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Crosskeys Campus is home to the Dragons Junior Rugby Academy where students studying full-time courses at any Â鶹´«Ã½ÍÅ¶Ó campus – either sports-related, A Levels, or other vocational courses – can also benefit from having 16 hours a week of dedicated training from Dragons coaches, as part of a two-year development programme alongside their studies. Read more about our Dragons Junior Rugby Academy.Ìý

The Â鶹´«Ã½ÍÅ¶Ó female rugby Academy is also delivered at the Crosskeys Campus, where learners have access to 14 hours of rugby built into their individual timetables. The team compete in multiple competitions across Wales, including Welsh Colleges 7’s, the URDD WRU 7’s, and WRU National & Regional Schools and Colleges. Â鶹´«Ã½ÍÅ¶Ó is the only college in Wales that competes in the Association of Colleges (AOC) ACE Performance League which is an elite-level competition against English Colleges that are affiliated with professional teams.Ìý

2022/2023 AchievementsÌý

• 4 players selected to play for Wales u18sÌý
• 1 player selected to play for Wales 7sÌý

Savannah Picton-Powell, Wales u18s, said:Ìý

‘’Since being a part of the Academy, I have been able to gain more experience as a player and better my overall gameplay. I have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of a special group. Playing rugby alongside my education helped motivate me to work harder in both the classroom and on the field. I knew I had to work hard to get selected for the games each week. This year as an Academy we took part in the ACE performance league where we had more exposure to a higher level of competition. The hard work the team put in throughout the year helped us have a really successful season – most notably, becoming Welsh colleges 7’s champions, winning the Urdd 7’s and also winning the WRU Girls National Schools and Colleges U’18s final that was held in the Principality Stadium.’’Ìý

There are 64 registered players at Â鶹´«Ã½ÍÅ¶Ó Football Academy’s Crosskeys Campus, with teams for men and women. The Academy is built into the college timetable to enable students to access the sport alongside their studies. The programme includes team training, principle-based sessions, general & specific practices, individualised training, goalkeeping, match preparation, strength and conditioning, sessions, systems of plays, technical practices, and video analysis. Our home matches are played at the Cwmbran Stadium on Wednesday afternoons.

The Â鶹´«Ã½ÍÅ¶Ó Football Academy plays in the Welsh College League – Category 2 and is the current Gwent Schools U19s Cup and Newport Schools U18s Cup holders. The Female Football Academy compete in the Welsh Colleges National 7s Tournament.

2022/2023 Achievements

• Callum Chivers represented Welsh Schools FA & Welsh colleges 22-23
• Former Â鶹´«Ã½ÍÅ¶Ó Football Academy player, Lewis Webb, has signed a professional football contract with Swansea City FC in 2020, and Lewis has represented Wales Under 21s in the Euro Championship Qualifiers 22-23

The Â鶹´«Ã½ÍÅ¶Ó Netball Academy practice takes place on Monday mornings at Crosskeys Campus, followed by league fixtures on Wednesday afternoons. Regardless of campus and course, students are welcome to participate in the Academy, which includes a training programme covering strength and conditioning, team building, ball skills, set plays, tactics and techniques, goal setting, and video analysis sessions.

We currently have two netball teams that play competitively, with our first team competing in league competitions and our second team playing friendly games against other colleges in Wales. Students from Â鶹´«Ã½ÍÅ¶Ó South East Wales Under 18’s netball teams and AOC Welsh Colleges representative teams play home and away every year. In addition, they compete in the South East Wales Schools Competition.

2022/2023 Achievements

• South East Wales schools’ winners
• Welsh Colleges Sport Runners up
• Six players represented the Welsh Colleges squad
• Four players represented Wales Netball Regional Academy
• One player capped at Welsh u17’s