Author Archives: Jessica Pinchbeck

Walking the line

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By Craig Bowker (OU Sport and Fitness Student)

11 years ago, football saved my life, it was August bank holiday 2011 and work were playing a intercompany football competition between its three insurance brands. Express insurance, Kwik Fit Financial services and Ageas Insurance faced off in an unusually sunny stoke. I’d already been to the doctors and was awaiting a scan for what was a heavy/uncomfortable feeling down below. I was on a 6-week waiting list, and probably should not have played that weekend but sometimes we think we are invincible and to this day I don’t regret my decision to play.

After playing 2 matches something didn’t feel right, and I was in quite a bit of pain. There was a considerable feeling of discomfort and heaviness and a walk that John Wayne would be proud of. The next 48 hrs nothing had changed, and an emergency trip to A&E was required, this turned into a night on the ward and within another 24 hours an emergency operation to effectively save my life.

After the operation, I was prescribed 3 months of Chemotherapy and 5 years of monitoring after the diagnosis of testicular cancer. Touch wood since 2012 I’ve been clear of cancer and as of 2016 not had any follow ups. I know I’m one of the lucky ones. since my fight I’ve lost close family to the terrible disease.

When I was undergoing treatment, the support I received from Macmillan helped me financially and support through their nurses were second to none. Currently we are going through the biggest cost of living crisis since 2008, and the support that Macmillan are currently providing financially are helping patients maintain mortgage payments, keep the heating on, whilst off sick and recovering as well as other support.

To raise funds for Macmillan I’ll be walking the length of offa’s dyke, a 177mile trek that will be attempted in 5 days. To prepare for the challenge I will be doing some training walks, and anyone wishing to join me just needs to turn up on the day for moral support.

If you would like to donate, you can do so by following the Just giving link.

You can also visit my website here.

Event 1, Sunday the 16th of April 2023

Coffee and Cake Meet

Summit of Snowdon (1pm-Onwards)

It would be great to meet some of the OU sports team and OU sports students on the day.

A student’s reality of studying with autism

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By Yasmin Reeve

An audio recording of this blog post can be found here.

Welcome to my blog post. I am a student with Open University studying towards my Sports, Fitness and Coaching degree. I am a student who is neurodivergent, more specifically I am a student with Autism. I decided to write a blog post to reach out to other students who are also studying whilst autistic to give a bit of hope that it is possible to complete your study and share some of the things that I have learnt over the past 3 years which have really helped me to get through. I also hope that any staff who are reading this blog will get a better understanding of what it is like for some students to be studying whilst being autistic.

My Diagnosis

I didn’t get my diagnosis of Autism until I was an adult. I always knew that something was different about me, but it wasn’t until a complete mental health breakdown which led to me being sectioned that people picked it up. The system is long to get a diagnosis through the NHS so I saved up the money to get a private diagnosis and I have to admit it was the best thing I could have done in order to help me better understand myself as an individual and my needs to help me better cope in this world. Things still aren’t perfect, and I still have my battles however I’ve learnt to cope with things better and advocate for myself.

Returning to Education

When it came to me deciding to get back into education, I knew that a brick university and in-person wouldn’t work for me so finding out about Open University was the way for me to gain further qualifications. I didn’t have to cope with seeing people face to face, all the noise, distracting environments, sticking to timings that may not work with my routines and risk having a meltdown in front of a load of other students/staff. With Open University I make it fit in around my own life. If I want to study in my sensory room then I can, if I want to study at my desk its ready and waiting, if I want to sit on my sofa under a weighted blanket then it’s not an issue – no one can see me. I make Open University work for me rather than making me work around the University!

DSA were a great help when I told them about my autism. It was a case of discussing how my autism affects me and the assessor was really good about helping me figure out the positives of my autism. I won’t say that it wasn’t also difficult to be really open and honest about the issues that come up because of my autism, I don’t like to see my autism as a negative so when in a situation where its vital to discuss the difficulties it can be hard. I came away from the meeting with the assessor and actually felt quite good about myself which I really didn’t expect. I am a big advocate that whilst my autism does have many negative impacts on my life I see the strengths in my autism. I am a creative thinker, I can pick out lots of specific detail, I notice the things in life that other people don’t notice, I’m open and honest with people and always punctual. DSA were able to work out what would help me get through my study and gave me choices about what help I wanted. They also reassured me not to hesitate to get in contact with them if things change or I need more support.

