Last Thursday, Community Trust Study Programme learners from across the northwest were invited to a taster day at the University of Central Lancashire.
Students from Wigan Athletic, Fleetwood Town, Carlisle United and Accrington Stanley attended the event and took part in a variety of engaging activities throughout the day, both practical and classroom based.
The day consisted of four different sessions for all four attending groups, with two activities in the morning, and two in the afternoon post lunch break.
The four different workshops that took place were:
- Submaximal Vo2 Assessment
- An Introduction to Match Analysis
- The Sports Business Environment
- Applying for Sport & PE Courses in Higher Education
The Submaximal Vo2 Assessment was a particularly engaging session that many of the learners appeared to enjoy. Vo2 Max refers to how much oxygen your body can absorb and use during exercise.
The students were given a practical task to do during this session. Each class were split into two groups, with one person from each undertaking a Submaximal Vo2 Assessment with the help of the others. The nominated individuals were asked to attach a few gadgets to themselves, such as a heart monitor and an elevation training mask. They were then tasked with cycling on a spin bike with the machines attached in order to record their Vo2 Max. Others in the group helped with recording the data from the machine.
An Introduction to Match Analysis also proved to be a popular workshop amongst the trust learners. In these sessions, the participants were presented with a brief introduction into match analysis by one of UCLan’s Sports Performance Professionals. The learners were then left to their own devices and were tasked with analysing a match of their own. Match Analysis involves identifying all aspects of a sporting performance, both individually and as a team, from a player’s pass selection, to how they scan the pitch and read in-game situations.
The other two workshops were more classroom based. The Sports Business Environment educated the students on how sport functions in a business sense and the factors that drive certain decisions and influences. For example, the reasons behind the substantial pay gap between men and women’s football. Whilst the Applying for Sport & PE Courses in Higher Education helped the students gain a further understanding of how to apply for a university course in the future, if that were a route they would like to explore.
Football & Education Manager at Wigan Athletic, Phil Corrigan said: “UCLAN event was excellent, with the staff demonstrating the variety of sporting opportunities and academic resources available to learners for the future. The learners engaged and thoroughly enjoyed the university experience which has got many thinking about their next career pathway maybe into Higher Education.”
Laura Wentmoor, LFE’s CTSP Regional Officer for the northwest added: “It was great to see so many of our learners at the UCLan taster day this week, which provided them an insight into available higher education courses and what the process of applying to university entails. The staff at UCLan provided a range of different activities which we hope raised ambitions of learners to start thinking about their next steps, whether this be at UCLan or at other higher education providers. For some learners, this was the first time they had been on a university campus, so to see the facilities, resources and expertise on show was a great way to raise their aspirations. We have many alumni learners who have progressed to UCLan, and it was great to show our current learners what their future could look like.”
