With today being A-Level results day and several of our student athletes receiving their results, we are delighted to confirm that a 100% pass rate has been achieved.
It’s another proud moment for the Scholarship Programme at the club as it continues to develop from strength to strength in partnership with the Steven Gerrard Academy. This year’s results marks some of the best results we have seen produced in the programme so far at the club.
The results show the hard work and determination that the student athletes have put in off the pitch, alongside their football training and playing commitments on it, demonstrating the importance that is placed on education by the student athletes at the club and the opportunities it can provide them with in the future.
In terms of the next steps in the pathway for the student athletes, several of them will be staying on at the club after signing professional contracts including Caolan Donnelly, Sean Brown, Ben Walker, Kye Livingstone, Rian Brown, Odhran McCart and Ethan Simpson and the students along with Jay Patterson and Bryce Gray will be starting on the new SGA Foundation Degree in partnership with the NRC and UUJ.
Glenn Crooks is heading to Alicante to take up a full-time Assistant Manager position with our partners at the Steven Gerrard Academy. Other student athletes such as Jake Murphy and Max Titherington are heading to the USA to complete a full-time scholarship whilst many others will be continuing on to university both here and across the water. One of our top achievers Jack Goudie has been accepted into Ulster University and is looking forward to continuing his journey into the Sports Industry.
After achieving three distinction stars (3 A*s) himself, Ethan Simpson talked about the importance that is placed on education by all of the student athletes on the Scholarship Programme:
“It’s massive. The importance of the education side of the programme is instilled in us from the day we came in.
“Football is a short career and you never know what could happen in the future so it’s always good to have a back-up plan.”
Speaking on his pride at today’s results, SGA NI Regional Director Emmett Clerkin said:
“It’s always a day that we really look forward to each year. The group that are receiving their results today have worked exceptionally well both on and off the pitch which has ultimately shown in the results that they have achieved.
“Within the Scholarship Programme, the education aspect is always held in high regard and there is a huge emphasis and importance placed on it. The tutors (Conall and Sophie) have done exceptionally well to help the students achieve these results and open up a number of pathways which I am sure many of them will avail of, whether it’s continuing their education at university both at home and abroad or going into full-time coaching roles.”
