Sports Science Undergraduates from Brooksby Melton College (Part of the SMB Group) have launched ‘The BMC Sports Science Podcast’, covering a range of topics with a focus on mental health.
The students, who all study BSc (Hons) Sports Science (Top-up) at the college, have released two episodes of the podcast so far, with the third to follow on Thursday 25th February.
The creation of this podcast will go towards the students’ final grade, making up part of their ‘Industry Experience’ module – demonstrating an innovative response to the challenge of obtaining work experience in the Sports industry during the current COVID-19 pandemic.
When speaking about the first episode of the podcast, ‘Time to Talk’, which focuses primarily on mental health, student, Jonjo French, said ‘The podcast was created as part of our Industry Experience module, as we were struggling to find industry experience hours due to the COVID pandemic. Our lecturer, David, invited us to start a podcast from an academic perspective, but as soon as David mentioned the ‘Time to Talk’ idea, everybody bought into it and it took off from there. The main message behind the podcast was to spread awareness surrounding mental health issues to a number of audiences, and to challenge the stigma around mental health. As a group we felt it was important to have a ‘chat’ to show how powerful conversation can be, especially amongst a group of young students.’
Curriculum Coordinator for Sport, David Jones, added ‘It is widely evidenced that participation in sporting activities can improve your mental health, anxiety levels and self-esteem. This has never been more important as everyone continues to combat the mental strain of the COVID-19 pandemic. While students are facing challenges managing remote learning and the ongoing changes to their daily routine, our BSc Sports Science students discuss their strategies to help deal with the impact the pandemic is having on their sport, learning and social experiences.’
SMB Group Principal and Chief Executive, Dawn Whitemore, added ‘This is an inspiring podcast demonstrating real maturity from our Undergraduate Sports Science students. Their honesty, openness and ability to articulate their feelings is something we can all learn from. The steps they each share for coping are varied, simple and something we can all apply - this will make a difference when making a difference really matters, and it makes me feel very proud.’
The podcast is available on the BMC Sports Science YouTube channel, with new episodes being uploaded on a weekly basis. For the latest updates, follow the students on Instagram @sportsmbcollegegroup.