Students shortlisted at The Pitch

Sports science students at Coleg Sir Gar have been shortlisted in a Dragons Den style competition at a sports leadership and enterprise event held in Cardiff where the college was awarded Sports Leadership Academy status.

At the competition called The Pitch, a team of second year students were tasked with developing a commercially viable pitch that would link the college into the business and increase physical activity in their community. They were invited to present their business plan at the event organised by Sports Leaders UK in partnership with Sport Wales and CAVE FE Consortium.

The event, which was held at the SWALEC Stadium, provided an opportunity for students to use their enterprise skills in sales and budgeting, while having the opportunity to use their presentation skills on a national stage. If successful, they will apply their leadership skills to deliver the programme.

Rob Kirk, sports science lecturer and enterprise tutor said: “The business plan needed to be budgeted professionally as the Co-op was sponsoring the winning pitch with a contribution of £500 to be used to deliver the programme. Students needed to carefully plan out how they would deliver a sustainable programme and report on its outcomes.”

The team developed an idea linking Coleg Sir Gâr’s current sector leading 5 x 30 activity programme with the secondary schools’ 5 x 60 activity programme to form a consortium. They used the Olympic torch as a symbol of transition using the sports ambassador and volunteer programme from both programmes and used the consortium to link the two programmes to form a seamless transition between secondary school and post-16 education at Coleg Sir Gâr.

Rob Kirk added: “The team delivered a polished performance and answered probing questions from the panel of Dragons after which our team were shortlisted. It was announced at the event that Sports Leader UK will visit each shortlisted institution and to identify the strongest programme which will sustain an increase in participation of physical activity.

“I am proud of the entire group who took on such a challenge. They were motivated by the Dragons Den slant, committing themselves to the task, while utilising a range of essential skills that they have developed throughout their course. The students gained real satisfaction from seeing an idea develop through to presentation and ultimately delivery. We are very confident that our idea can realistically be delivered and are hopeful that Sports Leader UK will give us the opportunity.

“It was a bonus for us that as part of the events, Coleg Sir Gâr was awarded Sports Leadership Academy status, which is one of only eight in the whole of Wales. Peter Rees, assistant principal for Learners and Business Development at the college was presented with a plaque in recognition of the extensive sports leadership work Coleg Sir Gâr undertakes within the community.”