What are your sporty kids doing at uni/for work

[Morsien]

DD is 15 and in Y11. She’s a smart kid predicted mostly 7-9, 6 for history. She’s very sporty, she does about 10 hours of tennis a week and 4 hours athletics (100m/200m and long jump when the club asks her to).
She’s really struggling to figure out what A-levels to do or what to study at uni after that. Obviously we will try and keep her options open as much as possible. Her best subjects are Maths, PE and French, science is up there too as is English. History is her worst enemy.
She’s considered sports science or physio therapy but isn’t sold.
She’s also considered something finance based.
She doesn’t want to be a coach or at least not right now, maybe a side job but she isn’t in love with the idea.

So what are your ex sporty kids doing now? Any ideas DD could consider as she’s really struggling.

Ah I was on your other thread @Morsien. She is keen on Loughborough, yes? I think tbh it’s better to have an idea of what you want to do than where you want to do it. A degree including an MFL, for example (not at Lboro tho) will always be useful.

Lboro is a great uni (DS is there) but she should be aware that while there is great access to sport of all kinds, and at all levels, she is unlikely to compete for the uni at BUCS athletics unless she is very very good. That may not be an issue – she can still train and compete at a more uni-based level.

To try to answer your question - DS does biological science, he is doing integrated masters now in his masters year and talking about maybe a (funded I hope!) PhD. He is hoping to gain some kind of research job. He took maths, PE and bio A levels, loving PE initially but soon switching to biology.

He's v sporty and has always done lots of sports (even in exam years!) - football, athletics, at one point cricket, cycling, tennis, swimming. American football has become his big love so I think he might end up doing something in that but not as a living really. He has big ambitions in that direction tho.

Not sure if that is any help! A levels in maths, PE and French would keep open MFL and sports science options at uni. Not really maths tho without FM, at least not at a higher-rated uni. Would she consider adding FM? What is her maths PG?

Sporty son did Maths Chem and PE now a physio living in NZ treating athletes and playing f a lot of sport
sporty daughter is doing same A levels and applying for Medicine

Thank you that’s really informative.
She is very keen on Loughborough but then also mentions London unis (more because she wants to live in the city), St Andrew’s has been in the mix too.
Her PG in maths is 9 but she’s not massively keen on doing further maths as it would be 10 hours of maths a week not including revision.
I don’t think she would want to study straight maths at uni anyway, more Finance or Finance and Economics if going down that path.
Athletics is her second sport so she’d be more worried about doing tennis competitively at uni.
The subjects she’s considering right now at A-level are Maths (basically a definite) French (same as maths) PE, English lit, Economics or maybe a science (bio or chem). She’s such an all rounder (minus history) that it’s really hard to know how to guide her. For me my A-levels were obvious as I was only really good at a few things.

My sporty DS did maths, physics and PE at A level. He considered going in quite a few different directions including physio, sports science, prosthetics/orthotics and mechanical engineering. He ended up being keen in more or less equal parts on sport and engineering and is currently at university studying sports design engineering. Too early to say where he'll end up jobs wise but currently he's really interested in the engineering side of para sport, prosthetics, equipment adaptations etc.

When I was at a Big 4 firm (as an auditor) we had a lot of very sporty people. I think it was for two reasons… 1) they had great answers to the competency questions at interview (eg tell me about a time when you worked successfully in a team) and 2) anyone who could get a good 2:1 whilst playing serious sport was a good fit.

If she wants to do finance etc be aware that accounting and finance is often the weaker academic option compared to economics and that she doesn’t need a relevant degree at all (I was a NatSci with a chemistry PhD and most of my intake had studied maths or engineering or science with a side order of economics and a few historians on the mix).

Does she want an indoor / office job or an outdoors one?
Are Geography, GeoSciences, Enviromental, etc type subjects in the mix?

If she’s not sold on sports-related careers, then I think she should leave sport out of her thinking process completely. Longterm friends I know who played sports or did athletics at county level or above and are still seriously/ competitively sporty (mostly extreme and ultramarathons, triathlons, iron man etc) do a wide variety of things. Off the top of my head — lawyer, architect, academic, runs his own youth hostel and cafe, medics of various stripes, yoga teacher (after a career in finance), cabinetmaker, teacher, arts administration, actuary.

