We are delighted to have the continued support of the University of Central Lancashire for the 2016 Lancashire Sports Awards as sponsor of the Coach of the Year award.
About the University of Central Lancashire
The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) in Preston was founded in 1828 as the Institution for the Diffusion of Knowledge. Since those early days it has grown into one of the UK’s largest universities with a staff and student community approaching 38,000 and an employment-focused course portfolio containing some 400 undergraduate programmes and over 200 postgraduate courses. The University has an established research reputation with world-leading or internationally excellent work taking place. As a truly global institution UCLan’s student body includes 120 nationalities and its partnership network extends to 125 countries. In 2015 the Centre for World University Rankings placed UCLan in the top 3.8 percent of all worldwide universities, highlighting the progress the institution has made in providing students with real-world learning experiences and reflecting the institution’s broad pool of academic talent. The University has a strong focus on continually improving the student experience and has invested nearly £100 million in the last five years on new buildings and facilities to support teaching, learning and leisure activities. Over the next 10 years UCLan plans to create a £200 million Campus Masterplan which will produce a world-class educational environment that blends new facilities with the creation of public, green spaces to benefit the University, the City of Preston, and the economy of the North West.
About UCLanSport
Through UCLanSport we offer one of the broadest ranges of student experience in the country in the field of sport and wellbeing. We offer undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in sports coaching, studies, management, psychology, journalism, physical education, outdoor adventure, health, nutrition and exercise sciences, and a whole range of local and national sport, health and education linkages to support this provision.
We encourage all our students to be active members of their community. As such we enter over 30 different competitive sporting clubs and teams into the British Universities and College Sports (BUCS) Championships, a vibrant inter-mural offer through our Getin2 Leagues and Halls program and a huge range of sports, activity and exercise programmes through our Turn Up and Play, Give-it-a-Go and instructor led classes.
We have excellent partnerships with professional sports clubs, are the official university of Wigan Warriors and Preston North End, and national training centres such as Plas y Brenin. We work closely with sports associations to upskill and develop their own coaches and support teams providing cutting edge research into skill development, coach education, and performance enhancement as well as high level coaching and performance qualifications.
We want our graduates to be highly employable when they leave us, so we place a strong emphasis within all our courses on developing practical skills and knowledge as well as on the more theoretical aspects of learning. We also encourage all our students to volunteer their time and experience and give something back to our local and wider community. Examples include the work our students are doing with the Preston City Council to encourage health and wellbeing, students delivering practical PE sessions to local primary and secondary schools, and coaching within community sports clubs as well as providing sport science support to the counties most talented young athletes as part of the Lancashire Sport Rising Star Award. Alongside their studies students also have the ability to complete a variety of National Governing Body (NGB) and industry awards and certifications, thus enhancing their personal and professional skills.
Outstanding Facilities
UCLan’s Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre offers a range of activities from our Students’ Union sports clubs to instructor-led classes and individual areas, free of charge to most students. The multi- million pound UCLan Sports Arena provides a range of excellent facilities for athletics, rugby league, rugby union, football, hockey, netball, tennis and cycling and has hosted international teams for the Olympics and other major competitions.
For more information on studying at UCLan visit our website.