A group of sixteen female learners from the Nantgarw and Ystrad Mynach campuses of Coleg y Cymoedd travelled to Merthyr Tydfil F.C.’s football ground for this year’s Welsh Colleges Football Festival. They joined over one hundred players who had travelled from all over Wales to take part in the event.
The Festival gave the Welsh Colleges coaches an ideal opportunity to identify potential talent to be included in the Welsh Colleges National Team, with two Cymoedd players catching their eye.
Both Abbie Davies and Alisha Northmore have been provisionally selected for the Welsh Colleges Squad. Abbie Davies (18) from Bargoed is currently studying on the National Diploma in Sport at the Ystrad Mynach campus and has set her sights on a career in Sports Coaching. Abbie said “I was really pleased to be provisionally selected for the squad and can’t wait to get startedâ€.
17 year old team mate Alisha Northmore from Cardiff is also enrolled on the National Diploma in Sport at the Nantgarw campus and she has ambitions to be a secondary School Teacher .Alishia commented “pleased and honoured to be considered to play for the Welsh Colleges Teamâ€.
Tutor Mark Davies who trains the learners and accompanied the squad to the Festival said “It was a good experience for our learners, many of who were playing competitive football for the first time. The squad battled hard and displayed some promising football skills, despite the weather conditions; including hail and thunder! All learners demonstrated true teamwork and sportsmanship and were a credit to the college.
The College has always boasted strong male football and rugby teams; hopefully this is just the beginning of female sport at the college. I hope that more learners will be inspired by the success of Abbie and Alisha to get involved in the future.â€
The national Welsh College’s Team trials will be held in November; if Abbie and Alisha are selected to play for the Squad, they will have the opportunity to ‘earn a cap’; playing against teams such as Australia and England.
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