SGS College

At Verde, we are innovators in sport, as is evidenced by our latest project with SGS College in Bristol where we were extremely proud to hand over the keys on the UK’s first-ever specialist American Football pitch. 

Following its opening, SGS College now has over a hundred players enrolled into their further and higher education American Football programmes. 

The groups are extremely diverse, with students from Spain and the USA now residing in Bristol due to the programme.

Part of the reason for selecting an American Football surface was due to the sports’ rapid growth in Europe, with NFL matches regularly being hosted at both Wembley and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The surface has also increased revenue streams, with Universities from Cardiff and Swansea travelling to Bristol to use the facility, as well as its ability to be booked out by the community. 

Unfortunately for players in the sport, up until this revolutionary installation, all of the American Football pitches in the UK and all barring two in Europe – were repurposed football or rugby facilities, meaning inconsistent and inappropriate surfaces with inaccurately drawn lines, etc

About The Surface & the Word From The Beneficiaries 

We spoke to those involved in how having the gridiron has impacted the college so far.

“We are competing against teams that have got a lot more resources than we do as far as backing, financial backing, but they don’t have a field like this. And that’s our biggest recruitment tool,” said Benjamin Herod, Director of American Football.

“We’ve got kids from different religious backgrounds, different social backgrounds as far as how much money they’ve got in their pocket. We’ve got language barriers where some of our Spanish kids couldn’t speak a lot of English to start with, and it’s one common thing that they’ve got, isn’t it? American football.”

Alex Gaiger, Assistant Principal of the SGS College WISE Campus said – “It happened so quickly over a summer period and then all of a sudden you’re presented with a surface like this.”

“Actually having a consistent surface that performs the same or close to the same in every different condition is vitally important. If you were to ask these learners who are performing here, the ones that were last year, they would talk about the aesthetics of the pitch. That’s the first thing that they talk about.”

Connor Sidley-Adams, Curriculum Director of Personal & Social Development spoke of the mental and physical benefits that come with the surface. “A lot of them are living away from home, coming to Bristol for the first time, so that American football is the thing that really pulls them together and gives them that social aspect as well. I think it just provides a huge opportunity for players to find what they love in life.”