Students represent Group at AoC Sport National Finals

The AoC National Championships, now entering its 41st year, attracts teams from England and Wales and is one of the largest annual sporting events of its kind in the UK, involving over 1700 college students.

Having qualified for the AoC National Championships by winning their regional competitions, students will be competing in several events including; Men’s, Ladies’ & Mixed Volleyball, Cross Country and Badminton. The students will represent NSCG and the West Midlands in Nottingham between Friday 26th and Sunday 28th April.

Having recently been named as the 2019 AoC Sport Team of the Year our Ladies’ Volleyball team fresh from a tense semi-final clash against Urmstone College, will be looking to go the distance and claim gold, after claiming silver in the 2018 competition.

Anthony Viggars, NSCG Volleyball Coach said: “This has been yet another remarkable season for Volleyball at Newcastle College. Both Men’s and Ladies’ teams have shown real dedication to the sport, putting in countless hours of training that has really paid off. Getting to the later rounds of these competitions is no mean feat and having narrowly missed out on gold last year, both teams are hoping this year will be their year.”

A Level student, Abbygael Harris from Newcastle College is looking to retain her 2018 AoC National Championships gold. Said Abby: “My Badminton career has seen me compete at national and international levels all over the world. I am currently ranked number 1 in England within my age category, and I’m looking forward to the challenging matches ahead of me at the AoC.”

Dave Sutton, Academy of Sport Manager said: “We are really proud of everyone representing NSCG in such a prestigious competition, we’ll be cheering on the team this weekend and wish all competitors the best of luck for the finals. With other recent league success in Badminton, Rugby and Men’s Football, the Academy of Sport continues to go from strength-to-strength, underscoring our position as the region's top college for sport. It’s a testament to our students and coaching and support staff who have worked tirelessly to ensure peak performance this season.”

The Academy of Sport is open to students who want to compete, coach, keep fit or simply have fun. There are a number of competitive programmes including; football, basketball, netball, athletics, rugby, volleyball and golf. The College was awarded West Midlands Sports College of the Year in 2012 and 2014 and was rated as "outstanding" for sports, leisure and recreation by Ofsted.