My Routine

I like to start the academic year as soon as the module website opens. My modules actually start in October, however, normally I can have access to it from September. This is key for me; I get to look through everything and sort out my structure. I plan what days I am going to study which module; I add in TMA/ICMA due dates into calendars, plan which notebooks I want for each module, what colours I will use for each module. I thrive on routine, so I make up that routine ready for the official start. As soon as tutorial dates are up I get booked onto them and again the tutorials are placed into my calendars. I ensure that I know what I am going to be studying over the coming year. Then I look back over my needs profile to see if anything needs updating and if it does I get in touch with student support so that the profile is all correct. The next thing I do is get in touch with my tutor/tutors. I like to introduce myself to them and point out about my needs profile to them. In the email I give the really key points that they need to know about me ready to be able to support me more effectively throughout the year, they know my preference on contact as well. Once all of this is done it’s a case of taking a pause and knowing that I am ready. I sometimes find it difficult waiting for that first tutor response because you don’t always get a quick reply, that’s not because the tutor is ignoring you it’s that they have their own lives too. They also aren’t required to meet the same deadlines as when the module has officially begun so be patient – they will get back to you.

Your Tutor and Tutor Group

Your tutors are a vital part of studying with Open University they are the first point of contact for you as a student. I have found when a tutor is aware of the extra needs you may have they try their very best to help to meet those needs. Things can change at any point so having that regular contact makes it easier if you need to contact the tutor because of a struggle. As a student if we haven’t told the tutors something we need we can’t be mad at that tutor if they aren’t meeting our needs. Try and advocate for yourself, you’re doing it to benefit yourself. I also think that tutors do genuinely care about their students and would rather be told what is needed than for you to struggle through the module and them not be aware.

As a student learning independently sometimes it’s hard. I often find myself sat questioning if what I’ve read or watched I have a full understanding of this is where your tutor group forum can be a great space to test your knowledge and you get to communicate with other students. Get posting in that tutor group forum as soon as you can. I know that it can be difficult to post in it and it can be scary but the sooner you do it the sooner you will realise it’s a brilliant space to boost your own learning. Tutors are also a part of the forum so tutors can respond to you on the forum page. Tutorials are also a really great space to help gain further understanding and help prepare you for TMAs/ICMAs. When I first started, tutorials were one of the biggest things I was nervous about, but they aren’t that bad. The start of the tutorial the tutor will explain ways that you can interact with the tutorial if its online, there is a chat box function which tutors keep an eye on whilst going through the tutorial. Some tutors also offer up the option of raising a virtual hand and then letting you come in over microphone. Tutorials are a great way to interact with other students. Tutorials are another way to boost your own learning.

Feedback on TMAs is something that I also find extremely difficult, so I’ve come up with a few strategies to help with this. The moment I get the email through to say that marks are available my heart skips a few beats, and I don’t even want to load up the results page. I decide on a time that I will look at what my score was, normally a time when I am at my calmest. I have some fidget items to help with the nerves and load up the results page to see my score. Then I like to open the assessment summary, in this space the tutor will mention the good things about your TMA, what you missed, mentioning in order to get higher marks and some areas for improvement. It can be really easy to only focus on the things that weren’t quite right on the TMA, so I find it useful at this point to come away from it. Then the next day I re look at it and then open up my actual TMA to see the specific points the tutor has documented on the TMA. My next step is to print off somewhere the key things my tutor has said to work on for the next TMA and place it somewhere visible and do my best to work on that for the next TMA. If something doesn’t make sense reach out to your tutor to ask them to explain in further detail what doesn’t make sense.

My recommendations

If you’re a new student starting out with Open University I highly recommend heading over to Open Learn and completing the “Being an OU student” course. (Available here: Being an OU student.) This is what helped prepare me to study and know what to expect from my study. Open learn has so many courses that are free so I like to use Open Learn when I’m not studying through my summer break so that I can still stick to my routines. This helps to make it less daunting when it gets round to officially studying again.

It is a challenge to study with autism, but it is completely achievable to reach your goals with the correct support to help you along the way and Open University and DSA have been fantastic at helping me get through my study. There have been days where I have thought, ‘I cannot do this, I should quit now’ but there’s people you can reach out to – other students, student support and tutors who are there to support you. If you are struggling reach out for that support. Keep striving to achieve those goals and when challenges get in your way know that you have a 100% success rate at making it through challenges so far! You aren’t alone when studying with autism there are so many other students who can relate to the challenges.

The student reality of studying with dyslexia and using software

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By Yasmin Reeve

An Audio recording of this blog article can be found on this link.

