The sports pitch at Bridgwater & Taunton College’s Bridgwater campus has officially re-opened to students, local sports teams and the community. This state-of-the-art, third generation sports surface was funded by the Sedgemoor District Council community mitigation fund and supported by Somerset Activity Sports Partnership (SASP). One of the College’s objectives is to increase the accessibility of sport across Somerset, and this new pitch will support academies, semi-professional and professional clubs by giving them the opportunity to train on a state-of-the-art substrate, supplementing the strength and conditioning, studio cycling, performance analysis and rehabilitation facilities at the College.

The College welcomed prestigious guests to the official opening including Josh Gould, a former Sport & Exercise Science student who started his goalkeeping career whilst at BTC, and who is now signed for Swansea City FC; Terry Skiverton, the Head of Academy Coaching at Yeovil Town FC, who during his playing career for Yeovil made 382 appearances; Mike Hall Academy Manager at Bristol Bears who, along with his fellow coaching colleagues, has been integral in developing the Development Player Pathway for aspiring Rugby players across Somerset; and Bob Buckingham from Bridgwater Town FC, the College’s partnership club who kindly endorsed and supported the funding application.

Jason Gunningham, Assistant Principal said,

I’d like to thank Sedgemoor District Council and SASP for supporting our funding application for a 3G pitch. The College aims to do the very best for the communities it represents, and the pitch will support BTC’s strategy to grow participation in women’s and disability sports. It will also help us support Sport England’s strategy to engage inactive people in physical activity.

Gunningham added,

This development was a collaborative process and I would also like to thank Bridgwater Town Football Club, Bristol Bears and Yeovil Town Ladies FC for their letters of recommendation and support. Special thanks goes to Colin Johnson of SASP for his dedication to the project. The facility not only supports the development of education for our students, but also the wider Bridgwater Community.

Featured photo –  (Left to right) Mike Hall (Bristol Bears), Josh Gould (Swansea City FC), Terry Skiverton (Yeovil Town FC), Bob Buckingham (Bridgwater Town FC) and Jason Gunningham (Assistant Principal for Land-based, Sport & Foundation Studies at Bridgwater & Taunton College)

To see more photos of the day, click here.