College students demonstrated their sporting prowess at the inaugural College Sports Festival held at Edinburgh College, aimed at encouraging college students to participate in sport during their studies. The event, hosted by Scottish Student Sport (SSS), saw around 250 students taking part in a variety of sports including football, basketball, touch rugby, touchtennis, volleyball and ultimate frisbee.
During the multi-sport event, held at the college’s Granton Campus and the World of Football (Marine Drive) sports facility, students of all sporting abilities had an opportunity to receive free coaching from members of each of the respective sports’ Scottish governing bodies (Scottish Football Association, basketballscotland, Scottish Rugby Union, Tennis Scotland, Scottish Volleyball Association and Ro Sham Bo Ultimate Frisbee Club from University of Edinburgh) and engage in healthy competition. In addition to the coaching sessions students were encouraged to take part in alternative challenges promoting physical activity.
Edinburgh College sports and physical activity coordinator Ryan Mahoney said: “Sport can play a huge and valuable role in the experience of students while studying at college. It provides an opportunity to add value to their qualification, enabling them to enhance their CV and network with peers, and can also improve mental health and wellbeing.
“We offer a wide range of sport courses at Edinburgh College and encourage all of our students to participate in sporting opportunities during their time studying with us. It was great to work with Scottish Student Sport to host the first Scottish College Sports Festival and I hope the event has inspired students to pursue more opportunities in sport and to be more active in the future.”
Craig Brown, a HND Coaching and Developing Sport student, said: “Sport provides an opportunity to get to know new people with common interests. Events like today are good to get people out of their normal routine and lets them get active whether or not they are interested in sport. Sport really is a release from the stresses of normal life and I’d encourage anyone to get involved in sport if they get the chance.”
Members of senior management from Scottish colleges were also in attendance and heard from chief operating officer for Scottish Student Sport Stew Fowlie on the importance of physical activity and sport for students.
Stew said: “Scottish Student Sport is delighted to have facilitated such a positive day, hosted brilliantly by our friends at Edinburgh College, and we hope this provides a blueprint for future events all across Scotland. As recent research confirms, engagement in physical activity and sport is not only a fun and enriching pastime for students, but is also central to many fundamental aspects of the modern student experience. SSS will keep developing ever better opportunities for students to be active and enjoy sport, so that everyone can feel the benefits for themselves.”
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