I taught a lot of very sporty students in engineering, including one who competed at the Olympics while a student and several others who were in national squads. The university was very supportive of competitive sports and made special arrangements for those students to help them combine studying and sport. If your DD is not set on doing a sport related degree then she should just study what she’s interested in. Look for a university with good sports facilities - Loughborough is fantastic for sport but not a very exciting town. There are other places with good facilities. Those sporty students found that having played high level sports made them attractive to employers as well.

For balance… my niece was very sporty at school and applied for sports psychology. She’s having a year out and has realised already that there’s more out there than sport and is not going to take up her place. Back to looking at different courses.

As a PP has already mentioned, just be a bit careful about assuming Loughborough is the right place for every sporty student as many people will suggest it and it's not right for everyone. We found it was something of a knee jerk reaction from a lot of people who assumed that my DS would want to go there. I mean, sports and engineering...a no brainer surely? But actually he turned his offer down, much to many people's amazement.
It's a very good University no doubt, and ideal for many, but the sportyness is a two edged sword. My DS is pretty good at his sport - he was on the national governing body's talent pathway as an u18 - but he'd have been 10 a penny at Loughborough. One of his friends started this year and hasn't made it onto any of the BUCS teams this season. My DS preferred to be a middle sized fish in a middle sized pond and is currently playing regularly for his University 2nd team with the odd firsts appearance so far. And it's serious enough but not too serious if that makes sense? He wants to play at a decent level but doesn't aspire to be a professional so decent but not absolutely top tier University sport is right for him.
That wasn't the only reason for his choice of course, there were other things about the course and the environment that made him choose elsewhere. Had he felt the Loughborough course was perfect for him he'd probably have gone, but it wasn't. Just look carefully. Having spent a lot of time in sporty circles I have met many kids/parents with their hearts set on Loughborough from an early stage who I think haven't really looked at the bigger picture and have probably overlooked some very good alternatives as a result. At DS's offer holders day I heard one boy say that he hadn't applied for any other Universities.If he couldn't go to Loughborough he didn't want to go anywhere as nowhere else was any good for sport. I think that's absolutely nuts. Many Universities have excellent sports facilities and may suit particular students better for other reasons.

My DD is very sporty and is doing economics, she doesn't have FM and is at Oxford. A lot studying economics are sporty, not really sure why, but almost everyone I studied with was very sporty and same for DD. Banks employ a lot of very sporty people, think they like the high energy levels and sport was very much encouraged to keep up with a gym on site, reduced membership of health clubs, rowing competitions, etc. She also had offers from Bristol and Bath. Bath is also very sporty I think.

She had a job which was sports based whilst in 6th form and that was perfect, getting paid and doing a sport she loved and lots of tips as well as it involved tourists. History can vary a lot with what history you are studying - the gcse we had included medical history and ancient history but A levels were modern political history and quite different. I would say Maths A level is good to keep up to keep options open if she enjoys it and is good at it. Don't think FM is necessary unless they want that but with economics you need to look at less maths based courses or joint courses.

Would 2nd the not Loughborough look as well... Unless there really is a course that suits... V sporty kids i know are loving/loved Birmingham, Liverpoo, Nottingham, Bath and Cardiff..

Subjects Engineering, something environmental/geography /medical engineering? at Cardiff

Cardiff especially seems to be a real find... although lots of love for Liverpool....

I am out of date with what is going on at Bath Uni wrt tennis, but Bath Uni has some pretty good facilities.

If your DD is very good at tennis, would she be interested in going somewhere with a sports scholarship? My old neighbours' daughter has zero fees to pay at her US Uni (albeit not Ivy League).

Our DDs sound quite similar, my DD is now well into her 20s and a sports solicitor in London.
She did Maths, English Literature, PE and Politics for her A-levels, got 2A* 2A. She went to Cardiff in the end and studied Law, played tennis for the women's 1 team which played a league below the top maybe? Or maybe 2 leagues down.
She now works with all sorts of athletes and loves her job.

DD played her sport nationally and internationally (currently injured unfortunately) and did chemistry, biology and PE for A level. She had wanted to do physiotherapy at the point of picking A levels but changed her mind later and is now at Birmingham studying a STEM subject. Loughborough was her insurance choice. Sports facilities at Birmingham are excellent, and there’s plenty of opportunity to watch friends competing in a huge range of sports every week too. I can’t see her dropping her sport at this stage, but it isn’t likely to be the focus of her career either.