Firstly, I want to welcome you to my blog post. I am a student with Open University studying a Sports, Fitness and Coaching degree. I am a student that is studying with a learning difficulty – dyslexia. I make use of software to enable me to complete my study, more specifically I use a screen reader and dictation software. Recently I had a really productive conversation with a tutor about how this affects me as a student and some of the things that I specifically need when it comes to TMA feedback, as well as explaining the process that I go through in order to write my TMAs. This has led to me making this blog post with a few main focuses. Mainly I want to reassure students that they aren’t alone when studying using the software previously mentioned and how they can go about getting support. Secondly, I want to give educators a glimpse into my world and its affect it has on me as a student to help them better support students who are also using this software.

Starting at the OU

I found out I was dyslexic whilst sitting my GCSEs at secondary school. I was consistently told that I would never amount to anything in my life and never achieve higher education, so I gave up on the education system. I went out to work full time but as the years went by, I realised that I still wanted to be studying and achieve a degree. I very quickly realised for many reasons that a brick university wouldn’t work for me and then found out about the OU and thought ‘I can do this’. I went through the process of applying for Disabled Student Allowance (DSA) and was really lucky to get an understanding assessor. My assessor went through what I struggle with and then suggested the use of dictation software and screen readers. I’d never used them in my life, so I was really excited to be sold the idea that this puts me on an equal level as my peers who don’t have dyslexia. DSA went through training with me on how to use the software and it was at this moment my heart sank a little. I realised the true reality of the fact that this software doesn’t suddenly eliminate my problem of really struggling to read and write, I realised just how much of a lengthy process it would be for me to get anything done and there was a point where I thought ‘there is no way I am going to be able to do this, I’m not smart enough or even capable of doing this!’ But I was already signed up and I’d gone through all the paperwork and assessments so figured I had nothing to lose from giving it a go. If it didn’t work out, then the teachers back in secondary school were right I would never achieve higher education! The module website finally opened up and I had all this software, so I gave it a go. I can remember my first conversation with my tutor about my needs as a student and I was too embarrassed to tell them about the fact I was using a screen reader and dictation software. It’s only this year – my third year of study – that I braved even telling my tutor about the struggles of using this software and how they could adapt what they were doing to help me succeed more.

Writing a TMA

The process of writing a TMA for me is a ridiculously lengthy process with so much back and forwards between different documents and trying to dictate to my laptop what it is that I want to write. I think for people who don’t experience dyslexia imagine being asked a question on a topic that you know nothing about and being given a short time period to answer that question on the spot. Your brain is trying to come up with something to say but whilst you’re saying that you’re thinking about where you are going next with that sentence, and then suddenly a fact pops into your head relating to that topic but you know you need to say it instantly or you will forget it. That is what I go through in order to write my plans for TMAs but also to actually write my TMAs. One big problem with this is that I am mid- sentence and waiting for it to come up on my laptop screen in order to then add in the next point that had popped into my brain, so everything becomes one jumbled mess and it’s not easy for me to go back through and edit everything I’ve effectively just written into some sort of structure!

I am sat there having my screen reader read back to me what I’ve written whilst trying to keep up with my eyes at the speed its reading at so that I can stop it to move the last few sentences around and then get the screen reader to read it out again to me to see if it now makes a little bit more sense. (To give you an idea on how lengthy this process is my screen reader only reading to the end of the last sentence took 9 minutes and I was struggling to visually follow along at that speed!). The way that a screen reader works is that every word or sometimes even letter is recorded individually, and it places them all together to read what’s on the screen. You end up with random pauses and that can lead you to think punctuation might be needed there when it isn’t, it’s just a flaw in the screen reader. Or sometimes you think you have added in the punctuation needed due to the screen reader having read that piece of text as if the punctuation was there.

One big problem for me is that I get the screen reader to read out three sentences of my plan because that’s realistically all I can remember to then switch documents to start dictating the TMA based off the three sentences I’ve just heard, then I get the screen reader to read back what I’ve just dictated and go through this process repeatedly! Writing references is also ridiculously difficult to dictate, making sure that you are saying things like “comma, full stop and dash” in the right places and making sure that it has got the spelling correct of a name that you have just said. It’s hard! Writing my first TMA quite literally took me a week of working on it every single day for many hours at a time. The light at the end of the tunnel is that I have got quicker with using the software but am I at the equivalent of someone without dyslexia and who isn’t using this software – not even close!  But, at this point though part way through my third year of study I have proven to myself that it is possible to achieve my goal of getting a degree and that my hard work and effort is paying off and I am doing it, and I am proving all the teachers at secondary school wrong.

My advice to students and tutors

So, if you’re a student reading this and just starting your degree, stick with it – you’ve got this! If you’re a student who is part way through your degree and struggling speak to your tutor about this and speak to DSA to see if they can suggest anything to you and don’t be embarrassed about it, take pride in who you are and everything you have achieved so far! If you’re a student just about to start your degree make sure to tell your tutor you’re using this software and don’t be afraid to communicate your needs and update them as you move through your study, tell them what was useful in the feedback you got and what wasn’t useful and suggest ways for them to adapt.

