Northumberland College

About

Alongside studying towards a Level 3 Diploma in Sport delivered by NC, our students train full time with BRFC coaches and compete in the North East ECFA.

Story

In conjunction with Northumberland College, Berwick Rangers Football Academy offer the student/athlete experience. Whilst studying towards a Level 3 Diploma in sport, our students also compete in the English College Football Association North East Region Division 2:

http://full-time.thefa.com/Index.do?divisionseason=673605834

As full time students/footballers, we enrol a squad of 16 to 18 year old's who typically spend mornings/early afternoons studying towards their qualification, which is roughly equivalent to two A Levels, then move on to football training in the afternoons. Our games take place on Wednesday afternoons and we normally have training sessions on Monday and Thursday afternoons. Students who fail to reach a GCSE 'C' grade or above in Mathematics or English study on Wednesday mornings before our games in the afternoon. Northumberland College provide a separate tutor for the Maths and English classes and our students join a class of other apprentices or learners to work towards a resit exam.

The course itself is a combination of modules related to various elements of sport, for example; sports science (which includes fitness testing, nutrition and kinesiology), physiotherapy, coaching (with the option to be assessed for an FA Level 1 coaching certificate), teaching and many more. Typically, we encourage our students to use the qualification to go onto higher education at University. The qualification gained could lead to acceptance onto courses such as teaching, sports science, physiotherapy or sports management. If the students feel they thrive under the student/athlete learning environment, we will also look into the possibility of applying for scholarship courses in the United States or elsewhere. Several scouts from teams in the USA watch players in the ECFA system because they feel they are already accustomed to how they teach/coach their players there.

There is also scope for ambitious players to make the step up within the football club. We obviously have strong links with the coaches of the development squad (under 20's) who currently compete in the SPFL Development league Eastern Region. Our students will be given every opportunity to be given a chance to prove themselves at this higher level if they show they have the ability, commitment and temperament to potentially do so. It is the responsibility of our head coach to develop these attributes whilst our classroom tutor offers them the chance to develop their knowledge to pass the course with the highest grade possible.

We currently have three facilities where our classroom and training activities take place, all of which in Berwick Upon Tweed:

1)Sheilfield Park: Larger classroom and grass pitches

2)Northumberland College, Berwick campus: classroom and computer facilties.

3)Berwick Swan Centre for Leisure: Training sessions on their artificial surfaces (typically in winter months), gym work for strength and conditioning/recovery.

If there you have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch for more information via this page or contact a member of staff.