Hockey players on pitchCategoriesAnnouncement Member News Student News

UoB Dual Career Accreditation Renewed

UOB RENEWS DUAL CAREER ACCREDITATION

We continue to lead the way in dual career support to high performance athletes in education, after having our Dual Career Accreditation successfully renewed for the third year.

WHAT IS THE DUAL CAREER ACCREDITATION?


The TASS Dual Career Accreditation Scheme recognises and promotes an education institution’s commitment to providing comprehensive dual career support for high performance student-athletes and acknowledges an enhanced level of academic flexibility and understanding within an institution.


Accredited sites are awarded on their ability to support talented sportspeople find and manage the optimum balance between their – often hectic and challenging – sport and academic schedules, to maximise their potential and gain success in both.

Referenced within Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson’s “Duty of Care in Sport” review (published in April 2017), the Accreditation evidences that a college or University has the ability to support students following a dual career route. In support of the scheme, she said:

“I believe we have a duty to help young people to achieve their potential, whilst prioritising their welfare, wellbeing and education. For me, the TASS Dual Career Accreditation Scheme is a vitally important measure to ensuring all athletes have the chance to pursue an education and enjoy a more well-rounded approach to life.”

This accreditation directly aligns with our objective of maintaining our position as one of the leading destinations of choice for dual career success and we are incredibly proud to have retained this prestigious status for the third year running.

 

Depending on the circumstances, this may mean that student-athletes supported by our Elite Dual Career Athlete Pathway (EDCAP) sport scholarship programme have increased opportunity to be considered for further academic flexibility, from access to online notes and/or resources, to deadline extensions and rescheduled exams.

 

In addition to this, the accreditation supports the creation and maintenance of the huge number of collaborative partnerships that currently exist across the University between academic and sport personnel.

Current EDCAP Scholar Yasmin Javadian (above) says:

 

“Without the incredible dual career support provided at UoB, I don’t think I would have ever been able to successfully balance my full-time Dentistry degree alongside becoming a 2022 Commonwealth Games medallist – as far as I’m concerned, the support I’ve gained through both my course and the EDCAP programme is second to none and I’ll always be grateful that I’ve had access to it throughout such a vital time in my competitive career.”

Sport Scholarships Manager Hugh Sproston says:

 

“We’re incredibly proud to have our accredited status renewed. The ever-rising standard of our sport scholars comes hand in hand with increased demands to somehow balance full-time education with elite sport. This accreditation demonstrates the Unviersity’s commitment to dual career support for our student-athletes, supporting them to excel both academically and within their sport. This is never more relevant than in an academic year leading into an Olympics, and we hope to see a number of current students competing in Paris, along with a host of alumni!”

 

 

TASS’ National Director Guy Taylor says:

 

“Dual career support is at the forefront of what TASS does and that’s why the Accreditation Scheme is so important for us in recognising those institutions who place precedence on their athletes’ education too. We hope that the academic flexibility policies put into place for the Accreditation will begin to develop an effective and lasting dual career structure within each institution.”

CategoriesAnnouncement Events Member News Student News

All Things Archon

ALL THINGS ARCHON

Whether you’re a regular gym-goer or just beginning your fitness journey, Archon’s ‘The Fittest – Universities’ offers the perfect opportunity to discover your potential, set personal benchmarks and witness your progress soar over nine action-packed months.

WHAT IS ARCHON?

Archon created the first ever rating for fitness (AFR), allowing everyone to understand their fitness and what it could mean for them in the future. Creating a universal fitness rating means that everyone has the ability to see how fit they are and, once armed with that information, what that could possibly lead to.

No matter where you’re currently at in your fitness journey, Archon’s unique challenge is open to all UoB students between October 2023 and June 2024, enabling you to ignite your workouts and participate in an epic array of monthly, gym-based engagements, each tailored to push your endurance, strength and power. It’s completely free to take part and you are welcome to tackle each challenge at your own pace in any gym!

As you conquer each task, just enter your scores onto the Archon web app from your smart device and let it intuitively convert your scores into fitness ratings, providing a streamlined method for you to monitor and map out your progression throughout this exciting journey.

With a unique rating system based on your own individual metrics, everyone is rated fairly. You might be interested in testing your existing limits, or perhaps you’re using this as a stepping stone to kick-start a more active lifestyle. Either way, Archon is here to guide and motivate you every step of the way.

Registration for The Fittest – Universities is now OPEN, providing you with the chance to be a part of something huge: to represent the University of Birmingham at the live Championships in June 2024 and be in with a shot of claiming the coveted title of ‘The Fittest Student’.

It’s time to commit to your fitness goals, make them happen and have some fun along the way: secure your spot by registering here today and get ready to show the world what you’re made of!

Archon registration

For more information, feel free to reach out to a member of the Sport & Fitness or Tiverton Gym teams.

The Launch Event – You Are Invited!