If you are an educator and are reading this, try and find some dictation software and try to use it. Go through a TMA using a screen reader to truly get a bit more of an understanding what your some of your students are going through. Give more specific feedback than “punction needed here or reference not correct”, actually explain what’s needed and why it was needed or incorrect. Open up communication between yourself and your student to understand the process that they are potentially going through in order to write their TMAs and show a level of understanding of the process they may be going through. Remind your students that you truly appreciate and see their attempt at answering TMA questions. Lastly make sure to ask your students what they need from you as their tutor, make the effort to ask them about if everything made sense in the feedback that you have given and offer that time to explain things in more depth if needed.

  • If you are a student and require information and guidance on disability support please click here.
  •  If you are a tutor and require information and resources on supporting students with a disability please click here.

Meet another of our Student Voice Champions

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As our last article explained Student Voice Champions have been recruited to represent Sport and Fitness. You previously met Chris and Yasmin and this article introduces our third champion, Will.

My name is Will, I am a Level 2 Sport and Fitness student and I will be starting my final year this coming October. When I’m not studying, I currently work as a garden landscaper        and I am a coach at my local running club taking different ability groups. Another one of my passions is Triathlon, after starting a few years ago it has become a big part of my life, it helps me keep fit and I enjoy completing new challenges. My biggest achievement to date was completing a half-ironman in 5 hours 10 minutes. I am also a keen golfer and recently I achieved my first hole in one.

I decided that I wanted to be a student voice rep to promote mental health. Due to the current situation we find ourselves in, I think many OU students could benefit from more support whether this is just someone to talk to or more support from OU staff. I will do my very best to ensure that this support is in place for you. Please feel free to get in contact with me if there is anything you need.

Twitter: @GoreWill

Email: zx674027@ou.ac.uk

Meet two of our Student Voice Champions

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Student Voice Champions have been recruited to represent Sport and Fitness. These new and exciting roles are designed for students to have a voice and share opinions and ideas  that represent those on the qualification which have the potential to inform the student experience. Your Student Voice Champions have been selected as they are passionate about having a voice as students and wellbeing as well as wider influences such as curriculum design and content, equality and diversity, promoting good mental health and other topics which are important for student success.

Meet two of your Student Voice Reps below:

My name is Chris Nash and I am a Level 1 student. Outside of my OU study I work as a data manager looking after timetabling, academic data and exam results analysis for a secondary school and sixth form in Dorset. I’m also a permanent wheelchair user and profoundly deaf, and until recently was a wheelchair racer participating in elite road races up to marathon distance (and had fun doing so!).

My experiences with my disabilities have also contributed to mental health struggles and alongside tirelessly fighting for a level playing field for those with disabilities I am also a passionate advocate for providing support for those struggling with their mental health. I love interacting with others both face to face and online and hope you will find me very approachable. I’m always ready to listen if there is something you would like to share, or indeed if you just need someone to talk to – and I love hearing and sharing success stories too!

Feel free to get in touch via Twitter @blackberrychris

My name is Yasmin, I’m one of the very lucky students who is a part of the Student voice team. Some facts about me are that I’m 25, mad about disability sport and love learning new things, when we aren’t in lockdown I’m often found hiding at the gym. I am very keen to represent students and make sure our voices are heard, if we all work together then big changes can happen. I’m coming back to studying after finishing my GCSE’s I went straight into working in design. My life got flipped over and I now live life with multiple disabilities and as much as I love design, I love sport and fitness more. I have my qualification in coaching wheelchair basketball and have been involved in wheelchair sport for the past 7 years. I like to think I’m approachable and anyone is welcome to reach out about absolutely anything using my email Yr474@ou.ac.uk.

For more information on Student Voice please visit the Student Voice page of the Sport and Fitness Website.

Student Voice and Wellbeing: Making the connection

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** This post was originally published on the Ed Studies (Primary) webpage on Friday 4th December**

As a Sport Studies student you are familiar with being asked your opinion, possibly connected to module experience or maybe responding to a survey about a new initiative. This culminates in the final year of under-graduate study when in the Spring the National Student Survey (NSS) consultation is conducted. The NSS collates students view with an aim to improve the overall student experience and its powerful results are openly published.

