Loughborough Sport Placements

Loughborough Sport is committed to the development of aspiring coaches and practitioners through elite sport in the UK. Supporting around 500 funded athletes, scholars, and first team athletes across a range of sports and athletic disciplines, we provide a unique environment to develop a range of skills within an interdisciplinary sports program. 

The successful applicant will gain practical applied experience in an elite sporting environment under the guidance of practitioners and coaches. During the placement, there is an opportunity to build a portfolio of practical expertise, enhancing your employability. 

What would I be doing? 

• Working alongside the Rugby Programme Manager and women’s coaches to assist with the operations of running the women’s rugby performance programme including Premiership Women's Rugby side Loughborough Lightning and wider BUCS delivery  
• Suitable for someone looking to move into a management or marketing role in sport  
• Individual will support the management and logistics needed to field multiple teams each week across PWR and BUCS (including BUCS Women’s Super Rugby)   
• Support match day operations  
• Support the provision of marketing, media and communications across the programme along with the media team  
• Support the Programme Manager in Commercial endeavours  
• Opportunity to work with external rugby bodies (e.g. RFU, PWR and BUCS)  
• Opportunity to work with Loughborough Lightning’s partner Northampton Saints  
• Support with other areas of the Inter-Disciplinary team as required  
• Manage operations volunteers alongside the Programme Manager  

What will I get out of this opportunity? 

• Exposure to working with coaches and athletes in an elite and professional sporting environment  
• Exposure to a range of sports, disciplines, and abilities  
• Mentoring from programme manager and head coaches  
• Support through qualifications and accreditations  
• Portfolio of CPD and practical expertise  
• Enhance your employability  
• Work closely with other practitioners within an interdisciplinary team  
• Development of soft skills  
• Work within a professional environment with full time athletes  
• Opportunities to visit, work within and alongside a variety of professional rugby clubs  
• Develop a range of contacts within rugby  

 What is Loughborough Sport looking for? 

• To undertake this role you must be a current student at Loughborough University. 
• Full commitment – otherwise you won’t get much out of the placement and the support for our sports will be affected 
• Due to the nature of the role, some of the experience will take place during evenings and weekends to align with sport training schedules and fixtures 
• The ability to communicate well, share knowledge simply and effectively and strong attention to detail. 
• Demonstration of excellent organisation and time management skills 
• Professional attitude and approach, respect for others 
• Innovative thinking and willingness to try things 
• Professional attitude and approach, respect for others 

 Additional Details 

• Paid stipend of £4000 over 9 months 
• Variety of start dates w/c 13 October 2025
• Minimum of 37 hours per week  
• 1 year duration (Including 22 days holiday and University Closure days) 
• Evening and weekend work required 
• Opportunity to volunteer ahead of your placement 
• Diploma of Professional Studies running alongside placement year 

How can I apply? 

Please send a CV & Video Application to One Drive via the file request link below (apply now button). It’s up to you how you choose to produce the video, the only stipulations are that it is no longer than 5 minutes and you answer all questions (with relevant detail) set out below: 

Tell us about yourself: 

• Name 
• Your experiences in a sporting environment 
• Personal sporting interests and sport you would like to be involved in at Loughborough 
• Your career aspirations 
• What do you think you are like as a person, how would others describe you? 

Tell us why you would like to join us: 

• Why this placement? Why you? Why Loughborough? 

Closing date: Sunday 5th October 2025

Interview Date: Thursday 9th October 2025

Loughborough Performance Sport is committed to the development of aspiring coaches and practitioners in elite sport in the UK. Supporting around 500 funded athletes, scholars, and first team athletes across a range of sports and athletic disciplines, we provide a unique environment to develop in a range of inter-disciplinary sports programs.

This is an opportunity for aspiring practitioners to join our team of Strength and Conditioning practitioners in delivering support to our Performance Programmes, alongside studying MSc. The successful applicant will gain practical applied experience under the guidance of our experienced team. During the two years there is an opportunity to build up a portfolio of Continued Professional Development (CPD) and practical expertise, enhancing their employability within Strength and Conditioning.

Placement Roles

• Support permanent S&C staff with the provision of strength and conditioning to squads and individuals with the potential for ad-hoc projects with other sports.
• Assist with tasks such as performance testing, training load and wellness monitoring, seasonal planning and periodisation, and athlete education.
• Develop good relationships with coaches and other staff within the sports, as well as other practitioners to enhance the provision of support
• Contribute to development of educational resources for athletes and coaches

Outcomes

• Development of skills and experience in an elite strength and conditioning environment.
• Exposure to working with coaches and athletes in an elite sporting environment.
• Develop experience working with an inter-disciplinary team of Sports Science and Medicine practitioners.

Benefits

• Stipend of £6,500 per annum, to support you to undertake the placement whilst studying
• A unique personal development plan, focused on clear aims and objectives with the goal of developing the Placement Strength and Conditioning Coach into a competent practitioner
• A variety of CPD opportunities across all Sports Science and Medicine disciplines

It is expected that the successful applicant will use this opportunity:

• To develop skills relevant to achieving accreditation with the UKSCA.
• To have regular reviews with the relevant leading practitioners
• To have a structured individualised CPD plan

Time Commitment

The Placement student will be expected to commit a minimum of 21 hours per week across the full year (October – September) to this role, these hours will be balanced alongside your studies on the Strength & Conditioning MSc course. These hours will be variable and unsociable at times.

What are we looking for?

This role is only open to students who meet the MSc in Strength and Conditioning course criteria at Loughborough University for 2025/2026 academic year. Once the applicant is successful, they will be transferred onto the part-time pathway.

The applicant should have a clear desire to work in performance sport as a Strength and Conditioning Coach on completion of the placement. The behaviours that we strive for within the placement are high levels of passion, excellent organisation, and the ability to engage and integrate within a team of coaches, athletes and practitioners.

Application

As part of the application process, we would like you to submit your current CV as well as produce an application video. 

It’s up to you how you choose to produce the video, the only stipulations are that it is no longer than 5 minutes and you answer all questions (with relevant detail) set out below. 

1. Tell us about yourself
2. • Name
   • Recent experience in a sporting environment
   • Any other coaching experience
3. Tell us why you want to work in Strength & Conditioning?
4. Tell us about a time that you have had success when working with someone, to elicit a performance change
5. What about you as a person would make an athlete want to engage with you?
6. Physically demonstrate, and give only the main coaching points for the following exercises (if you have access to a gym, please demonstrate with load, if not, bodyweight will suffice):
   1. Squat
   2. Romanian Deadlift/Stiff Leg Deadlift
   3. Copenhagen (With rationale for exercise utilisation)

6. Please give us the details of your most recent references that are available to contact. 

Depending on compression, it may be an issue for some of you to email the video, if this is the case, there are other options available such as WeTransfer.

The application process will close 5pm Thursday 21^st August 2025. Interviews will be week commencing Monday ^1st  September 2025

Please send any informal enquiries to c.thorpe@lboro.ac.uk