Research

The best of both worlds continued

Over the past four years Loughborough has improved its support mechanisms through the work of Jo Emmett, SDC’s lead on performance lifestyle issues. Jo has worked closely with colleagues in the University’s Academic Registry to introduce flexible assessment and study policies, as well as building the UK’s leading student-athlete mentoring service.

The mentoring programme has drawn staff from across the University, as well as experienced student-athletes themselves, to be trained in assisting the younger student-athletes with educational support and life skills development.

Professor Henry and Sports Psychologist David Fletcher in the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences (SSEHS) are currently working with the English Institute of Sport and UK Sport to develop models to evaluate the contribution that this kind of performance lifestyle support can make to medal winning success.

The study illustrated how the combining of dual athlete and student careers refines and develops transferable skills

Professor Henry said: “The aim of the review, which combines analysis of policy and of sports psychology interventions, is to identify implicit and explicit policy assumptions about causal mechanism converting performance lifestyle inputs into long-term outcomes, and to evaluate the effectiveness of particular interventions which are based upon those assumptions.”

Ian Henry and Andy Borrie presented at the recent Athletes to Business study visit, held at the University. Athletes to Business deals with reconciling top-level sporting achievement with an education and a career. The European Olympic Committee, which manages the project, is undertaking a number of visits, and will make a set of recommendations to improve provision across Europe. Loughborough was chosen as a study visit because of its unique reputation as both a research centre of excellence and as a leading deliverer of lifestyle support in HE.