Students from the Recreation & Sport Management courses have been relishing the new opportunities of work placement and studying abroad
Early February is a significant milestone for the BBs in Recreation & Sport Management and BBs(Hons) in Recreation & Sport Management programme (WD019/WD212) in SETU as it sees its first cohort of students embark on the Erasmus programme. The Erasmus programme is an initiative run by the European Union (EU). It provides opportunities for students to study or gain work experience in a different European country while completing a degree.
Placement opportunities
Students on the Recreation & Sport Management courses have a placement semester from January to June in third year. Traditionally their primary option has been to complete their placement in Ireland (choosing from a database of over 200 national, regional and local companies) or forging their own path to follow their niche interests. Opportunities for placement in Ireland including all sporting national governing bodies (e.g. FAI, GAA, IRFU), outdoor adventure centres, National Sports Campus, fitness facilities, business related roles, local sports partnerships and various other government roles.
During the semester prior to placement, students can choose their own electives to study (e.g. outdoor education, group fitness, coaching, adapted physical activity, aquatic studies) along with their regular modules (e.g. financial decision making, enterprise and entrepreneurship). For each of these potential career streams, course leaders have developed new international partnerships where students now have the opportunity to complete a ‘study abroad’ or ‘placement abroad’ semester, both supported by Erasmus funding. Partnerships have been arranged for each of the key streams (e.g. an opportunity to study Outdoor Education in Norway).
LaManga Sport Resort, Spain
Five students have chosen to participate in this scheme and expand their range of experience while studying at SETU. Two students have chosen to complete an internship abroad with LaManga Sport Resort in Spain. Covering 1,400 acres, this is an exclusive tourist, sports, and leisure resort, which is located on the Costa Calida, and surrounded by an exceptional natural environment next to the Mediterranean Sea. The resort has two 5 and 4- star hotels, three worldwide renowned golf courses, a 28 court Tennis Centre, eight FIFA approved football pitches, and a Cricket Centre. LaManga is a regular destination for warm-weather training camps for professional and international football teams. The two students will be part of the Football Department helping out all of the teams who are based in the resort with whatever they may need (e.g., preparing equipment for training. general maintenance i.e. lining of the pitches, operational procedures).
Speaking about this fantastic opportunity, James (Waterford) said that it was a “good opportunity to travel, meet new people, experience what it's like to work in this industry and working with La Manga will look good on my CV”. Sean (Waterford) added “I want to go on Erasmus as it seems like such a great opportunity to gain a unique experience in a related field of study. La Manga was perfect as it is one of the best facilities in the world for sport and recreation. I expect to gain a knowledge of what is needed to be done on a daily basis in a top facility that brings in huge clubs from all over the world.”
Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands
Three students have chosen the ‘study abroad’ option for their trip. Hanze University is based in Groningen which is the largest city in the north of the Netherlands (approx., 2 hours on the train from Amsterdam). The students will live in student accommodation in a city that hosts 30,000 students. Taught in English, the students are studying an ‘Adventure & Sport Tourism’ programme. Topics in the course include: sports events; to develop awareness of the potential of Adventure and Sport Tourism in terms of management, planning and development; Outdoor performance; to develop guiding skills, hosting; team and leadership development; to develop team- and leadership skills from a vitality-perspective (outdoor trainer and coach). Speaking about this excellent opportunity, Ryan (Cork) identified that “I want to go on Erasmus to try something new and to meet new people and gain new skills”.
Already the interest amongst the second years in anticipation of engaging on the Erasmus programme next year is immense as the course continues to expand its international reach and provide even more national and international opportunities for students. Find out more about the possibilities in the area of via our social media channels and the SETU website.