Sunderland College sport student secures football scholarship in USA

A sports student from Sunderland College is heading to the USA to take up his place on a highly competitive scholarship programme.

Dan McGuire, who studied Level 3 Combined Fitness at Sunderland College, will travel to Flagler College in St Augustine, on the North East coast of Florida, to study a 4-year degree.

The former South Shields Football Club Academy footballer will play for Flagler Saints in the NCAA Division 2 Peach Belt Conference. The well-respected college was named by US News and World Report as one of the best regional colleges in the South.

Dan developed his football playing alongside his academic studies at Sunderland College whilst part of the high profile South Shields Football Club Academy. The Club came runners up in the National U19 Alliance league in their first season and remained unbeaten in the league all season.

John Rushworth, Faculty Director for Sport, Health and Wellbeing at Sunderland College, said:

“We are delighted that Dan has secured a USA scholarship at Flagler College, Florida. Dan was an excellent student athlete and greatly benefitted from the quality of coaching from Lee and Graham at South Shields FC.

“One of our many destinations for student athletes at Sunderland College is a USA scholarships and we are pleased to be working with Andrew and his team at Scholarship Connect to support with this. We wish Dan all the best in this exciting chapter and look forward to monitoring his successes in the USA.”

Dan was successfully placed on a USA scholarship through Scholarship Connect, who act as consultants to help students gain access to high quality college and university programmes for their chosen sport.

Jake Winship, Scholarship Connect Director, said:

“It has been great working alongside the Football Development Centre students at Sunderland College who are interested in the USA scholarship pathway. They are all very driven and determined to reach their goals.

“We were impressed with the very professional environment that Sunderland College has created for their students, both in the classroom and on the football pitch.”