The first LIVE engagement will be taking place locally later this month and 112 students are invited to enter a free ballot to be selected to attend and complete the first phase of the rating. All details below:

 

Date: Friday 27 October 2023
Venue: Gymshark Lifting Club, Solihull B90 8AW
Guest Privilege: Every student selected is welcome to bring along one spectator for support!
Participation: No costs involved; it’s all about the experience!
Engagement Details: A full day of excitement, where participants will initiate the first phase of the FITTEST rating live.
Transportation: Participants will need to arrange their own travel.

 

In order to be in with a chance of being selected to attend, please first register via the button above. Once registered, fill out the following ballot entry form to secure your potential spot for the live event:  https://archon-app.com/launch-gslc/

See you at the start line!

CategoriesCampaign Events Member News Psychology Student News

World Mental Health Day 2023

WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY 2023

Tuesday 10 October is World Mental Health Day. The World Health Organisation (WHO) states that despite good mental health being vital to our overall health and wellbeing, one in eight people globally are living with mental health conditions. These impact an individual’s physical health, wellbeing and how they connect with others, as well as their livelihoods. Mental health conditions are also affecting an increased number of adolescents and young people in particular.

In line with WHO, the University of Birmingham is committed to ensuring mental health is valued, promoted and protected throughout its communities. We are part of the Government’s Mental Health Mission, designed to develop radical new treatments for mental health conditions and improve the outcomes and care for young people with mental health problems.

From a Sport & Fitness perspective specifically, we not only ensure that a number of our staff are Mental Health and Suicide First Aid trained, but also collectively endeavour to provide ample and varied opportunities for our students, staff and members to access support, and to participate in sport and fitness at any level to improve and/or maintain their overall wellbeing.

In honour of this year’s World Mental Health Day, we caught up with two of our in-house Performance Sport experts that specifically work with the University’s highest performing and elite student-athletes, to gather some guidance and insight to how we can best prioritise and take care of our own mental health this October and beyond, whilst also equipping us with the necessary skills to support those close to us that may, at times, need it.

MEET THE EXPERTS

Dr Sue Jones

University of Birmingham Sport Psychologist

Joanna Eley

University of Birmingham Sport Performance Lifestyle Lead

Sue Says...

“Throughout my work I apply a ‘Person First’ approach. A person’s chosen physical activity is just one piece of their story and identity. Maintaining a healthy relationship with sport is key to long term mental health and wellbeing, but sport rarely follows a linear path to success, so it’s important to focus on the process building, not just outcomes. The scales between performance and wellbeing can change very quickly, so the better you connect with someone’s story, the quicker you can react to those changes and empower them to notice these changes themselves.”

Jo Says...

“While the goal should ideally be to experience high mental health so that individuals can flourish, the majority of people actually just sit somewhere in the moderate mental health scale day-to-day and the main focus tends to be on not experiencing low mental health or mental illness. As a result of this focus, much of the support available tends to be reactive-geared and problem-focused, however the optimum mental health requires a much more proactive approach and an understanding of the different dimensions that can have an impact on your mental health. Being aware of what high mental health looks like for you, the strategies that support that and reducing the barriers to delivering those strategies is something I strive to support high performance individuals achieve.”

Sue and Jo's Top Tips

  1. Journal
    Recognise how you think and behave in positive times so that you can spot any changes in yourself and/or identify any certain triggers for future reference. Journalling is a good way to do this.
  2. Periods of non-ideal mental health are exactly the same as injuries and therefore should be treated as such. That mean you need to adapt your training or usual routine, in order to prioritise and recover.
  3. Be proactive
    Where possible, keep active, maintain balanced eating habits, maintain self-care and hygiene, regulate sleeping habits, be sociable – even in times when you don’t feel fully up to it, these will help to keep the brain and body healthy.
  4. Be self-compassionate
    If you’re finding something hard, it’s probably because it is hard! It’s much easier to process and move through your feeling if you can acknowledge and accept them.
  5. Build your system
    Slowly over time aim to build and maintain day-to-day/week-by-week processes that facilitate the best mental health outcomes for you. This will help you identify stressors and aid you in working how best to create boundaries and strategies that reduce these stressors that contribute to lower mental health.
  6. Talk to others
    The more you talk to others about general things, the easier it will be to seek support for the more difficult topics.
  7. Supporting others
    Practice empathy and validate their experience(s) by being willing to see their perspective, refraining from judgement, accepting how they are feeling and welcoming conversation.

FREE CLASS AT SPORT & FITNESS!

 

To celebrate this year’s World Mental Health Day, Sport & Fitness will be running a FREE Stretch & Relaxation class, taking place 8:30-9:15am in the Dojo.

 

Bookable now via the Sport & Fitness app under ‘Classes’ and open to everyone in the midst of another busy week, we hope this provides the chance for you to take some well-deserved time for yourself.