The Tour de France is coming to Essex on Monday! Its route takes the riders past Writtle College and we are extremely excited by this event, especially as we now have a brand new Foundation degree in Cycling Performance* in our portfolio! Our course manager for Sports and Exercise Performance programmes, Mark Walker, recently featured on Youth Cycle Sport discussing the new cycling degree! Take a look at the article below!
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Mark
Walker is course manager for the new Foundation degree in Cycling Performance*
at Writtle College. A senior lecturer in sports and exercise performance at the
College for the last seven years, he provides coaching support to some of the
top GB cyclo cross riders, including European Cyclo-Cross Champion Helen Wyman,
emerging star 17-year-old Sean Dunlea - who is a student at the College - and
multiple national champion Hugo Robinson. Here he explains why now is the right
time to launch a cycling degree, what the course involves and its unique mode
of delivery, which gives students the chance to pursue their coaching or
competing ambitions while studying.
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| Mark Walker (right) with cyclist Sean Dunlea |
"The
idea for this new degree came from the fact that I've been undertaking
physiological tests on a number of cyclists in the sports laboratory at Writtle
College who have faced the dilemma of whether to continue in education when
they leave school or try to become a professional cyclist or coach. This is
clearly a really difficult decision and it creates lots of conflicts in their
lives. Some of them choose not to pursue their education and to dedicate their
time to being a pro as it's such a small window of opportunity but it causes
stress as they know very few people succeed. It's obviously good to have a
fall-back position and their parents, knowing the risks, find it concerning if
they give up education altogether. With the growing interest in cycling, we
thought we could put together a degree that is taught in a flexible way so
those in this position can continue with their studies but also balance their
training or racing commitments.
The
course is a Foundation degree as this has a work-based focus and is more
vocational than an Honours degree. The students spend 25% of their time in
industry. Our model is that students spend September to February in College
studying, with intensive teaching in February. They then carry out work
experience in the summer months - coaching, cycling development, working in any
facet of the cycling industry they are interested in or, if they are a
competitive cyclist, they can race and train while it contributes towards their
assessed work experience. During this time, there is an element of distance
learning to the degree - they continue with their formal modules online - so
we're really trying to make it as user-friendly as possible for these
students.
The
Foundation degree has modules to complement coaching such as coaching strength
and conditioning, exercise physiology, nutrition, along with a large element
being about the cycling industry and careers in the industry. We have a
fully-equipped sports lab here, which has a strong focus on cycling science -
measuring power outputs of cyclists with SRM and 10 power tap
wheels - and the physiological demands on the cyclists.
With
the industry-focus of the degree, students can really think about their future
career direction and we can facilitate it so they have the career they want. We
have a huge number of contacts in the industry - the Olympic velodrome,
Hadleigh Farm, Braintree BMX Club, local coaches, physiotherapists and the
professional cycling team - which can help students gain the work experience
they need. The professional cycling team in particular can give students a
unique and valuable insight into the roles of staff and what it's like for
riders on the team.
It
is an exciting time in the industry. When I was a youngster there wasn't an
obvious way into cycling. But with British Cycling there is now a clear
structure and route into coaching. We are offering a coaching qualification as
part of the degree so we can give students the best chance of being able to
step into a career after successfully graduating. We envisage our students
embarking on carers in cycling development, coaching, team management, retail -
the biomechanical side of the market is really growing - and competitive
cycling. Although the degree is based purely on cycling, students will also be
able to progress onto the more generic Sports and Exercise Performance Honours
degree at Writtle College - the Foundation degree in Cycling Performance will
count as the first two years so all they need to do is to study for another
year to get a more general sports science BSc. This opens up doors in sport
generally and they could go onto physiotherapy qualifications or teaching
qualifications, for example. This means, on graduation, they can boast a Sports
Science degree with a unique focus on cycling, which should put them in a
strong position.
We
carried out market research on Twitter to gauge demand for the degree. Within
two days we had 200 respondents to our online survey, so this gives an idea of
the level of interest in the programme. As a result of this feedback, we have
broadened the scope of the degree. At first we thought the degree would mainly
appeal to those who have just completed school or National Diplomas but we
found there was a demand from older students who were saying that they wanted a
career change in their late 30s or 40s and they were interested in pursuing a
cycling course. These were people who could already have a qualification from
British Cycling but wanted to learn the underpinning sports science. There is a
parallel to what I did - I trained in engineering, bio-technology, as an
undergraduate and then did my Masters in my early 30s and pursued a career in
sports science and as a cycling physiologist. That came from a passion in
cycling and sports science as a youngster so I can empathise!
Cycling
is thriving off the back of the Olympics and the Tour de France, with the
success of Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome. The Women's Tour has gained a
raised profile through the success of competitors such as Marianne Vos and the
UK held the European Cyclo Cross championships in 2012. Alongside
this, there's been a big push by the Department for Transport for active
transport for good health and environmental reasons. All of this has led
to an enormous growth in the popularity of the sport and many more people
are racing recreationally. The College is already really well-known in the
cycling community as we have hosted cycling events here such as the Eastern
Region Cyclo Cross Race and rounds of the Mud, Sweat and Gears mountain biking
contest. We have held, with British Cycling, coaching days for women's cyclo
cross and an eastern region cyclo cross conference, all with the help of Mark
Wyer from British Cycling. This momentum is continuing with the Tour de France
visiting the UK this year and coming past Writtle College. With the
London velodrome only 40 minutes away from us, along with Hadleigh Farm in the
county, Writtle can capitalise on being in the midst of this action and we hope
to develop the College as a hub for cycling expertise. All this makes it the
right time to launch a programme like this and I am really excited to be
bringing it to Writtle College."
Take a look at the course here: http://writtle.ac.uk/Foundation-Degree-(FdSc)-Cycling-Performance
*subject to validation
