College volleyball team wins through to national competition

THE Under-18s volleyball team at Warrington’s Priestley College is to represent the North West in a national competition this month.
They defeated rivals from across the region to secure the spot – and star player Daniel Burrows has also been named as the North West’s captain and will lead the squad out on the opening day.
Daniel, a former Birchwood High School pupil, who studies BTEC sport performance and excellence at the college, said: “We superseded all expectations by winning the regionals and now we can’t wait to take on the best of the rest.”
Priestley head to the AoC Sport National Championships at the University of Nottingham over the weekend of April 21 to 23.
It means the Warrington students will be competing against athletes from colleges across England and Wales.
As well as individual glory, teams will be aiming to accumulate points for their region and win the prestigious Wilkinson Sword trophy.
Priestley’s head of sport Nigel Howells said: “We are immensely proud of the volleyball team and their achievements so far.
“To be representing their college and their region at a national event is a great honour and a memorable opportunity that we will be encouraging them to take full advantage of while they are in Nottingham.”
The AoC Sport National Championships are now in their 39th year and remain the largest student sporting event in the UK, with nearly 1,800 students taking part last year.
Colleges will take part in 13 different sports over three days, competing in some of the best facilities in the country.
AoC Sport managing director Marcus Kingwell said: “We are really excited about this year’s National Championships, which will be hosted at state-of-the-art facilities in Nottingham.
“Ours will be the first major multi-sports event to take place at the David Ross Sports Village and we believe the standard of the facilities will provide students with an incredible experience.
“We could even see a future Olympic champion in action at the championships.”
For more information about the AoC Sport National Championships visit www.aocsportchamps.org