TGt Meets...Ryan Elliott

Our latest TGt Meets is with the fantastic Ryan Elliott, the Community Sports Officer at New College Swindon. We asked him all things football as well as finding out about the fantastic 3G pitch at New College.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

My name is Ryan, I have been involved in football all of my life, from playing Professional and Non-League football to coaching and progressing with my qualifications and FA badges. I’m currently the Community Sports Officer at New College Swindon.

What interested you to work at New College?

I studied BTEC Sport here at New College whilst playing for the Football Academy, before I went on to play a high level of Non-League football. I then began to coach the Football Academy and completed relevant coaching qualifications to further my career. When the opportunity for a full time job within the sports industry came up, I couldn’t think of anywhere better than to do this at New College!

What's been the highlight of you career so far?

The highlight of my career is a difficult one to pick but I think learning a wide range of skills from various people certainly puts me in good stead to further my career.

What do you enjoy the most about your job?

Meeting various grassroots and professional football coaches, players, volunteers and parents of players. Being able to see a wide variety of the community play football here daily and the participation of the game continuously developing. 

How would you describe New College in 3 words...

Enjoyable, Professional, Engaging

What do you enjoy doing when not at work?

I enjoy training in the gym, playing football and socialising.

What are the positives of having a 3G Pitch & what have these meant for New College?

It is a privilege to have a state of the art 3G pitch, everyone wants one, from football clubs to colleges. New College are very proud and have worked extremely hard with the Football Foundation and a number of partners to make this possible. It enables the local community and clubs to play and train on the FA Affiliated pitch. The positives for the college are that it boosts the already impressive facilities, it brings more people on site daily and provides fantastic opportunities to future students who wish to play football with the New College Football Academy.

How many teams use the pitch? If people are interested in booking the pitch how would they do this?

Since opening we have had various different groups use the pitch. However, we have regular and long term bookings with over six youth clubs, three ofwhich have over ten teams each. The Football Academy and over ten local adult teams also use the pitch, as well as three women’s teams and three girl’s teams. We also cater for various community and social groups, including walking football.

There are various ways of booking including, email: [email protected] phone: 01793 209579 or the online bookings website https://newcollege.communitybookings.co.uk/

How will the 3G Pitch help the development of the New College Football Academy?

This will attract future players for the Academy providing them with the opportunity to train four times a week on the FA Affiliated surface. They will improve their technical and tactical ability and they will be able to progress further in football, whichever pathway they choose, including non-League football, USA scholarships, University and potentially pathways into the professional game.