1. Employment and Collaboration in Professional Football using Mentoring and Community of Practice Enhancement Themes conference, Thursday 9 June 2016 John McIntyre Conference Centre, Edinburgh

2. Content Community of Practice Student Transition Direction of travel for HE Robert Kielty Glasgow Caledonian University Sean Miller University of Wolverhampton Nicole Fairley Glasgow Caledonian University Sean Davidson Glasgow Clyde College Mark Leslie Napier University

3. Mentoring – a structured approach Testing with specialised equipment (telemetry) Scholarly activity Elite environment Nutrition & Lifestyle Private Blackboard site Networking PE,Fitness &PublicHealth Interacting with Celebrity and Public figures

5. Construction of identity & contribute to the community with their variety of experiences The Domain –identity and competence to a shared domain The Community –helping and sharing in joint activities –build relationships The Practice –practitioners - shared repertoire of resources: experiences, stories, tools, ways of addressing recurring problems Bourdieu(1991); Lave & Wenger (1991); Wenger (1998); Lesser & Storck. (2001). Community of Practice CoP

6. Signposting exit routes –create employment through: Creating communities of practice Growing networks in delivering sport Challenging traditional ‘silo’ delivery mechanisms Mentoring our interns to be professional, knowledgeable and attractive to network partners Recruiting across all levels

7. Post School College University Performance Recruitment Employment Higher Education Graduate Destination Research UniversityCollege School Professional Club Transitional Relationship in Football Science Mentoring

8. CoP OUTPUT as Employment NameInstitutionStatus S. Miller (M)NAPIER*SS Wolves FC / Univ of Wolver. K. Laikowski (M)GLASGOW*Teaching Fellow – Abertay Univ. K. Gibbon (F)GLASGOWSports Scientist Oriam F. McHugh (M)STRATHCLYDEScottish Institute of Sport J. Valbonesi (M)GLASGOW CALEDONIANCEO Everyday Athlete A. Carroll (M)STIRLINGManager PEAK S.C Stirling C. Little (M)NAPIER*PE Teacher QA HS S. Langton (F)GLASGOWFitness officer Glasgow University R. JohnstoneUWS*Lecturer C of G College N. McIntosh (F) * 2+2 degree ** college UWS*National Weightlifter

9. Motivation for working as an intern in professional football Opportunity to learn and develop within a high performance culture Chance to build a reputation Career Goal – Applied Sports Scientist with Professional Football

10. Motivation The experience it offers can help me achieve bigger and better things later in my life. With the knowledge it is given me I hope that I can go on to work more with professional football teams in the future. Not many people especially at my level of study have the chance to work with elite players and work with a professional football team. That itself is motivation for me to take part and do my best at these clubs.

11. What have I learned? Accept that you will always be questioned (Know what your doing and why) Learning to work with a range of big personalities and characters(not exposed to this in the academic environment) Not to underestimate the ability to observe and listen(players responses to training, coaching methods etc.)

12. What have I learned? I am able to confidently run and manage testing session for players. When I began, I only knew about the tests but never actually enforced it with players. Now I could comfortably take a session and know I have the knowledge to successfully gain accurate data on players. Intern experience potentially worth more than the qualification you have and the high standards of the industry demand it (experience)

13. Importance Universities do not provide this opportunity Network of highly experienced players and coaches Learning from actual experience is important as :- Learn from the transfer of knowledge from other coaches/interns Putting knowledge and skills into practice

14. Importance I wouldn't’t be where I am Today Helps me gain knowledge in coaching, as a student doing a Sports Coaching course it is extremely important for me to pick up on every bit of knowledge I can. By working with these coaches at the professional clubs it’s the best way I can learn.

15. Direction Of Travel Under developed Scholarly collaboration (e.g. MRes) Module and Programme Sponsorship Significant other is critical Research driven is not applied Student Association Collaboration OUTPUTS

16. Success Measured by Output SFA CAS 5 * rating International squads 6 + First Team Professional 65% Research Profile Competitive recruitment CPD Journal + Conference Collaborations x 8 In 4 years:- 400+ Intern applicants (26=PhD) 80 Graduates 20+ Interns have FT posts CPD programme Digital footprint Mentoring Model Dunfermline FC 2010 Fife Elite Academy 2014+ Raith Rovers 2014 Airdrie FC 2015+16

17. Questions Contact Details: Email: robert.kielty@gcu.ac.uk Twitter: @robertkielty Facebook: ProPerform Sport Mentoringrobert.kielty@gcu.ac.uk