On a different subject – or is it? – levels of poor mental health and low wellbeing amongst Higher Education students are disproportionately high compared to the remainder of the UK adult population, and are increasing (Thorley, 2017). It is no surprise that higher education attainment can be affected by stress, anxiety, depression, grief, sleeping difficulties and relationship problems. Students experiencing these issues report a lower sense of belonging and engagement with their university which can affect retention and progression. In 2017, the #stepchange agenda was launched by Universities UK to improve mental health and wellbeing in universities. The #stepchange framework comprises eight strands which identify the necessary focus for change:

 

The #stepchange agenda works to increase students sense of belonging and enable students to develop their social identity. This has the potential to improve retention and academic success and ultimately to enhance student experience (Thomas, 2012). In 2020 the #stepchange agenda was developed into a University Mental Health Charter where universities are required to develop a wellbeing strategy (link to OU mental health and wellbeing strategy) and can be nationally recognised for this work.

 

The connectivity between student voice and wellbeing is evident in the way #stepchange is delivered; through co-creation between students and their university. Co-creation is the new buzzword in higher education and requires high levels of student participation, where student voice has the potential to make the most positive impact on student experience. Let’s contextualise our perspective of participation. You might be familiar with Arnstein’s model of participation, where power and control are represented in a hierarchical ladder and students (or citizens in the model) progress to achieve high levels of participation. The highest levels of participation are the hardest to achieve but bear the most fruit in respect of student experience and student success. They cultivate ‘buy in’ from students through authentic collaboration which lower levels of participation such as surveys struggle to achieve.

Arnstein’s Ladder of Participation (1969).

Research with children and young people informs us that a participatory approach to educational relationships produces the best outcomes (Lyndon in Williams-Brown and Mander, 2020). It is the same for higher education students and might be considered more meaningful because study at university is voluntary rather than statutory like school, and we engage in adult: adult relationships where power should be more evenly distributed. In respect of wellbeing, the Universities UK strategy is clear that co-creation opportunities should be available through a whole university approach if student wellbeing is to improve. However, the relinquishing of power can be uncomfortable and impractical. It is best managed as a conscious uncoupling (to use celebrity speak) of the old to introduce the new. It challenges existing, ingrained ways of working within universities, and reshapes the cultural climate which informs our identity as individuals and an institution.

One of the ways in which ECYS are improving student voice and wellbeing is to incorporate a student panel within staff recruitment processes. This happened for the first time in November 2020, with aims for it to be an integral activity in the future. Students who participated said it was a privilege and an honour, planning of activities including a scenario were enjoyable, working as a team was effective, and they felt very well supported and informed about the process. Their wellbeing was enhanced; they reported that being involved was fun and satisfying, it helped to build confidence and they felt valued because their opinion and input mattered. This leaves us wanting more student co-creation opportunities. Can you think of any you would like to be involved in? Let us know, we love to hear about them and promise to respond.

Sarah Mander is a Staff Tutor (line managing Associate Lecturers) and Tutor for E102 module. She is also a serial student, studying for a Doctorate in Education. Sarah leads the ECYS Student Voice and Wellbeing Champions group.

Sarah has researched and written about wellbeing, mental health and the student population for the publication Childhood Well-being and Resilience: influences on educational outcomes (Williams- Brown, Z. and Mander, S.Eds., 2020).

References

 Lyndon, H. (2020) ‘Listening to children the rights of the child’ In, Williams- Brown, Z. and Mander, S.Eds. ‘Childhood Well-being and Resilience: influences on educational outcomes’. Abingdon: Routledge.

Thomas, L. (2012) Building student engagement and belonging in higher education at a time of change[online]. [accessed 7 January 2020].

Thorley, C. (2017) Not by degrees: Improving student mental health in the UK’s universities. London: Institute for Public Policy Research.

Universities UK (2017) #stepchange mental health in higher education [online]. http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/stepchange/Pages/default.aspx [accessed 10 January 2020].

 

 

 

Managing a career and motherhood: Is it possible in Elite Netball?

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By Jess Pinchbeck and Candice Lingam-Willgoss

With the 2019 Netball word cup upon us our screens are filled with inspirational female athletes and role models showing not only great displays of physical athleticism but also the psychological composure to perform under pressure. However, in addition to their netballing prowess these women are also role models for their inspirational stories off the court. Many of the players in the tournament are not full-time professional athletes and often hold down regular jobs alongside training and playing at elite level, demonstrating an extraordinary commitment and drive to fulfil their playing ambitions. Added to this some of the women combine work and elite sport with motherhood.  This is something of a break from tradition which used to see women end their career in sport to have children but with optimal fertility often falling at the same time as peak performance we see more instances of elite athletes breaking down the myth that combining these two roles is incompatible.

