Harry joined Brookes Sport after completing his undergraduate degree in Sport, Coaching and Physical Education and Psychology (2020), and a Masters in Sports Sociology by Research (2022) at Oxford Brookes.
With experience as an active leader within the Brookes Running Club, he quickly proved himself as an excellent Sports Development Assistant, supporting the coordination of fixtures and activity across our sports clubs.
He went on to become an Event Coordinator at BUCS and then moved into a role as a social researcher, crediting his experience at Brookes Sport as a key foundation in shaping his career.
We caught up with Harry to learn more about his journey and time at Brookes Sport.
Before working at Brookes Sport, what was your background in sport/physical activity? Why were you interested in working in sport?
From a young age, I was always interested in working in sport, as I always wanted to make a positive change in something I am passionate about. I also have always wanted to help minority groups be more present in sport, and increase opportunities.
Before working at Brookes, I was heavily involved in the Brookes Running Club, undertaking the roles of social secretary, club captain and club president. I also studied sport, so my day-to-day life was heavily centred around taking part in sport, as well as studying it.
What previous experiences did you have working or participating in sport before your time with Brookes Sport?
I’ve realised I’ve sort of answered this above! I participated in a number of running events before working at Brookes Sport, including racing in BUCS Sport events, and running at the Lee Valley Sports Centre. This gave me a great experience of sporting events, and offered an insight as to how they are run.
I experienced Brookes Sport for four years as a student on the Athletics Team, before I moved into the role of Sports Development Assistant after completing my master degree. I always found it very easy to communicate with the staff as a committee member and had positive experiences.
Following my masters, I worked as the Sports Development Assistant and then Sports Coordinator at Brookes Sport. This involved organising and managing the fixtures and events of over 30 sports clubs. The whole team was always really friendly, and I learnt a lot during my time at Brookes!
What are you currently doing now and how do you feel your experience with Brookes Sport helped you get where you are today?
I learnt how much goes into putting on sports fixtures, even at a university level! The level of detail and planning needed to make a season successful was really eye-opening and is what I learnt the most from!
I really enjoyed seeing how much the sport itself meant to the teams and competitors, knowing I was a part of organising that is something I’ve always been proud o
What are you currently doing now and how do you feel your experience with Brookes Sport helped you get where you are today?
I’ve just finished working as an event coordinator at BUCS, where I was in post for two years. I’m moving onto the civil service, where I will be working as a social researcher.
My experience at Brookes Sport led me straight to BUCS really! I applied to multiple roles there, but the skills and experiences I had from Brookes Sport enabled me to get the job. From managing the weekly fixtures to organising larger scale events, all of my responsibilities set me up well!
Teamwork is essential: especially for working on and organising events. It takes so many people’s input to successfully run an event that you have to be able to work as part of a team!
Time Management: in most sport roles, you’ll find yourself involved in multiple different projects, so being able to manage your time and competing deadlines is a really key skill.
Leadership: the last one I’ll mention is leadership qualities. The better you are at controlling difficult situations, and leading from the front, the more success you’ll have!
My advice would be to take every single opportunity you can to get involved with sport, whether it be like I did, by being on your club committee, or just volunteering in sport in general. I also volunteered as a statistics researcher for Oxford United alongside my masters, and coached football at Oxford City, so I just put myself out there as much as possible! I’ve gone from small scale university sports clubs to chaperoning Olympians at BUCS Conference!