladies Hockey, Men’s Football, Swimming, Ladies Rugby and Badminton.)

Sport at Gower College Swansea has reached new heights in 2012 with over 20 students achieving international success so far.

The current crop of sporting talent is following in the illustrious footsteps of former students such as Leigh Halfpenny, Justin Tipuric, Richie Rees and Aaron Shingler (Wales rugby), Jazmin Carlin (GB swimming) and James Harris (Glamorgan and England Lions cricket).

“At Gower College Swansea, elite sport students are provided with the opportunity to train for 10 hours a week in their chosen sport and study the academic course of their choice,” says Sport Development Manager Rob Baynham. “This is providing students with a springboard to achieve their potential in sport and in their future careers.”

In addition to the international honours, over 50 students will represent Welsh Colleges at the British Colleges National Championships at Bath University during the Easter holidays. This follows Gower College Swansea’s wins in the Welsh Regional Championships in ladies hockey, men’s hockey, men’s football, swimming, men’s badminton and men’s table tennis.

Photo taken by Jason Rogers. Students clockwise from top left are: Rhodri Hughes, Hannah Brown, Beth Bingham, Sam Rodon, Ria Hughes and Jade Lewis.

2011/12 Welsh International Honours in full

Football
Sam Rodon (Welsh Colleges)
Jake Parry (Welsh Colleges and WSFA U18)
Josh Roberts (Welsh Colleges and WSFA U18)
Jack Medwin (Welsh Colleges and WSFA U18)
Sam Harrison (Welsh Colleges and WSFA U18)
Luke Martin (Welsh Colleges and WSFA U18)

Results:
Welsh Colleges 2 Australia Schools 3
WSFA U18 2 ECFA 0
WSFA U18 1 Australia Schools 3

The WSFA U18s are now preparing for the Centenary Shield Competition where they will play fixtures against England, Scotland, Eire and Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Fixture will be broadcast live on Sky Sports on Friday 20th March.

Rugby
Rhodri Hughes (Wales U20)
Scott Otten (Wales U18)
Nicky Smith (Wales U18)
Ben Roberts (Wales U18)

Results
Ireland U20 11 Wales U20 5
Wales U20 28 Scotland U20 15
Wales U18s Fixtures commence on 11th March v Scotland

Ladies Football
Lauren Hancock (Wales U17 and Welsh Colleges)
Ria Hughes  (Welsh Colleges)

Ladies Hockey
Courtney Belcher (British Colleges and Welsh Colleges)
Beth Bingham (British Colleges and Wales U18)
Toni – Lee Lambert (Welsh Colleges)
Hannah Griffiths (Welsh Colleges)
Hannah Brown (Welsh Colleges)
Imogen Davies (Welsh Colleges)

Netball
Milly Hurren (Welsh Colleges)
Emily Robinson (Welsh Colleges) 

Judo
Jade Lewis (Wales – Commonwealth Junior Champion 2012)

Cricket
Scott Phillips (Glamorgan Academy)

Monday 27th February – Friday 2nd March 2012 

Last week had several highlights as our Sports Academies reached the business end of the season in college sports.

The Ladies Hockey team continued their preparation for the National Championships with a 6-1 win against Bridgwater College in the BCS South West league. The squad are progressing nicely after a slow start to the season and have the Welsh Schools Championships on Tuesday 6th March as their next challenge.

The Men’s Football Academy continued a busy programme of fixtures with a number of players also involved in International games. On Friday 24th February the 1st team beat Hartridge High School to move into the quarter finals of the Welsh Schools (Ivor Tuck) Cup. The boys won 3-0 in extra time. On Wednesday 29th February the 1st team also won their ECFA cup fixture against Stanmore College in North London. This game also went to extra time with the boys winning 4-2 on penalties. They now progress to play New College Durham in the quarter finals.

The rest of the football results included an impressive 2-0 win for the ECFA regional team against Bridgend College and both campus teams acquitting themselves well against strong opposition in the Welsh Colleges League. The Tycoch Campus drew 3-3 with Cardiff and the Vale College and the Gorseinon Campus lost narrowly 1-0 to Neath Port Talbot College. Both of these games involve Gower College Swansea 3rd teams playing opposing colleges 1st teams.

In rugby there was a good start to the week with the Rugby Academy finishing as runners up in the Welsh Colleges 10s losing to Coleg Llandrillo in the final. Later in the week they lost 49-27 to Coleg Sir Gar in a game that was in the balance right up to the last ten minutes of the game.

This week sees another full programme of fixtures, all on Wednesday 7th March unless stated:

Men’s Football
1st team v Brockenhurst College (A), Quarter Final, BCS National Cup
2nd team v Merthyr College (A), ECFA Regional League
3rd teams - Tycoch Campus v Gorseinon Campus. Welsh Colleges League
Elba Sports Ground 2pm

Ladies Football
Gower College Swansea v Coleg Sir Gar, Welsh Colleges League
Elba Sports Grounds 2pm

Rugby
1st team v Pembroke College (A), WRU Colleges League
2nd team v Ysgol Gyfun Gwyr (A), WSRU Midweek League

Ladies Hockey
Welsh Schools Hockey Championships
Swansea University Sports Village (Tuesday 6th March) 9am – 4pm

Basketball
Gower College Swansea v Neath College, Sports Centre 3pm

Netball
Gower College Swansea v Coleg Sir Gar (A) Welsh Colleges League