Students from Accrington and Rossendale College Football Academies competed at the recent AoC Sport National Championships in Nottingham, coming home with the 1st place trophy in the 7-a-side football competition.

The Girls’ Football Academy students travelled to the University of Nottingham where they battled against athletes from Colleges across England and Wales during the three-day event.

Both the Boys’ and Girls’ Academies represented Team North West in the football competition. The boys competed well throughout and the girls finished the weekend as champions - playing 7 games, winning 5, drawing 1 and only suffering 1 defeat. Both teams represented the College and region with integrity and a professionalism that everyone can be proud of.

As well as individual glory, teams will be aiming to accumulate points for their region and win the prestigious Wilkinson Sword trophy.

The Girls’ Academy Captain, Katie Samuels, commented on the performance, “We are all extremely proud to have won the National 7-a-side Championships. It has been a tough weekend, but we are delighted to have won the tournament!”

Tim Breaker, the Girl’s Academy Manager said, “I was really pleased to see the Girls experience some more success and win this trophy again, having won previously in 2014. We have a really exciting end to the season but going into it as National 7-a-side Champions as well as Category 1 League Champions gives us the confidence to approach it with huge optimism. We were the outstanding team at the weekend and did so with full use of every single member of the 12-player squad, who all played an integral role in the success.”

The South East became the new winners of the Wilkinson Sword trophy, wrestling the title off local rivals the South West in a highly competitive weekend.

The region - who were 2016 runners-up - finished 22 points clear of last year's winners in second, while the West Midlands once again finished in third place, just a point behind the South West.

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.”