Despite their relegation from the Football League last season, Mansfield Town still had something to shout about with all seven of their second year Apprentices achieving full ASE frameworks.
These results cap a remarkable transformation over the last 2- 3 years which has seen results and the quality of the programme undertaken by the Apprentices at Field Mill improve immensely.
Youth team coach Dave Jervis states:
“It’s a fantastic achievement to get seven out of seven frameworks this summer but the quality of the programme isn’t only measured in terms of results. Our progress has been fantastic over the last 3 years and the learning experience that each Apprentice now gets is superb.”
“We have a fantastic partnership with West Notts College who deliver our education programme, which has transformed beyond belief to the benefit of our Apprentices.”
Junior Glave, The Programme Area Leader for Sport was also keen to stress the importance of the club/college dynamic as being a key feature of this summer’s success:
“All seven Apprentices undertook the Btec National Certificate and we were able to tailor a programme to meet individual and group needs. The combination between full time football training, the theory behind that and work in the classroom was well structured and extremely well balanced which has enabled us to achieve such great results.”
Mary Buckland, West Notts College Associate Director of Learning Hospitality, Sport, Leisure & Travel reiterated Junior’s comments;
“We have achieved great results but to do that we assessed the particular needs of the learners and made the programme work for the group by tailoring it to fit individual needs. Our College vision is ‘A dynamic College for aspiring communities’, and while Mansfield Town may be a small club they are our local club who are important to us.”
“We provide LFE and the Club with a service and are accountable for that service but I would like to think that the link extends beyond that. For example we have opened up a number of our facilities and expertise to assist in areas such as fitness testing and we are keen to continue this good work next season.”
Further improvements can be expected with the College’s construction of a new state of the art building and sports facility(pictured above), which will include a full size 3G pitch, a fully equipped gymnasium and sports hall, a climbing wall, a dance studio, 2 basketball courts, 6 badminton courts, a sports lab and a penthouse restaurant.
The new build, which is a £96m project, estimated for completion in January 2011 can only benefit the College’s local community and indeed the Stags as they move onwards and upwards.
