Newest team of elite athletes kickstart their scholarship at UON

Welcome to the University of Northampton’s newest Elite Athlete Scholars!

Each year, The Northampton Energy Elite Athlete Scholarship gives up to 15 UON students from any subject area who are already competing at county-standard level or above a programme of dedicated advice and support from a team of UON experts informed by the latest research to help them improve their game.

This network of professional insight and knowledge includes performance testing with state-of-the-art equipment, free treatment at UON’s Sports Rehabilitation and Injury Clinic, nutrition workshops, media training and more.

Benjamin Lazenby, who is studying Sports Management and Leadership, is one of this year’s cohort and his specialist sport is rugby. At his induction day on Friday (22 October), he said: “The scholarship offered by the University of Northampton was one of the key reasons why I applied to study here, as the suite of support offered is great.

“I’m really looking forward to starting on the programme and playing this season. I’m part of an amazing team – Rugby Union – and I’m looking forward to working hard and hopefully reaching promotion.

“In the long run, I’d love to work within marketing for a large-scale sports team, so this scholarship will be great for supporting me with progressing my professional sporting goals, as well as achieving my graduate job.”

This year, 9 new recruits look forward to benefitting from enhanced support for sports such as football, rhythmic gymnastics, snowboarding and kayaking.

Applied Sport Scientist and Lead for the Elite Athlete Scholarship, Luke Callis explains: “This scholarship is unique to the University of Northampton, as it offers our student athletes a support network which enables them to balance the demands of performance sport with academic study – study which doesn’t have to be Sport. We have students studying Accounting and Finance, Architectural Technology and Primary Education.

“We’ve already seen many of our athletes achieve Gold medals in national and international competitions, as well as breaking personal and world records at World Championships. But more than this, we have seen them flourish into confident, balanced individuals who will leave the University of Northampton with achievements in both their academics and professional sport.

“Here at the UON, we are extremely proud of all our athlete scholars and everything they have achieved since the scheme launched in 2021, and we’re excited to support our newest intake as they strive to be the very best they can be.”

The full list of Elite Athlete Scholars is:

Mia Reynolds – Irish Dance

Matthew Debenham – Swimming

Liam Crossman – Cross country

Sophie Smith – Snow sports

Jacob Solonga – Rugby

Chloe Martin – Football

Trystan Barnett – Triathlon

Maisie Summers-Newton – Paraswimming

Bethany Cox – Football

Caleb Winspear – Basketball

Benjamin Lazenby – Rugby

Hannah Pemble – Kayaking

Mariyam Iva Ashraf – Basketball

Joseph Osivwemu – Rugby

Alfie Price – Basketball

Oscar Chapman – Rugby

Lucie Cummings – Football

Emma Malcolm – Swimming

Alameen Lawal – Sprint

Zaine McKenzie – Ice Hockey

Find out more about the Elite Athlete Scholarship at the University of Northampton. Applications open soon for the next academic year (2024/25).