Bethany Cox

• Year of study: Third (in 2024/25)
• Length of course: Three years

I decided to study at the University of Northampton because when I attended the open day, I was really impressed with the sporting facilities. I also liked the modern design of the campus and how the lecture rooms were like normal classrooms – I feel it’s a better way to learn. I also didn’t want to move too far away from home as I play football outside of university, so Northampton was convenient for me.

The Energy Elite Athlete Scholarship programme interested me as I thought it would be a fantastic way to complete my studies and sport, combining a good balance of the two, as I’m able to access the gym facilities and complete strength and conditioning sessions with experienced coaches.

My career goal is to work within the sports industry, helping people to enjoy sport as much as I do, educating athletes in an elite environment, and helping them perform to the best of their abilities. My degree will give me the platform to do this when I graduate and allow me to complete higher qualifications to pursue my goal of working in elite environments. During my degree, I feel I’ve learnt a lot about the behaviours I should display when coaching, as well as how to coach in elite environments to help athletes perform at their best. I’ve also discovered how I personally learn and work best, which will also help me achieve my goals.

As part of my course, I completed a placement in the second year, gaining 120 hours of experience. This was with Northampton Town FC Girls Emerging Talent Centre, supporting the U12’s team as an assistant coach. I helped with the sessions, taking small groups on my own, helping improve their football ability, and developing technical and tactical skills.

The placement provided me with invaluable experience and helped me improve my skills and knowledge in coaching. I felt I improved as a coach and experienced what it felt like to coach in a more elite environment, which puts me in the right place to be able to lead teams on my own in the future. I also developed valuable employability skills, particularly within communication, adaptability, punctuality, leadership, teamwork and coaching.

My top tip for applying for a placement is to network with the local sporting businesses that you’re interested in by contacting them directly to show your interest, and when you begin a placement be confident, be yourself, and make sure you learn by asking questions, so you don’t leave yourself in the dark.

My personal sporting aspirations are to play football at the highest possible level and reach my full potential, consistently playing for 90 minutes for a high-level team. This will be alongside working within the sports industry, likely within coaching. Receiving the scholarship will help me with these goals as it allows me to perform to the best of my ability on the pitch, whilst improving my strength, power, speed and agility through the strength and conditioning sessions. It’s also enabling me to improve my knowledge of the gym and forms of exercise, as well as gain useful skills in communication.

The advice I’d give to undergraduates interested in this career path would be to make sure you network with as many people within the industry as possible, talk to others at the University and on your course to create positive relationships, and study hard but have a good balance of training for your sport.

My UON experience has been fun – I’m gaining great experience, and it’s developing me for my future career.