COLLEGE students have teamed up to participate in a Team Nineteen programme at South Cheshire College.

The initiative targets students from different college courses and encourages them to get involved in football as a break from their studies.

It is a scheme spearheaded by British Colleges Sport and the Football Association (FA) and is a programme run by students for students.

The programme aims to address the drop off in football participation for 16-19 year-olds in colleges by creating enjoyable student run leagues which benefit students in terms of volunteering, leadership and boosting their knowledge.

Students can also learn more about the coaching and refereeing side of ‘the beautiful game.’ The programme gives students a platform to create videos and other social media materials which promote the Team Nineteen initiative and showcases the student experience.

Videos produced by students will be submitted to the Team Nineteen You Tube channel and could also be shown on various websites such as the County Football Association.

Media students and student leaders will be involved in producing the videos which will help to showcase the best bits of ‘Team Nineteen.’ Team Nineteen is being run under the stewardship of Andy Turner, Cheshire FA’s Football Development Officer who works with colleges.

2 Andy is working closely with South Cheshire College and attended a special launch event for Team Nineteen on the College’s Multi Use Games Area (MUGA).

Graham Coffey, Head of Sport at South Cheshire College, believes the initiative is a great way of engaging students from across the College in sport.

Graham said: “This is a great way of bringing together students from different courses and gives them the opportunity to participate in different football activities.

“The initiative targets males and females of different ages and abilities and we are excited to be launching this at South Cheshire College in conjunction with British Colleges Sport and the Football Association.

“Andy Turner is doing a lot of good work with the College and this is all about widening participation in football and encouraging our students to make the most of the fantastic sports facilities that we have at the College.”

For more information about sports courses at South Cheshire College, please call 01270 654654 or visit www.scc.ac.uk