Barnsley College Media students are top of the league

Barnsley College Creative Media Production students Matty Hugill, Kyle Walker and Karl Wellbelove have come out on top at the Young Audio and Radio Industry Awards (Young ARIAs), winning the Best in Sport category for their football show on online radio station, The Vibe.

The students travelled to London to attend the Young ARIAs ceremony at the BBC Radio Theatre, where they beat two other shortlisted sport radio shows to the title of Best in Sport.  The prestigious event was hosted by Matt Edmondson and Kiss FM’s Daisy Maskell with the awards presented by big names in the radio industry including Mollie King, Sara Cox, Richie Anderson and Jack Pepper.

The three College students run their own radio show, Everything Football, outside of their studies, with the weekly show dissecting the upcoming football fixtures, delving deep into the latest rumours and debates and discussing tough topics in the world of football.

To be shortlisted for the Best in Sport award the students needed to demonstrate, through their submission of content, that they and their show lives, breathes, eats and sleeps sport. To then be in with a shot of winning they had to prove their passion and expertise in sport reporting, commentary, debate, interview or documentary and exhibit in-depth knowledge of their subject producing a show that is both informative and entertaining.

The award judges saw all of these traits in the Everything Football show stating: “They have really great engaging discussions, a professional manner and natural feel to the show. You can really tell how passionate they are about the subject.”

Lee Barber, Barnsley College Media Teacher and Station Manager for The Vibe, suggested that the students enter the Young ARIAs for the work they have done on the show and their coverage of hard hitting subject matter such as sexism and racism in football.

Lee said: “This is a brilliant achievement for the lads and brilliant news for The Vibe in general. To have an award-winning show on our schedule this early on is fantastic. The three students should be very proud of themselves. They have already said they want to win it again next year, their families will be a nervous wreck by the time they’re finished!”