Study Athlete Professional Development FdA at Lichfield City FC Football Academy in partnership with the University of Derby

In this module, you’ll focus on life development not just your career development. You’ll be encouraged to engage with your own story, and as the module progresses you’ll be introduced to the idea of ‘action learning sets’ or ‘buddy groups’ and will support other class members in exploring their stories and self-learning.

The module will also focus on developing awareness of how to create and live a balanced life that encourages and supports good mental and physical health, as well as life/career progression. You’ll undertake 100 hours of work-based learning will help you to apply theory to practice, and you’ll be supported and guided throughout by an academic mentor.

Of the 100 hours, it’s expected that at least 50 hours should be practical, and the remaining hours may include planning of, and reflection on, the practical application.

This module will introduce you to communication concepts relevant to current business and coaching environments. You’ll learn about positive communication techniques and the challenges of identity and impression management within professional practice.

This will be taught through real-life case studies and you’ll be introduced to a variety of issues in business and coaching frameworks including decision making and implementation, how effective communication can underpin such processes, informing engagement, and influence performance outcomes.

This module will introduce you to the ideas and concepts around working within team environments, notably the ideas around leadership, followership and collective growth.

The module will examine an interdisciplinary approach to leadership and followership, and you’ll explore a variety of disciplines including coaching, psychology, business, counselling and/or sport and exercise science.

You’ll learn through a mix of guided individual and group-based tasks, active learning, presentations, problem-based learning and group discussion.

You’ll also engage with necessary academic skills (literature search and evaluation) to support your development and prepare you for assessment.

This module will introduce you to ideas and knowledge relevant to current workplace environments. The module will break down barriers to creativity with the use of models, and an examination of entrepreneurial behaviours. You will learn how to develop products and services through careful planning, implementation and management.

Through real-life case studies, you’ll be introduced to a variety of issues in business and coaching frameworks such as decision-making and budget management. You will also explore the key issues transitioning athletes will face as they set themselves up either as self-employed, working for an organisation, or taking on various pieces of portfolio work.

You’ll also engage with necessary academic and research skills (qualitative and quantitative analysis) to aid your development and prepare you for assessment.

This module will explore personal and societal ethics. You’ll be asked to apply your understanding of ethics to critical topics in the media and society as a whole. The emphasis will be on raising awareness of self, others and the values we bring to living our lives.

Furthermore, you’ll need to be aware of the commercial realities and external factors that influence the success of an organisation.

You’ll gain an understanding of contemporary issues that may impact on industrial and professional practices relevant to a career within your chosen discipline.

hroughout this module, you’ll undertake a project that requires you to interact practically with a community. You’ll come up with the concept for the project, plan it and implement it. The main aim of this module is to develop a deeper understanding of self, as well as new personal skills and knowledge. You’ll learn to be more aware of others and the community in which they live.

The project can be anything from a work placement to an investigative study. It can be based in a community that is relevant to you whether that be your sports team/club, a familiar community or a societal/social community.