On Saturday 4 March we co-hosted our annual ‘Town Takeover’ with Huddersfield Town Football Club. The day saw students and staff from Kirklees College volunteer to put on a range of activities at John Smith’s Stadium ahead of the match against Coventry City.
While the result didn’t land in Huddersfield Town’s favour, the day itself was one filled with fun and community spirit. In the club’s community hub, student ambassadors helped to make badges, alongside face painting and games. Musical trio Mezcal, who formed as part of their Level 3 Music studies, performed outside the stadium, entertaining the crowds before the match.
Students from Sports and Uniformed Public Services also assisted with the day. Sports students and staff hosted penalty shoot outs outside the stadium, whilst Public Services students supported the club’s match day decorators. Students also gained valuable customer service experience by handing out college merchandise to match goers.
Our students also got involved with the match itself. Bradlee, one of our Sports students, had the honour of doing the pitch announcements at the start of the match, calling out the names of the Huddersfield Town players. During half time, more of our Sports students took part in ‘dizzy penalties’, where they were spun around 10 times before trying to score a goal. They did a great job of entertaining the crowd and showed great confidence and team spirit.
Helen Rose, Director of External Relations at Kirklees College said: “The annual Town Takeover is a great opportunity for us to raise the profile of our partnership with Huddersfield Town. It was great to host such a fun event in the heart of our community, raise awareness of the college to fans and allow students to gain valuable work experience”.
As part of our partnership with HTAFC, we will be offering the Elite Football Development Programme for aspiring footballers from September 2023. Those enrolled on the programme will gain a Level 3 Extended Diploma in Sport, whilst competing in professional tournaments. Applications for the programme are now open.