Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Gaining sport and exercise science experience on the Applied Practitioner Programme
Student profile | Akram Hachem
Second year BSc Sport and Exercise Science student, Akram, talks about what it has been like to take part in the Applied Practitioner Programme and how it’s boosted his experience.
Tell us a bit about yourself and why you chose to study your course.
I’m a Lebanese student who loves running and had a dream of working in football – at Arsenal specifically. I chose BSc Sport & Exercise Science as it covers both sports physiotherapy and strength and conditioning, which I can pursue in postgraduate study when I finally decide which one I prefer.Tell us about the Applied Practitioner Programme. What did you do during the programme?
The Applied Practitioner Programme came up at the start of my first semester as an opportunity to get experience working in the field with athletes as early as second year. This sounded like too good of an opportunity to turn down.
I was able to present to students at different ages, use highly advanced sports testing equipment, and understand how to analyse and utilise the data I got from it. I’m currently doing a strength and conditioning internship with i2i Football Academy that’ll continue into next year.How did the programme benefit you?
Getting a feel for what it’s like working in elite environments and with professional athletes – Leeds United U18s – has been vital in pushing me to understand the theory more which will get me working in those environments.
Anyone can read data and notice patterns. Understanding why certain patterns show up, and how to manipulate them to improve performance, is one of the more important things I’ve gained from working with some of the best people in sports academia in this country.
What did you most enjoy about the Applied Practitioner Programme?
The opportunities have been unbelievable and the people who’re on the programme are both like and unlike-minded which has been a wonderful thing to experience.What was the biggest challenge your experienced during the Applied Practitioner Programme?
Definitely presenting during the open days and in front of first year BSc (Hons) Sports & Exercise Science students for a personal professional and academic development session. At the time, I put on a brave face and tried my best not to show Dr. Alex Potts how nervewracking it was and portray a confident unphased image. This eventually got me through it, but it was definitely one of the more challenging things I had to do as part of the programme.What have been the highlights about studying your course at Leeds Beckett?
I’m extremely expressive in my admiration for Leeds Beckett, the opportunities, and the family feel to everything related to this university – and that doesn’t happen without the great people there.
I’m a firm believer in people and the vibe people can bring to the place. There are no better people than the ones at Leeds Beckett, be it students, lecturers, staff, or PhD students. Everyone is so nice and helpful and they make it a place I’ll struggle to get over when the time eventually comes to leave.What advice would you give someone thinking about studying this course?
On this course, you get out of it what you put in. There’s no cheating hard work, and effort can be spotted from a mile away, but so can complacency. This course needs you to pounce on every opportunity and ask and look for placements/shadowing roles to improve your skillset and build on the theory you learn.
It might not sound like it’s exactly what you want to do, but these little building blocks get you closer, one by one, to where you’ll eventually end up. Good luck.