One such inspiration story is that of Samoan international Gerardine Nafanua Solia-Gibb, a 35 year old mother of five boys aged between one and fourteen years. Despite being a mother of five Solia-Gibb is reported to be one of the fittest members of the Samoan camp, however she does explain that taking note of your body after birth is important, particularly the impact of breastfeeding which can soften ligaments and increase the risk of injury. There are also the logistics of training commitments and to overcome this her sons frequently attend training with her after school. Like many of the teams in the World Cup netball is not particularly well-funded in Samoa and so typically players work alongside playing netball. Solia-Gibb runs a fibre cable installation business with her husband, factoring this in alongside everything else. Coming from a sporting family  herself with four older sisters, who have all made appearances for Samoa Netball, and a husband, who played rugby for Samoa, this perhaps gives her the drive and support network required to cope with such demands on her time.     

Another mother to grace the courts at Liverpool this summer is 26 year old Singapore centre court player Shawallah Rashid, who returns to the World Cup squad after giving birth to her second child in February. Rashid admits to being driven to return to fitness following the birth to make the World Cup squad after missing out on previous competitions due to pregnancy.   Similarly, to Solia-Gibb, Rashid also balances work, motherhood and netball successfully working as a secondary school executive. Rashid is the first mother to be part of the Singapore squad, and attributed her ability to return to international netball to the support of her family. Rashid admits that being apart from her children during the World Cup is not easy but feels that being a role model for her children is important. This example illustrates how a strong support network is necessary for an athlete who is considering balancing motherhood with sport and that this tends to be very tangible support (e.g. childcare) provided by both an athletes spouse and other family. 

An example of the conflict between netball and motherhood is evident in Casey Kopua’s return to World Cup Netball for New Zealand following her international retirement in 2017. From a slightly different background in New Zealand, where Silver Ferns players typically earn enough money to be full-time netballers, 34 year old Kopua, is returning to international netball, after the birth of her first child in 2016. The desire to win a World Cup gold medal proving just too much to resist and with her daughter now slightly older, and the support of her family, Kopua feels it is the right time to return.

Although some of the women here have demonstrated that it is possible to combine motherhood and netball, for some this feels unachievable. Many players see international netball and motherhood as incompatible, often deciding to retire from the sport when they wish to start a family.  As alluded to by Rashid the incompatibility of this often stems from the fact that a sport such a netball requires a mother having to be away from her family for extensive periods of time.  However, 34 year old England goalkeeper, Geva Mentor, has chosen a slightly different path and opted to freeze her eggs after the tournament to be able to become a mother once she makes the decision to retire. Mentor hopes this leads the way for other young netballers to give them an option of having a full career before starting a family.


It would appear that with a good support network and the financial stability required managing international netball and a family, often alongside a career, can be achievable and effective, however for some players the prospect of taking the career break required to have a baby is too much to contemplate. With Netball continuously rising in popularity and increasing professional opportunities for elite players there are many issues surrounding netball and motherhood that need to be explored further.

The 2019 Netball World Cup and beyond: playing for the future

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By Jess Pinchbeck

So far this summer we’ve seen women’s sport grow from strength to strength with greater coverage than ever in the global media, and it’s not over yet! Building on the excitement and drama of the Women’s Football World Cup another significant sporting event is poised to commence, the Vitality Netball World Cup, hosted here in England! England’s tense Commonwealth Gold medal victory over Australia on their home turf in April 2018 means the world number one’s are out for revenge, although it’s certainly not a two-team tournament with Jamaica, New Zealand and South Africa all major contenders.

The World Cup, hosted in Liverpool, begins on Friday 12th July, comprising 60 matches over 10 days, with the final being played on 21st July. There are sixteen teams selected through a mixture of International Netball Federation (INF) world rankings and qualifying tournaments. England automatically qualified as the home nation, and are currently ranked as 3rd  in the world. The five top ranked teams in the world also gained automatic qualification; Australia (1st), Jamaica (2nd), New Zealand (4th), South Africa (5th), and Malawi (although they have now dropped to 9th in the rankings as of June 2019). The remaining places were finalised via regional qualifier events throughout 2018 with the top two teams from each INF region securing places; Africa (Uganda and Zimbabwe), Americas (Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados), Asia (Sri Lanka and Singapore), Europe (Northern Ireland and Scotland) and Oceania (Fiji and Samoa). Unfortunately, this resulted in Wales, currently 12th in the World rankings, failing to qualify.

