Academi Menai
Academi Menai is Coleg Menai’s Elite enrichment club, where students compete in regional & national competitions such as the ECFA Premier League, AoC Sport, Colleges Wales Sport & Welsh Schools FA tournaments.
All students can join the Academi clubs – you don’t have to be a Sport student! It’s a great opportunity to develop your skills, make new friends and gain great experiences, all whilst playing the Sport you love.
Academi Sport clubs include:
- Football (Men’s and Women’s)
- Rugby (Men’s and Women’s)
- Women’s Netball
- Mixed Hockey
Over the past few years, Academi Menai’s football team has been crowned Welsh football champions on three occasions 2013, 2014 and most recently in 2019. In addition to this since 2010 we’ve have had a number of our learners represent Wales in various sports!
Academi Menai is coordinated by Marc Lloyd Williams, a member of the Sport Department at Coleg Menai. Marc is an UEFA Licenced Coach and an ex-professional footballer who has played for a number of clubs in England, Norway & Wales.
Academi Success Stories
Cian Owain Williams (L3 Sport), whilst still a student with us signed for Championship side Swansea City FC on a two year contract and recently represented Wales u18. Whilst studying at college, Cian played for the Academi football team and was selected for both the Welsh Schools u18 and Welsh Colleges U19 squad.
Dion Donohue ( L3 Sport & Engineering). A former trainee with Everton, Dion came to Coleg Menai initially to study Sport, however he soon changed pathways into Engineering. However, he continued to regularly represent the Academi football team and gained International honours for both Welsh Schools u18 and Welsh Colleges U19 squads. Since leaving college Dion turned professional and has played for a number of EFL clubs including Portsmouth, Swindon, Chesterfield & Barrow and he now currently plays for Cymru League club Caernarfon Town.
Jac Humphreys (L3 Sport). Jac has recently signed a football scholarship at Walsh University in Ohio. Jac was a member of the football Academi and combined his studies playing for National League side Wrexham’s youth team.
Molly Kelly (Mechanical Engineering) Kelly, is from the Island of Anglesey and started her rugby journey at Caernarfon RFC, whilst at Coleg Menai Molly represented the successful Welsh Colleges u18 team in winning the British Colleges Championships and has since gone on to represent Wales at Senior level and has just been named in the latest Six Nations squad. She currently plays for Sale Sharks.
Kieran Jones (L1, L2 & L3 Sport) (GB Wheelchair Basketball & GB Disability Shot Put)
In addition to this a number of forner learners are playing regularly in the Cymru Premier and Cymru North football leagues with a number of these players being part of Ynys Môn’s successful Gold medal winning football team at the Island Games in 2019.
Training and Matches
The training sessions at Academi have been carefully planned to ensure that they fit around your studies. The majority of matches take place on a Wednesday afternoon.
Training Days:
- Tuesday: Llangefni Campus 10:55 - 12:25 / Bangor Campus 14:40 - 16:10
- Wednesday: Match day
If for any reason you are unable to attend a training due to your studies, please contact us so we can look into this for you.
Academi's Coaches
Marc Lloyd Williams
Marc is the Level 2 Sport Programme Leader at the Sports Department, and the Sport Academi Co-ordinator for Coleg Menai .
Marc is an UEFA Licenced Coach and an ex-professional footballer who has played for a number of clubs in England, Norway & Wales and represented Wales as a 'B ' international. A league title winner with Bangor City, TNS & FK Haugesund. Marc is the all-time leading goalscorer in the Cymru Premier League with 319 goals, and was the first inductee into the league's Hall of Fame back in 2012. He is also the current Manager of the Welsh Schools FA u18 & Welsh Colleges FA u19 squads. During his spare time Marc is a Broadcast Journalist on S4C's football programme 'Sgorio' and BBC Radio Cymru & Radio Wales sport shows.
Jenny Davies
Jenny Davies is the Programme Leader for BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Uniformed Protective Services, and is responsible for the Boys Rugby, and Girls Academi.
She’s worked for the WRU as Women and Girls Rugby Development Officer - and has experience in coaching, organising events and delivering coach education courses.
Jenny recently helped set-up the U18s and Womens RGC teams
She’s coached Waterloo women's, Wales colleges girls rugby, Môr Ladron, Caernarfon Ladies, and has played rugby for Wales, Cardiff Blues, Waterloo, Caernarfon - achieving 74 caps for Wales!
Jenny is a Level 3 Rugby Referee and is also involved in Coach Education courses for new referees.
Contact
If you would like more information regarding Academi Menai, or have any questions, please e-mail: marc.williams@gllm.ac.uk