High ranking again for Applied Sport Science and Sport Coaching degrees in National Student Survey

Course leaders are thrilled to announce that the BSc Sport Coaching degree and the BSc Applied Sport Science degree  have been ranked by their respective students in the National Student Survey as the top two courses in Southampton Solent University and have retained their national position as a top five university to study coaching and sport science.

Southampton Solent's Applied Sport Science degree was ranked the 5th best sport science course in the UK, whilst the BSc Sports Coaching Degree was ranked 3rd best teaching and training course in the UK. Matt Johnson (Course Leader for the BSc Sports Coaching) said  "It's great news that both of our degrees have been so successful for the second year in a row.  This is particularly important with the imminent changes to the fees structure where students studying on our courses can be confident that they are getting excellent value, an excellent learning experience and good career prospects."

AFC Bournemouth at Solent for pre season preparations.

Health, Exercise and Sport Science students studying on the Applied Sport Science and Sports Coaching degrees got the opportunity to help out as AFC Bournemouth got put through their paces as part of their pre-season preparations.

The team was assessed at Solent’s centre for Health, Exercise and Sport Science under the scrutiny of Dr Stewart Bruce-Low, Laboratory Director and Senior Lecturer in sport and exercise science. As part of the process, all players undertook a VO₂ max text, to determine the maximum volume of oxygen that can be utilized during maximal exercise.

AFC Bournemouth's Steve Fletcher at the start of the test.

This is the third year AFC Bournemouth has taken advantage of the facilities at Solent which is one of many opportunities for students on the Applied Sport Science and Sports Coaching degree's to gain experience to bolster their CVs throughout their degree program. The AFC Bournemouth Manager Lee Bradbury outlined "We have an excellent relationship with Solent University and using these facilities, with the expert help from staff and students, is a key part of our pre-season planning"

As well as carrying out their pre-season preparations, AFC Bournemouth were also put through their paces by second year Applied Sport Science student Jameson Mola, as part of his dissertation. Jameson, who successfully secured an internship at AFC Bournemouth, is looking at optimal programmes to develop muscular strength and power during the short pre-season turn around.

Jameson is looking at recovery time between exercises whilst carrying out complex training which allows players to reap the maximal benefits from the minimal amount of time spent in the gym, thus giving them more time to focus on the technical aspect of the game.

The research, conducted under the supervision of Dr Stewart Bruce-Low, and under the guidance of Head Sports Scientist and Associate Lecturer at Solent Louis Langdown involved the players performing a three repetition maximum squat (strength exercise) and a counter movement jump (power exercise). The data, collected at the centre for Health, Exercise and Sport Science biomechanics laboratory will be analysed to determine players peak power output, jump height and rate of force development. The results could impact on the way AFC Bournemouth train in the future

New Student Tuition Fees in 2012 - The reality for HESS students

If you are a prospective student enrolling on one of the HESS courses in 2012, and you are worried/confused about the new student tuition fee system, then take a look at the video below.

The video is of Martin Lewis of Money Saving Expert outlining his guide to the new student finance system in England for 2012.

Gold Medal comes back to Southampton Solent University

Following on from the latest blog titled "Wheelchair Basketball at the 7th Annual Paralympic World Cup", James Fisher, Technician Instructor and Associate Lecturer from the Health Exercise and Sport Science Department at Southampton Solent has been away at the Paralympic World Cup (PWC) last week in Manchester. James is an assistant coach to the GB Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team.

Gold medal Celebrations

The PWC is a major multi-sport Paralympic event where over 300 athletes from all over the world compete. This year Great Britain Women (ranked 6^th) faced Germany (2^nd), Canada (3^rd) and Japan (7^th).  This is a key tournament in their preparation for 2012 and presented some great challenges to overcome some of the best teams in the world.

Their first game was against Canada where they held on to take a close win 47-43. James commented “It was a much needed victory to send a message that we can compete at this level and build confidence for the coming games”.

Next they faced Germany reigning Paralympic and World Silver Medallists. They led through the majority of the game and once again held on to a close win 58-53. Once again GB’s defence proved too much for the usually strong German offence.

Their 3^rd game saw a loss of form and a tough loss to Japan 43-42. After leading throughout the majority of the game a scoring drought towards the end allowed Japan back in to it, and allowed them to steal a victory. However, enough had been done to earn a place in the Gold Medal game the following day.

The final saw Germany face GB, and whilst a loss to this team would have been no great shame with 6 places between them in the rankings, confidence was high having already beaten them earlier in the week. GB took control early on and never looked back; leading by as many as 17 points in the 3^rd quarter and finishing 63-52 for the victory and the Gold Medal.

James commented that "This sends a ripple around the world that GB Women are a strong contender for medals at up coming tournaments. Our youngsters performed excellently and with the Under 25 World Championships in Canada in July 2011 we are setting our sights on another gold medal. We have strong momentum going in to the European Championships in Israel in September 2011 and then of course London 2012. It was a great tournament with a fantastic result. The girls are in excellent condition and their work ethic is fantastic, we have amazing camaraderie; we know we can perform like this and really this victory is no surprise!" You can catch the highlights of the final game here.

