BMet men’s hockey team picks up gold at national championships
A talented BMet men’s hockey team came out on top against five other teams to win the gold medal at a national championships event in Nottingham.
The students who are based at Stourbridge College and Sutton Coldfield College, battled against teams from across England and Wales during the three-day AoC (Association of Colleges) event at the University of Nottingham.
The men’s hockey team managed to pick up victories in four of their five games, including a victory over last year’s champions, Peter Symonds College.
20-year-old Sutton Coldfield student and hockey captain, Louie Morris, said “We needed to prepare for a number of different teams in a short space of time which was both challenging and exciting.”
The result went down to the final game in which BMet needed to record a comfortable victory to improve their goal difference and confirm first place. They eventually ran out 8-0 winners.
Louie continued: “It really helped that we had a good mix of experienced players with plenty of national experience, along with a collection of newer ones that had only been introduced to hockey since coming to the college.
“The competition was still a big learning experience for everyone as we came up against some tough teams and we were thrilled to walk away with gold.”
Terry Lavery, hockey team coach and sports lecturer at Sutton Coldfield College, said “This was one of the best performances I’ve seen for a BMet team at the national championships.
“The whole team stepped up and truly earned their medals.”
As well as the hockey team’s success, BMet was represented across three other sports in the AoC national championships, including women’s basketball, cross country and ability counts football.
Andy May, General Manager of Nottingham Conferences who helped organise the Championships, said: “It was great to see so many young people enjoying the huge variety of wonderful facilities we have available here at the University of Nottingham.
“The standard of competition was incredibly high and it was impressive to see the sportsmanship and professionalism shown by the athletes – they were a credit to their colleges.”
More than 1600 college students took part in this year’s National Championships, which is now in its 39th year.