Touchdown for Success: Chichester College Student Wins European Gold with Great Britain U17’s

A Chichester College student is celebrating European success after helping Great Britain’s U17 Flag Football team claim gold at the 2026 European Championships in Italy.  

First-year sports student Ruby Rowland won the medal at the championships, hosted in Italy, after beating Germany 33-7 in the final, following wins against Finland, Austria, Spain and Germany again on the way to the final.  

American Flag Football is a non-contact variant of American Football where defensive players tackle the ball carrier by pulling off a fabric flag attached to their waste, instead of tackling them to the ground. 

Ruby, who has been playing flag football for four years, reflected on the moment she realised Great Britain had secured gold:  

“It’s obviously very nerve-racking, representing your country for the second time, because in the first year we didn’t do very well. But over the course of the year, training with the girls, I thought we were all very confident going into it.  

“It felt well deserved, I thought, because of all the effort we put in. Every two weeks we’d meet up at Loughborough, and we’d go for a six-hour training session, and we’d then do it again the next day.  

“I think because of all that effort that’s been put in, I think it was well deserved. I think everyone deserved it on my team; everyone played for that medal.”  

Looking back on her journey with Team GB, Ruby explained how years of hard work and perseverance led to European success:  

“In my first year playing, I got my first Team GB trial, I got into the outer squad, I didn’t get into the travelling squad, then last year and this year I’ve got into the travelling squad and won gold this year.”  

Ruby also spoke about how she first discovered the sport and what made her fall in love with it:  
“I got in through my brother playing. He watched it online and really enjoyed it, but he wasn’t really old enough to play contact. And then my team, South Coast Spitfires, they wanted to get more girls involved.  

“So, I came along to a trial, and just absolutely fell in love with it really. It’s just such a team bonding sport, and it’s all age groups.”  

Asked about the support she has received at college, Ruby added:  
“When I did my interview to get into college, my coach (at college) Emma was very supportive and actually showed interest in it. Whenever I tell people about it, sometimes they show no interest because they don’t know what it is.  

“But Emma has found it interesting; she loves to know what is coming up next, and when she found out I won gold, I think she was very happy.”  

The success follows off the back of Great Britain’s women’s team winning back-to-back European Championships in 2023 and 2025 and also finishing 4^th at this year’s world championships.  

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