Loughborough

A day in the life

A normal day would usually involve being up early to go to the gym as a squad and perform our tailored strength and conditioning programs in the power base gym, which is regularly used by the England cricketers, as well as other elite athletes, and is an exceptional facility. If a squad gym session is not scheduled then you will usually arrange to attend with another squad member at a time during the day.
Lectures will usually take up several hours a day and are held between 9 in the morning and 6 o’clock at night. Even as you walk around the campus between these lectures you are likely to see some of the England academy before Christmas and often players returning from injury. The lecture facilities, similar to the sporting facilities, are exceptional and, depending on what you study, you are likely to be lectured by some of the leading researchers in your degree of study.
On certain days of the week, other squad training sessions will be arranged such as sprints before Christmas and nets after Christmas on a Wednesday afternoon as well as a pool fitness/recovery session on a Friday afternoon. There will usually be a session in a related field such as psychology before a sprint session on a Wednesday provided by a top class lecturer or applied practitioner. Some sessions will be optional and others compulsory but either way sessions are always informative and are provided by experts in the area concerned.
After training in a day, some time will often have to be spent completing coursework or researching in the library. The time spent studying and training is balanced carefully especially around exam times and flexibility is provided on both halves of this equation as it is important not to train too hard but time must be given to both aspects.
Within the UCCE there is a highly social aspect, from going out in an evening to build team spirit to spending time together making dinner in an evening, this is especially true as you progress through university and may live with other squad members in your time here

Dan Pratt
Loughborough UCCE