On the 7th May, colleagues within the University and external partners were invited to attend the 3rd Annual Sport and Physical Activity Research Day Conference, hosted by the Academy of Sport and Physical Activity. The aim of the event was to showcase the research dissertation work conducted by final year undergraduate students completing our BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Science and Physical Activity, Sport and Health programmes. Whilst the conference served the purpose of providing students feedback on their dissertation work in the way of a conference poster, the students were also exposed to a real-life conference environment as key researchers and practitioners operating around the UK in sport and physical activity settings were invited to present keynote talks and applied workshops.
Dr Charlie Foster OBE delivering his keynote talk
The keynote talk was delivered by Dr Charlie Foster OBE, who currently serves as the chair of the UK chief medical officers expert committee for physical activity. A discussion point from Charlie’s talk was that government recommendations for physical activity have previously focused too heavily on achieving cardiovascular elements of physical activity, to the neglect of increasing strength and mobility, which feature more prominently in the soon-to-be released government physical activity guidelines. A highlight of the day was a panel discussion involving all invited speakers, including (from left to right): Mark O’ Sullivan (UEFA licensed coach at AIK Stockholm Football Club), Dr Charlie Foster OBE, Paul Barratt (head of performance support at British Cycling) and Debby Sargent (UK strength and conditioning association tutor). The panel discussion, chaired by Professor Jon Wheat (interim assistant dean for research and innovation, HWB) focused on asking the panel how they integrate research into their applied work, and, what skills and characteristics students should optimise when seeking employment in sport and physical activity vocations.
Keynote speakers (from left to right): Mark O’ Sullivan, Dr Charlie Foster OBE, Paul Barratt, and Debby Sargent
Lead organiser for the event, Dr James Rumbold said, “This conference is a celebration of 3 years’ hard work for undergraduate students coming to the end of their sport and physical activity courses. It is a wonderful opportunity for final students to tailor the key messages of their dissertation work to a range of academics, students, coaches and practitioners. Although there were plenty of nervous students at the beginning of the day, so many commented on how much they enjoyed the day and importantly, they understood how being challenged and supported in this conference environment facilitates the development of their employability skills for future employment. Invited guests were extremely impressed with the professionalism and standard of work being disseminated by our students and this bodes well for showcasing the quality of project students that Sheffield Hallam produce each year within the sport department”.
Our thanks to Dr James Rumbold for his help in putting this article together.
