New Focus Colleges officially unveiled

Ten colleges in England are celebrating after being awarded the prestigious ‘Focus College’ status by British Colleges Sport and The Football Association.

The Focus College status is the top level that can be awarded to an FE college for their commitment to football development provision. Only ten colleges are selected each academic year to be a part of the programme following a rigorous application process that for many started over twelve months ago.

The successful ten colleges this year join up with last year’s ten and will now play a leading role on a national level in advancing their football provision.  

The 10 national focus colleges starting in 2009-10 are:-

1. South Cheshire College
2. Tyne Met College
3. Leeds City College
4. Grantham College
5. Newcastle under Lyme College
6. Easton College
7. East Norfolk College
8. Richard Huish College
9. Exeter College
10. Kingston College

As part of the process, each Focus College will receive extended support from British Colleges Sport and The Football Association to form a football development strategy that puts football at the heart of college life for every student, whilst maximising links with the local community. 

The four-year strategy, which will be closely aligned to The FA National Game Strategy 2008-2012, will look at ways of increasing wider participation in football amongst 16-19-year-olds through playing, coaching, volunteering and refereeing. Key areas such as educating students and staff about the Respect programme and providing pathways for students to enter community sport through Charter Standard clubs, are also fundamental to the programme.

BCS National Football Development Manager Karl Lines, who manages the programme, commented: “The Focus College programme has already shown in its first year how it has raised the bar in terms of growing football development provision in colleges.

"We now go into year two of the programme and see the network of focus colleges expand from ten to twenty and this is a rolling process that will continue over the coming years. I’m delighted to welcome the new ten on board, and will look forward to working together to ensure football plays a significant role in providing students with enjoyment and a range of opportunities.”