Last week was a busy one for Sport and Physical Activity students, who thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to build on their leadership skills and hear from professionals in the Sport industry.
The week began with a visit from 180 primary school pupils for a Sports Hall Athletics event. Our students successfully led two sessions for the children, in which they participated in a number of activities including vertical jump, relay racing, standing long jump, and triple jump.
They did an excellent job of running each activity station, communicating with the children, and ensuring that the whole event ran smoothly.
Stuart Langworthy, England’s Over 60s Walking Football Manager and a Director of the Walking Football Association also visited the students for a session on the benefits of walking football.
They started with a walking football tournament to get to grips with the rules, before listening to an insightful talk from Stuart about his career, and the physical and mental benefits of active ageing.
This builds on the content they have covered in their Sports Development & Organisation unit, providing them with a deeper level of knowledge as they prepare for their January exam.
“This week really encapsulated what our Sport and Physical Activity course is all about”, said Sport Lecturer, Ross Langworthy, “The Primary School Sports Hall Athletic event really was an incredible occasion to witness. Our students took on different roles and showed outstanding leadership skills throughout. The group worked together to deliver a great experience to the 180 primary school pupils who took over the Sports block, and It was a privilege to be able to step back and let our students rise to the challenge, having been very much thrown in the deep end on the day.
We’ve received some excellent feedback from the schools in attendance and event organisers, and hearing our students described as ‘fantastic leaders’, ‘a pleasure to work with’, and ‘role models for primary school pupils to aspire to’, shows what a great job they did. Events like these are vital in enabling our students to develop the skills needed to work in the Sports industry, ensuring they gain more than just an academic qualification during their time with us.
The Walking Football session provided our students with the opportunity to hear first-hand experiences from an industry expert on how sport can be adapted to become accessible to those that may not be able to access mainstream sport due to age, injury, or disability. It was also great to see them having a go at playing walking football, they cooperated with the rules well and there were some interesting performances on show!”
For more information on this story please contact chloe.suter@cirencester.ac.uk
