When you teach you often get asked and talk about what you have done in your career. Along with how you got into it. Also where you plan to go with it. With this thought I decided I would do a series of blogs looking at areas of my career, how I ended up working for the University of Bath, time working with professional athletes and how I built my business. I have decided to start with my teaching career which started at the university of bath.
My dyslexia doesn’t stop me.
I’m dyslexic and it didn’t cross my mind I would ever teach and I’m not even sure what inspired me to get a teaching certificate. I was at a phase in my life when I just wanted to learn and I’ve never let my dyslexia stop me from doing anything. So I went and did my teaching qualification and then stuck it in a drawer for a few years.
The day I was given the Job.
One day the head at the time of team bath training and develop department came over to the university sports injury clinic. I happened to be working there at the time. He was looking for anyone who could teach sports massage and that ended up being me. The course hadn’t run for several years and they were looking to resurrect it and start offering it again. I didn’t so much take the job but was given it!
There was no prepared material only the PowerPoints provided by Active IQ who’s qualifications I still deliver today. I had a lot of work to do in a short space of time and not a lot of experience with teaching. I managed to actually worry myself sick and couldn’t teach for the first few days of the course. Finally I sorted myself out and started teaching. That was probably the scariest moment of my life but I did it I delivered my first ever sports massage course and the first one delivered for some time at the University of Bath. I loved it!
Developing sports massage courses at the University of Bath.
I thought that would be it. But the University of Bath decided they wanted to run both level 3 and 4 Active IQ sports Massage therapy courses and it became my role for many years. I was able to take time in developing the material and move it forward, creating better content. Year on year I improved everything building clinics into the programme taking the learners to events and so on.
Eventually there came a point where I couldn’t take it where I really wanted to go with it. I could see so much potential for sports massage training and wasn’t willing to short change people. So I moved on putting all my focus back into sports massage and my own business. Charlotte took over from me who I taught massage to several years before. I was asked back to help out and did a little work with Charlotte.
The inception of the School of Sports Massage.
Eventually Charlotte too got disillusioned and another tutor was brought in (who I also taught!). Charlotte and I sat chatting one day about what we thought a sports massage course should look like. Along with what we felt a learner should expect. We also talked about what we hadn’t been able to create where we were. This was the inception of the School of Sports Massage.
Why we’re different to other courses.
3 years were spent developing the level 3 sports massage qualification alone. That’s how important it was to get it right. Going out on my own has allowed me to create the course I feel learners deserved. Firstly rather than large groups were people often get missed we work in small groups. Secondly all our material is online. This means if you miss something or don’t understand it you can go back over it as often as you like. Thirdly time is available for one to one sessions if you need them. Fourthly you get to work in a clinical environment with real clients. Finally we even spend time with you once you have qualified so that you’re not left to just get on with it. These are just a few of the many things that we think are important and that we believe makes our courses stand out.
So that’s my journey. From setting up the sports massage course and teaching at the University of Bath, to being the founder of the School of Sports Massage. My next blog I’ll look at how I got a job at the University of Bath Team Bath sports injury clinic and the benefits of volunteering.
