Harriet Bryant

Sports Coach

The placements taught me how to deliver to specific age groups, how to think on your feet and improvise and also how to effectively form relationships with colleagues and pupils.

Why I chose to attend Leeds Trinity

Once I had travelled to the University for an open day I loved the atmosphere and the idea that I wasn’t just a number. Throughout my degree this was proven to me through the support I had from my lecturers regarding work, personal issues or if I just wanted a Monday morning chat.

The best things about the course

The course covered everything that you’ll need to pursue PE or sports coaching as a career and was very practical. I studied a wide variety of modules including sports science, secondary education, sports coaching and digital marketing.

Valuable placement opportunities

I completed three placements during my time at Leeds Trinity, these enabled me to learn key skills in professional settings. The placements taught me how to deliver to specific age groups, how to think on your feet and improvise and also how to effectively form relationships with colleagues and pupils.

In my first year, I completed my placement back home in the UAE at the gym I used to work at (Crossfit YAS). I had the lead role of looking after the summer camp we offered for children during the holidays. I organised sports days and wrote lessons plans for each age group.

My placement in second year involved a volunteering experience in South Africa the University offers. I was part of the Leeds Trinity team to deliver the ‘Cycle to Success’ project. I spent two weeks with other Leeds Trinity students that I hadn’t met before and made friends for life. These two weeks as you can imagine showed a few difficulties. We had to overcome language barriers and we were working in a rural area with very little equipment. But rather than focusing on the difficulties we focused on what we could achieve. We managed to get majority of the pupils riding on bikes and riding on the main road, which was our main goal. We got pupils thinking for themselves, teaching and guiding each other through the leadership course we delivered in the second week. This was all done with every chid having a smile on their face and we were able to create a bond through the power of sport.

In my third year I completed my placement at a PE Partner school, teaching Gymnastics and Football as an after-school club. I was a coaching assistant for football, but I coached Gymnastics by myself. This was completely out of my comfort zone as Gymnastics isn’t my main sport. Nonetheless, I had a fantastic group of children who came to every lesson willing to learn and to try something new.

My advice to prospective students

Throw yourself into as many projects and experiences as you possibly can even if they don’t relate to your course, you’ll learn something regardless that you will take with you throughout life. Work hard and always strive for more. The more experience you are willing to gain the better and more confident you will be in your career.