One of the rising stars of English rugby has graduated from Newcastle Business School (NBS) after successfully mixing work and play to gain his degree in Business Management.
Toby Flood, a 21 year-old Newcastle Falcons player, completed his studies just in time to attend an England training camp in Portugal before this year's World Cup - for which he hopes to be selected for the 30-man squad.
The fly-half, an adopted Geordie since moving to the North East aged three, believes working towards a degree may have actually been beneficial to his rugby.
Toby explains,
"At times it has been tough to combine rugby and university but it can also prove a welcome distraction - it's good to escape and I'm sure it's improved my form.
Newcastle Business School have been fantastic and given me lots of support throughout, I couldn't have asked for more. I'm so pleased that I have continued with my studies - it's great to be able to have this under my belt for the future, I can't play rugby forever and I've no doubt that my degree will prove to be useful once my sports career is finally over."
Toby Flood
Toby, who completed the third year of his course on a part-time basis due to his rugby commitments, is already considering his options for further, business-related qualifications - and Newcastle Business School would be happy to welcome one of its most well-known alumni back.
Guy Brown, Programme Director for the BA (Hons) Business Management degree at Newcastle Business School, said:
"It's been great to see how Toby has progressed - both on the pitch and in the classroom - and I'm delighted that all of his hard work has paid off.
Toby has put a lot of effort in to ensure that his studies haven't suffered as a result of his rugby and we were pleased to be able to support him as much as possible - I'm looking forward to following his progress over the summer and hopefully seeing him play in the world cup."
Date posted: 04.07.2007