The timing of this World Cup on home soil couldn’t have been better for England Netball, with the sport reaching new heights in England, both at participation and performance level.  In 2016 funding ensured 14 players entered a full-time athlete agreement, rising to 21 players being awarded full-time contracts in 2018-19. Sky Sports coverage has continued to grow since 2006, broadcasting the Vitality Netball Super league every season, with every World Cup game live across Sky Sports platforms. The BBC, on which 1.5 million people watched the England Roses Commonwealth victory against Australia, continues to support netball by also broadcasting the World Cup games across its TV and digital channels. Elite success and increased media coverage  has also impacted the sport at grassroots level with participation figures rising year on year, due to the huge success of the Back to Netball, Walking Netball and Bee Netball campaigns, encouraging participation in women of all ages and abilities, with over a million women playing netball each week.

Even at elite level there is a mix of age and experience amongst the Roses. England’s most experienced player is centre/wing defence Jade Clarke, aged 35, boasting 161 caps, with Geva Mentor, one of the most prolific goal keepers in the world, aged 34, also adding a wealth of international experience with 138 caps.  Six other members of England’s historic gold-medal winning Commonwealth Games team also make the world cup squad; Eboni Usoro-Brown, Joanne Harten, Natalie Haythornthwaite, Chelsea Pitman and of course Helen Housby, who scored the winning goal. Rachel Dunn missed out on the Commonwealth Games but at 36 years old and with 86 caps, and two previous world cups under her belt, adds experience to the shooting circle. Tracy Neville, the England manager, has made some bold decisions leaving the Corbin sisters out of the final squad, as well as previous captain Ama Agbeze. Instead, youth has been injected into defence with Fran Williams, aged 21 and Layla Guscoth , age 27, both playing in their first major tournament along with centre court player Natalie Panagarry, aged 28.

The exclusion of such talented players illustrates the depth of the England squad and undoubtedly funding for full-time contracts has contributed to this and is to be celebrated. However, for those players with established careers the disruption of committing to netball full-time can be difficult to navigate and two of the Roses squad opted out of full-time netball to maintain their careers. 31-year-old Eboni Usoro-Brown works as a trainee solicitor at Mogers Drewett around her netball commitments for Team Bath and England. Likewise, Rachel Dunn, age 36, continues to balance both domestic and international netball as well as a career as a genetic scientist:

“I came up in an era when there wasn’t a full-time programme available. You had to have a job, otherwise you wouldn’t survive. And there are still a lot of Superleague players now who are in that situation. We do still need more funding”.

The stories of Usuro-Brown and Dunn illustrate the importance of receiving full-time contracts early on in players careers and the difficulties that can arise if offered later, when alternative careers with perhaps greater longevity have been worked for and established. It is clear to see the impact of full-time funding on the depth and strength of the England squad and so with England Netball admitting that funding will be difficult past 2019 there is so much to play for at this World Cup to keep the netball dream alive for England’s future Roses.

Rugby: A game of risk and reward

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By Jessica Pinchbeck

As a parent I fully support and actively encourage my children’s involvement in a range of sports activities. Sport can bring about so many positive developments and watching my son play rugby this season I have seen improvements not only in his physical skill level but also his psychological and social skills. For example, his decision making, concentration and attitude have all developed. Similarly, his confidence, and general maturity when talking to coaches and referees have carried forward into every aspect of his life. Despite this at the back of my mind is the knowledge that as he gets older and tackling becomes part of the game (from U9 onwards) perhaps the risks will begin to outweigh the rewards. In particular the risk of spinal injury is the scariest to contemplate. But what is the nature of such a risk and am I just being an overprotective mother?
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What is the risk?
Fuller (2008) found that “the risk of catastrophic injury in rugby union was comparable with that experienced by most people in work-based situations and lower than that experienced by motorcyclists, pedestrians and car occupants” and concluded that “the risk of sustaining a catastrophic injury in rugby union could be regarded as acceptable and that the laws of the game therefore adequately manage the risk”. MacLean and Hutchinson (2012) conducted an audit of U19 player admissions to spinal injury units in Great Britain and Ireland. They found that U19 rugby players sustained serious neck injuries requiring admission to spinal injury units with a low but persistent frequency, with the rate of admission in Scotland being “disproportionately high”. The study also highlighted the lack of a register of catastrophic neck injuries making it difficult to accurately track the number of rugby related neck injuries in U19 players. Whilst the risks involved in rugby have received a lot of media attention in recent weeks it is important to note that any sport which involves movement and force can cause spinal injury, like football, water sports, wrestling, rugby, and ice hockey (Mishra, 2010).

Although the statistics were informative as a qualitative researcher I wanted to explore this risk through people’s thoughts, feelings and emotions. In other words the real stories of the risks of rugby.