Wheelchair Basketball at the 7th Annual Paralympic World Cup.

The coming week sees the 7^th Annual Paralympic World Cup take place in Manchester, UK, where athletes compete on the World’s stage in further preparation for 2012.  The event will host over 300 athletes from across the globe and in 2010 saw 14,650 spectators descend upon Manchester. The event hosts several sports including Athletics, Swimming, and notably for Southampton Solent University, Wheelchair Basketball.

James Fisher (Technician Instructor and Associate Lecturer on the Health, Exercise and Sport Science portfolio) has been an Assistant Coach with the Great Britain Women’s Wheelchair Basketball team since their return from Beijing, 2008.

Recently the Women’s team have improved their ranking to 6^th in the world but face some tough competition from Germany, Canada, and Japan. James commented "Every UK tournament is a great opportunity to play in front of a home crowd and further prepare for playing in London (2012). The team continues to make excellent progress and we have some rookies playing in the PWC this year to continue trying new things and looking at different combinations. This will be a great tournament; both Germany and Canada (ranked 2nd and 3rd, respectively) will provide the tough challenge needed to continue to improve".

The team have a busy schedule through 2011 including the Under 25 Women's World Championships in Canada (July) and the European Championships in Israel (September) as well as smaller tournaments. Watch this space for progress.

You can follow the Paralympic World Cup on Channel 4! Take a look the the advert below.

                       

Students complete Exercise To Music (ETM) course

Written and tutored by Becks Bishop

April saw the start of the annual 5 day REPs-approved ETM course. 10 students from years 1-3, all studying on various health and fitness related degrees in the Health, Exercise and Sport Science portfolio were about to embark on the most difficult tasks to date in their portfolio. The aerobics class consists of a warm-up, main cardio section (inc. re-warm and pulse lowerer) finishing with matwork MSE (muscular strength endurance - ie press us, core stability etc) and stretch. The students were led through a 'demo' class by the tutor on day 1 and at the end of this class it was obvious from their faces that they were thinking 'how on earth am I going to teach that?' Having seen some of their 'grapevine' moves, I must be honest and say I was slightly concerned for them too! However as the course progressed, their dedication, enthusiasm and commitment stood them in good stead and their confidence, teaching skills improved enormously.

The assessments were completed 4 weeks later to enable them to practice what they had learnt and to polish their performances. The assessment itself consists of a large variety of criteria to ensure the qualification meets with the REPs (Register of Exercise Professionals) requirements. There were some nervous faces that day, but I am pleased to say that all 10 students passed. This will open up new opportunities for the students as the qualification can be built upon with various CPD courses to further their careers.

Student blog from the interns at AFC Bournemouth

Written by Jay Lefevre, year 2 Sports Coaching.

At the start of this academic year we started a unit called Applied Principles of Performance Analysis. This would allow us to gain an insight into analysing performance across a range of sports. Throughout this process we used a piece of specialist software called SportsCode. This software can be used in conjunction with a wide range of sports to allow the coaches to identify incidents which affect performance in positive and negative ways. Throughout the unit and during taught sessions we were able to work regularly with the software which enabled us to become very familiar with its use and therefore use it in an effective way in relation to pinpointing key incidents within performance.

A screenshot of SportsCode in action.

In November 2010, student internships were offered to three students from Southampton Solent University’s Health, Exercise and Sport Science department with the aim of operating the performance analysis department within AFC Bournemouth. This was initiated under the guidance of Associate Lecturer and AFC Bournemouth coach Louis Langdown. The journey began under Eddie Howe where basic requirements were put in place so that the management team could gather in depth information on match performance. Since Eddie left the club for Burnley in the Championship, former player Lee Bradbury has taken charge and things have changed in relation to our involvement within the team. This involves the importance of the data we provide and also the social aspect with the coaches and playing staff.

The process throughout the day consists of arriving at the football club 2 hours before kick-off so that a suitable area within the gantry can be used to set up the equipment. This involves setting up the tripod and camera as well as preparing a suitable area for the person who has been chosen to code the match. This then allows us time to collect a team sheet from the staff and test out the equipment to see whether everything is working effectively and to the correct standards. Throughout the game we select 3 different roles which involve capturing the game through the video camera, coding the match using SportsCode and noting down the amount of passes that are produced from both teams and relate them to success and unsuccessful patterns.

Once the game has finished and following the coding process we are presented with numerous clips from the game showing key components of the performance. This also enables us to export statistical information to excel so that a statistics sheet can be formulated to produce a quantitative document for the coaching staff and players. Once this is done we make our way down to the changing room where we liaise with the management and players with regards to their performance. This consists of us showing them the key clips of the game which normally consist of the oppositions goals or attempts on goal. We then eat with the staff and players whilst discussing the game before making our way back home.