Good suggestion from @ElseLa there, sports agencies are also always looking for numerate graduates and if they can write too, so much the better. French wouldn't be helpful here as English is the language of international sport, but it may well be in other fields.

Incidentally tennis is one sport where it is possible to get an idea of what standard is required for which team at university since competitive players all have a rating. The system has changed since my 3 were students but the principle hasn't.

Just as an aside, Loughborough aren't the absolute top university for women's tennis, that is Nottingham, and Stirling for men. Loughborough right up there, though. University tennis is great, all 3 of mine played it, you train and travel together, they got reduced gym fees, S&C advice, nutrition and dietary help, parking permits on campus (training was before class and/or quite late in the evening) etc.

neigbour’s dd has just got a sports scholarship to an American university.

free education, can still train and compete. She also gets s&c, physio, nutrition, psychology etc. apparently her sport is not compatible with uni in the uk as elite training is done in the day.

us degrees are 4 years and a lot less specific. She is starting with a range of subjects she’s interested in and will follow what she likes. I think they don’t have to “declare a major” until year 3.

I have a sporty DD who plays her sport three or four days a week. She's in year 12 and she did consider doing sports science at A Level, but decided to keep her options open and is doing chemistry, biology and psychology. These choices will still enable her to do physiotherapy, sports science etc at university, but also leaves the door open for something like biochemistry or even medicine (probably not medicine tbh).

Yes, a young friend of ours has a rowing scholarship at Tufts. He rows for the top rowing club in his country of origin (not UK).

I agree with @MrsAvocet and others that L'boro is so often a kneejerk suggestion for a sporty YP, and it's not necessarily the best place for everyone. It's funny that it works the other way too – I mentioned to a colleague that DS was at Lboro and he said “oh that's basically just sport isn’t it?” well no, lots and lots of great degrees offered there!

As I said tho, no MFL offered there so if that was of interest then Lboro is a no.

I mean I think Lboro is great, no surprise, but the town is small, so if you want a big city then there are probably better options. The sports facilities are great and it's certainly possible to play for the BUCS team if you pick your sport carefully (DS's team two years ago won the big BUCS trophy and had a team full of rookies - but then they need a big squad). I don't know about tennis but agree it's worth asking what sort of level you need to be.

I agree that she may want to look at Nottingham, Brum, Cardiff, Leeds, Durham - all very sporty unis with excellent facilities. She should look closely at the courses on offer and assess based on that. DS was dazzled by the sports facilities at Lboro, but also loved (loves) the course offered, preferring it to Leeds and Notts.

Sorry @MrsAvocet didn'd mean to quote your post, just tag you! no worries

Ohh I’ve just mentioned this to DD and she seems quite interested can you tell me more?

Both of my DC were(and still are) very sporty.Between them they did football,athletics,hockey ,cross country running,cycling and tennis.Both represented their school.
Neither of them did a degree remotely related to sport and are now working in finance.

@Morsien - what is it you want to know? I'll try help best as I can!

I mean I think Lboro is great, no surprise, but the town is small, so if you want a big city then there are probably better options.
Yes, @clary this was a big factor for my DS. Having grown up in a rural area he really wanted to experience city life and once we'd visited Loughborough just didn't appeal to him. Though the deciding factor was really that there were modules that particularly attracted him on the course he chose that the Loughborough equivalent didn't include.
I'm not anti Loughborough - I would have been perfectly happy if DS had wanted to go there. I wouldn't want anyone to think I'm saying it isn't a great University, it's just that in my experience there can be quite a lot of pressure put on kids who are reasonably high achievers at sport that they must go there and anywhere else is second best. DS certainly experienced that from a number of quarters. Even on results day I had someone say to me "Oh he's done so well, would it be worth phoning Loughborough anyway?" They just didn't seem to grasp that it was DS who didn't want Loughborough, not vice versa!
I'm not trying to advise anyone not to go there, just to look more widely too and not to be afraid to say no if you don't think it's right for you. You'd honestly have thought DS had just handed back a lottery win from the way some people reacted when he turned down his offer!