Students help create community feel for Non-League Day

By Leo Barton

Media students from Bristol have taken Non-League Day into their own hands by creating original content to promote their local teams.

Ranging from match highlights, team photographs, fan cams, and even a documentary, the project has created a unique opportunity for teams in the south west to connect with their communities.

One of those clubs was Westonsuper-Mare. The club really let the students thrive as they created a fan cam and vlog for the Seagulls’ social media.

They left an impression on the club, as Alex Crowther, the communications manager, testified: “Our collaboration with boomsatsuma in producing match day media has allowed us to deliver high quality, engaging content to our fans, which is what it’s all about. They’ve been the perfect creative partners.”

But the Seagulls weren’t the only team that had the company of the boom students, with Nailsea & Tickenham FC getting involved as the subject of a unique documentary focused on grassroots community.

Chairman,Robert Gregory,has been with the club for 31 years just and knows better than anyone how important this level of football is.

“ I’ve always been a Nailsea boy, but when I was younger I wanted to play at a higher level, so I left and did the Western League circuit,” he said.

“The clubs (Nailsea Town and Tickenham United) merged eight years ago with the goal of growing. Lots of youngsters leave the area, so we wanted to give them a higher level club they could be proud of. Now we’ve got the opportunity to enter competitions like the F.A cup. and events like that do great things for the community. It’s not an ego trip, it’s what we want to give to the town.”

The students themselves have reflected on what the experience has taught them. Josh Taylor, a current Year 12 student, believes “you’re definitely more connected with the players and manager when supporting a club like Weston-Super-Mare”. “It almost feels like you’ve been on the journey with them and you’re all in this together,” he added.

“The media students’ goal was simple: to encourage people to be a part of their community. For them, this has been the perfect opportuni- ty to get locals to join in and get to know their own club.

“There’s something very special about the passion of Non-League fans. It isn’t talked about enough.”