Two major sporting organisations have chosen to work with the University of Chichester this summer, taking full advantage of the facilities and expertise on offer at the West Sussex institution.Spanish football club Real Madrid is currently holding a Soccer Language School at the Bishop Otter Campus in Chichester, providing participants with a chance to improve their football skills with coaching from Real Madrid coaches, along with language classes to enhance and broaden their linguistic skills.
Meanwhile, PE teachers and students from the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences (TF) at Semmelweis University in Hungary are currently taking part in an exchange programme which sees University of Chichester students working in Budapest at the same time.
The Faculty is the largest, most comprehensive and oldest centre for education and training in sport in Hungary, while the University of Chichester has a strong, established reputation for sports research, as well as extensive experience of working alongside elite Olympic athletes.
Links between the two have been established through a senior lecturer from the University of Chichester, Dr Laszlo Nemeth, who previously worked at Semmelweis.
The two groups of students are simultaneously experiencing new sports that are not offered in their respective institutions. Hungarian students are taking part in sports including netball, Ultimate Frisbee, hockey, cricket, golf and rugby, while Chichester students are trying out handball, fencing, track and field events, water polo and wrestling among their activities.
This is a pilot exchange programme, which was open to all PE and sports coaching students. Early feedback has been positive, and it is hoped to repeat it in future years. As part of their trip, the Hungarian teachers and students taught Year 7 pupils from Felpham Community College about water polo, opening up future possibilities of linking with local schools. They have also taken part in Adventure Education taster sessions in climbing and kayaking.
Jane Lomax, programme co-ordinator for sports coaching and PE courses at the University of Chichester, said: “Both our students and the Hungarian teachers and students appear to be learning a lot about new sports in a short period of time. There is also a cultural aspect to the trip – Chichester students have visited the Hungarian Parliament, while the Hungarians have taken the opportunity to visit London as well as the historic cities of Chichester and Arundel, and taken part in sports-related language classes.
“We hope this will be the first of many exchange trips, with the possible expansion to include our teaching staff as well. The Hungarian University of Physical Education has a high international reputation in its field, and there are numerous potential research opportunities that the two institutions could work on for the benefit of both sets of students.”
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