Senior
Academy
The Senior Academy is made up of players enrolled on any Higher education programme at UWE Hartpury.
There are 3 teams that play at Senior level, with the 1st team made up of players able to compete at the highest level of university football; the BUCS Premier League.
The Senior Academy has been extremely successful in recent years, winning the BUCS National Championship in 2007 and 2008 and reaching the final for a third successive year in 2009. They managed to win back the trophy again this year 2011.
The Senior 2nd team compete in Division 1 of the BUCS Western Conference, with the Senior 3rds involved in Division 2. The Senior 2nd team were also winners of the Conference Cup in 2011; a regional cup run through BUCS for all teams under Premier League, another commendable achievement for the Football Academy. Both teams run along similar lines to the Senior 1st team meaning 2nd and 3rd team players also gain the benefit of regular training and matches.
Senior Academy players train 4 days a week, typically first thing in the morning before lectures, and receive the highest level of sports science support which includes the utilisation of a full time physio, fitness conditioner and also exposure to video analysis.
In addition to the BUCS competition, Senior players are involved playing within the Non-League football pyramid and are regularly included in Cheltenham Town Football Club’s reserve games. The reserves compete in the Football Combination’s Southern Division, a league which includes Championship side Brighton and Hove Albion and Football League sides AFC Bournemouth, Crawley Town and Torquay United.