Two students from Selby College have been chosen as Activators to help develop football at the College and in the community, as part of the Association of Colleges’ (AoC) and the English College’s Football Association’s (ECFA) Activator programme.

As part of their new Activator roles, Ella Morton, Level 3 Sport student and Nathan Ford, Level 3 Sport and Exercise student, will arrange events and sessions to encourage new participants in football on behalf of Selby College. This includes the development and growth of a local football ecosystem.

In return, the AoC and the ECFA provides training and networking opportunities to support their development as young leaders – enhancing their key employability and leadership skills.

Nathan said: “I love football and I’m also interested in building a career in sports coaching, so this is a great way for me to develop skills which are essential for progressing in the football industry. I’m really looking forward to getting started and hope that myself and Ella are able to inspire our fellow students or members of the local community to take part in football – whether that is joining your college or school’s football team, your local club or even just having a kick about with your friends.”

Ella added: “I also want to go into sports coaching so being an Activator will give me a great advantage when applying for jobs following my education, as it will allow me to build my leadership and communication skills, as well as my confidence. It will also enable me to network and meet people from different colleges and across the football sector, which I hope I can learn from too.”

In partnership with the ECFA, the AoC set up the programme in 2015 to support member colleges to recruit, develop, deploy and retain student volunteers through football leadership. Today, the programme has grown to include 150 Activators who are based in colleges across the country.

“Ella and Nathan are fantastic students and have been chosen due to their hard work, commitment and passion for football. I look forward to seeing how they develop as young and aspiring coaches throughout the process and how they are able to grow the game of football in College and locally,” said Matthew Duck, Sport Development Officer at Selby College. “This is just another great example of how we are continuing to provide high-level sport opportunities at Selby College and encourage greater participation, even from those who aren’t studying a sport-related course or don’t usually partake in sport or exercise.”

As part of the College’s commitment to promote staying active, its Sport Department has recently launched a ‘College-wide Activities’ Google Classroom, to enable students to be active together despite Covid-19 restrictions.

The activities within the online classroom have been designed so that students can do them in their own time, around their college timetables. Following feedback from a student survey that the department carried out, activities will include a workout of the week, a film and TV corner, an online book club and has links to the Selby College Strava Running and Cycling Clubs.

The virtual classroom aims to provide a space where students can be active together virtually through videos and online workouts, as well as discussing what they have recently been watching or reading, sharing their experiences and recommendations with fellow students.

To find out more about the College’s Sport Department, please visit: https://www.selby.ac.uk/students/sport