Mansfield students on form to finish third in national sporting challenge

The Association of Colleges (AoC) set the National Championships Lockdown Challenge at the start of the month to replace the cancelled National Championships.

The AoC teamed up with a number of athletes to launch the virtual sporting challenges in each of the 12 national championship sports, so that colleges could still compete, despite being in isolation.

Games included getting a shuttlecock into a tea cup, how many football kick-ups could be done before dropping the ball and how many claps could be done while throwing a cricket ball in the air.

Students could complete as many challenges as they wanted and were asked to record a video or take a photograph of them completing each challenge.

West Nottinghamshire College came third overall behind winners Loughborough College and runners-up Birmingham Metropolitan College.

Jake Hughes, a level three BTEC sport student put West Nottinghamshire College in first place with the rugby challenge, which asked students to see how far they could kick a rugby ball into a bin.

Jake’s skills saw him hit the target at 35 metres, which earned him a £20 voucher for JD Sports.

The college also came third in the hockey challenge, which asked competitors to see how many times they could sit down and stand up whilst balancing a ball on a hockey stick.

Elodie Fleet, the college’s sport co-ordinator Elodie Fleet said: “I'm beyond proud of our students who participated in this national challenge and to come third is brilliant.

“It’s great to see that they’ve remained active and engaged during this difficult time whilst still working hard online with classwork.”

“This is the first year we’ve had a rugby team and it's a shame that we are no longer able to train and play fixtures.

“However, it's incredible to see the talent that we have at the college and I look forward to seeing these students continue to blossom in the new academic year.”