“Tears flowed from the coaches. It’s nice to see the happiness on the students’ faces.
The Southwest stormed to victory at the AoC Sport National Championships last weekend, unseating the previous winner of four years.
The region won the Wilkinson Sword trophy from the South East at the 42nd National Championships in Nottingham.
After a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, staff and visitors turned out to celebrate the opening of the Championship at an open-air cinema, where they heard English professional rugby union player Joe Marchant congratulating everyone delivered the students.
During the Championships, more than 1,500 students from 91 colleges took part in 12 different sports from the University of Nottingham, Nottingham Trent University and Willow Sports Centre, Derby.
“It goes without saying that the past two years have been extremely difficult for everyone and especially young people,” said Dean Hardman, director of sport and student experience at AoC Sport.
“We were therefore delighted with the return of the AoC Sport National Championships for the first time since 2019 and the much-needed opportunity for our talented athletes from across the country to compete in this fantastic event.”
After “intense competition,” the southwestern region was crowned the Wilkinson Sword Champion with a total of 140 points.
This is the first time the region has won the title since 2016. The previous four-year champions were the South East, who finished third this year, losing to Yorkshire and Humber for second place.
During the event, over 70 student volunteers and match officials ensured the competitions ran smoothly, while sports therapy students from Moulton College provided ‘pop-up clinics’ as well as pitchside management and injury assessment and advice.
Exeter College students won netball and women’s rugby for the South West. Exeter College Sport Academy Manager Chris Wall told FE Week about the emotional highs of victory.
“Tears flowed from the coaches. It’s great to see the happiness on the students’ faces.
“After two years without much sport, without national champions, to have sport pretty much back to normal now, you appreciate what you didn’t have.”
Wall spoke of the pride he felt after his team won gold.
“They all showed great determination, great perseverance – the nature of the tournament is that you play over two days,” he said.
“You can get all kinds of hits, you’ll get some bruises, especially in rugby. And the ones who come out and take gold are the ones who can handle it best and perform well in every game.”
However, he did note that some students were missed because of Covid – something he described as a “big shame”… I think we appreciate a little more what we have in competitive sport through AoC and this platform,” he added.
The Championships were sponsored by the RAF, who were in attendance throughout the weekend, as well as outfitters Serious Sport and UCFB.
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