Oaklands’ student athletes to represent England Colleges

Oaklands College students were called up to appear for representative teams of the England Colleges this week, after excelling in hockey, netball, football and basketball. 

As part of the Association of Colleges (AoC) Sport Group, the England Colleges National Team programme represents the pinnacle of college sports, encouraging students to trial for a place in the elite squad, and gain the opportunity to represent their college region.

On Wednesday 3 November, the Netball Academy won the East Netball Regional Tournament. It was the first time that the academy, which was one of eight competing college teams had won the event. Meanwhile, Simon Archer and the Hockey Academy were delighted to have six players selected to represent the England College Boys, Girls and Boys Reserves squads. Three of the six are residential students living on-site in the Residential Homestead.

Representing the Hockey Academy will be Thomas Allen, Callum Burr, Thomas Harvey, Mitch Cusk, Lily Knott and Eloise Palmer.

In addition, Oaklands also had representatives in the ECFA England Colleges football trials, with five students taking part, two of whom making the final stages of the trials.

Andrew Slade, Principal and CEO, Oaklands College said: “We’re really proud of our students’ fantastic achievement in representing their sport at this level. It’s testament to their hard work and skills and that of our staff. This comes fresh on the heels of Oaklands having a strong presence at the recent Olympics and builds on our reputation for sporting excellence.”

Simon Archer, Head of Hockey at Oaklands said: “It is both a rewarding and proud moment for the Hockey Academy to see six of our students represent their region at national level. Their collective hard work, dedication and commitment to not only their hockey training, but their studies makes me incredibly proud of their selections – I wish them well and hope they enjoy the experience of playing at the Championships.”

The Oaklands Wolves Academies offer elite coaching to students enrolled onto a variety of courses at the college. To learn more about the academies, visit our dedicated Oaklands Wolves website here.

On Wednesday 17 November, Oaklands College will play host to the Men and Women’s Basketball tournament, as part of the AoC Sport Championships. The basketball academy will be hopeful that they can add to the Oaklands College representatives competing at the National Championships in April 2022.