George Robinson’s Story
In July 2015 an English school boy, George Robinson (aged 17) suffered a transection of his spinal cord whilst playing rugby for his school in Cape Town. George underwent surgery in South Africa and when safe to be moved was flown home in September and is still undergoing extensive rehabilitation. At present George’s movement below the neck is limited to his right bicep and minimal movement in his left. George’s story is an inspiring one and I have followed it closely over the past eight months. The rugby community have united to provide endless demonstrations of support and encouragement to George and the positivity of the young player and his family is astounding. In particular I was interested to hear both George and his father’s views on rugby and the current debate whether to remove tackling from the school game. Talking to The Times George’s father Simon Robinson said:
“We have discussed it as a family…I would do anything for this not to have happened but I just think [that] it is the nature of physical sport. You can cross a road and get knocked over by a car or a bicycle. That is what happens in life”.

Both the family and George himself still place emphasis on the value of sport and it is captivating to hear their viewpoint. Mr Robinson stated:
“We love the values of sport; the enjoyment it gives, the satisfaction it gives, the team spirit. That has been an incredibly important part of our life and still is. We spoke to George and he supports the nature of the game. He doesn’t know how else you would have the game”.

David Ross’ Story
George and his family are not alone in their views. David Ross, who broke his neck playing rugby at 18, expresses similar opinions. David, who is paralysed from the neck down, has aspirations to play wheelchair rugby in Tokyo 2020 and is once again an example of tremendous resilience and determination. David feels that “People who get involved in rugby, … know it’s a contact sport and they know what they’re getting in for and injury is part of all sport”. As part of his rehabilitation David stresses the need to keep pushing himself to keep his body healthy to ensure he is in the best condition to aid his recovery. I began to wonder whether playing rugby perhaps provided both George and David with the mental toolkit that has led them to approach their rehabilitation with such tenacity and resolve.

Matt Hampson’s Story
Former England player Matt Hampson suffered a spinal injury in training in 2005 aged just 20 when a scrum collapsed. Hampson has spoken about how his background as a sportsman provided him with the coping skills required to deal with such an injury:
“I think the mental strength comes from being a rugby player, from being at Leicester Tigers where it is a tough upbringing,”

Not only is Hampson coping with his own injury but he works tirelessly to help other sportspeople cope with theirs. Hampson set up the ‘Matt Hampson Foundation’ to raise money for his own treatment as well as helping others like George Robinson. Rugby is still very much a part of Hampson’s mentality:
“My approach to rugby is the way I lead my life – always wanting to improve and always wanting bigger and better things. That is what I was like as a rugby player and that is what I am like as a fundraiser now.”

The stories of George Robinson, David Ross and Matt Hampson are extremely powerful. All three players hold such passionate views about the value of sport and have demonstrated extreme levels of resilience and grit to overcome adversity that surely their voices and opinions should be the most prominent ones in this discussion.

Conclusion
In relation to my son and his rugby, as a parent I’m sure I will continuously worry about every aspect of keeping him safe, but if playing rugby instils in him the same remarkable values and attributes that George, David and Matt demonstrate then I will be an extremely proud mother.

Details of George Robinson’s charity #teamgeorge can be found on twitter and on facebook.

This article was first published on OpenLearn

January BOOST for all Level 2 Sport and Fitness Students

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As part of a new initiative for Level 2 students aimed to BOOST motivation and academic health in the New Year the sport and fitness team are launching ‘BOOST your success for 2016’ in January. The BOOST initiative will consist of three one hour OU live sessions as well as an associated BOOST forum that will be open from 4th-14th January. There will be plentiful opportunities for you to share ideas and discuss the content of the tutorials with the tutors and your fellow students.

The details for each of the three OU Live BOOST sessions is as follows:

4th January at 7.30pm BOOST your motivation An application of sport and performance psychology skills and how these can be used to BOOST your academic motivation and performance

9th Jan at 9.30am BOOST your grades An innovative and fully tailored session to meet L2 sports students’ referencing and academic writing needs.

11th Jan at 6.30pm BOOST your academic health An interactive session aimed at developing independent study skills and finding academic resources – particularly useful for E217

The forum will contain a discussion thread for each of the three tutorial topics and these discussions will be moderated by the tutor leading the OU Live session.

These sessions are not compulsory for the level 2 modules but have been designed specifically with sport and fitness Level 2 students in mind to compliment the range of activities and resources within the modules. You may wish to select those sessions that you feel are most relevant to your own development or some of you may wish to attend all three.

We very much look forward to seeing you at the OU Live sessions as well as the forum discussions and hope that you find these resources enjoyable and beneficial to your academic development.

Links to the BOOST OU Live room and the BOOST forum will appear on your module website in January.

The Sport and Fitness Team