Swindon Storm are using American football to help young people thrive on the field and open new doors off of it.

Despite entering the year expecting to be a rebuilding year, Swindon Storm have both the under-16s and under-19s heading for the playoffs in a very successful season.

Steve Bennett has been involved with the sport since 1995 and created the team in 2008 and has been looking to help young people ever since.

He said: “My first generation of players went on to play for Great Britain and got scholarships in the States and now we have six or seven players in the PRIDE Academy in Bristol, four guys in the under-16s and under-19s Great Britain team.

“I understand where Swindon Storm fits in in the grand scheme of things. We have the Bristol Aztecs down the road, who are the second- or third-best team in the country, three university teams, one of which is the national champion, and the country’s first high school academy.

“Any of the best players that we produce here, we actively encourage them to play in Bristol to achieve the highest level they can.

“I want to see these young people fall in love with the sport and take it as far as they can, they can go and get a scholarship to study in America for free, if you can get that education whilst playing this amazing sport then it is a no-brainer, isn’t it?”

Having played rugby when he was younger, Bennett got into American football in Plymouth and wants to help people discover the sport like he did.

He said: “My best friend dragged me down to a new team called the Plymouth Admirals and I fell in love with it from the first session.

“You see that, one in 100 people just have their eyes light up and never look for anything else, with the equipment and the kit it is very gladiatorial and suits people who might have been overlooked in another sport.

“There is almost a Game of Thrones before the battle you get from being in a team of 50 people looking across at another.

“We do a lot through social media and also look to get out in schools and deliver taster sessions to introduce it to a whole new generation because this sport is available for males and females, it is mixed and you can see that girls can easily match the physicality and skill.”