With the long-anticipated start of the football season now well upon us, lots of work has been happening behind the scenes in pre-season to help elite players prepare for the upcoming season. Whilst collecting data for their PhD’s, students from the University of Birmingham who are embedded within elite football clubs have been helping teams prepare on training camps abroad. These camps have provided the students with a fantastic opportunity to continue their data collection and build professional relationships with stakeholders at both professional football clubs.
Michael Cornes who is a PhD student embedded in Norwich City FC and is focusing on recovery can be seen below undertaking a recovery session with players in Austria.
Lauren Horner who is a PhD student embedded in Nottingham Forest FC and is focusing on understanding training load can be seen below undertaking a pre-activation session with players in Murcia.
Photo credit: Nottingham Forest FC
Lauren used the camp to continue data collection for studies within her PhD utilising global positioning systems devices.
Photo credit: Nottingham Forest FC
Amy Gore who is a PhD student also embedded in Nottingham Forest FC and is focusing on understanding and improving nutritional practices in players can be seen below assisting players with cooling strategies in the Spanish heat.
Photo credit: Nottingham Forest FC
These opportunities are unique aspects of what applied PhD programmes are all about and provides a solid foundation to develop students not only in research skills, but as applied practitioners. I’m sure the work that they’ve done on these camps will not only live long in their memories, but also leave their respective teams in good stead for the upcoming season.
L.Anderson.4@bham.ac.uk