Sports Coaching BSc (Hons)

Michelle Morgan

Michelle Morgan joined the University of Worcester School of Sport and Exercise Science full-time in 2011, after fulfilling a number of part-time roles within the School during both her undergraduate and MSc studies. Michelle has a range of experiences in sports coaching (both in the UK and USA) with a Netball specialism as a UKCC Level 3 coach. In her role as Course Leader and Senior Lecturer for the BSc (Hons) Sports Coaching Science degree, Michelle uses her industry and academic experiences to support and develop students’ understanding of the demands of the sporting industry, including the skills and qualities needed to be employable.  

Dr Andy Cale

Andy has a wide and vast experience in Higher Education, Sports Coaching and Sports Psychology. He has worked in Professional Football as a Sports Psychologist, has managed and coached in the Champions League, has worked for the Football Association as Head of Player Development and Research and worked as a Senior Football Manager in Qatar for the 2022 World Cup. Andy uses all these different experiences to help students learn and develop as people and coaches.

Dr Christian Edwards

Dr Christian Edwards is a Principal Lecturer in Sports Coaching Science and one of the School’s Academic Integrity Tutors. He is a member of the Gender, Identity and the Body research interest group and a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy. Christian teaches on sociological, psychological and research methods modules within the School’s undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Christian also supports postgraduate students on the MRes Socio-Cultural Studies of Sport and Exercise programme.

Christian’s principal research interest is on the psychology of resistance exercise, specifically psychological strategies' influence on strength performance and muscularity-orientated body-image. He has published his work in, and reviews for, a number of leading international academic journals in this area. In addition to his work in this field, he also collaborates on projects focused on workplace physical activity and well-being.

Alongside his academic role, Christian is a cycling coach.

Glyn Harding

Glyn came to the University of Worcester in 2004 having previously worked as a PE teacher, youth worker and the Assistant Academy Director at Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club.

Since coming to the School of Sport and Exercise Science, he has undertaken the roles of HND co-ordinator and course leader for Sports Coaching Science and has developed the coaching of disabled athletes, culminating in a unique taught degree pathway in this evolving area of study. As part of his role, Glyn supports and provides guidance to elite athletes in their pursuit of sporting and academic excellence; these have included the GB paralympic blind footballers Ajmal Ahmed and Lee Greatbatch, the Port Vale footballer Robert Taylor and GB downhill mountain biker Jessica Stone.

Glyn has been a key pioneer in the development of the Brazil-UK Football Development Course undertaken in partnership by the University of Worcester and the University of São Paulo.

Dr Jennifer Joyce

Dr Jennifer Joyce is the course leader for the Sport and Exercise Science course and her passion lies in nurturing the talents and aspirations of her students to ensure they reach their full potential. She is deeply committed to supporting students in their personal and professional growth and enjoys supporting students to develop the resilience needed to succeed in their academic journey.

David Mycock

David consults and researches in the field of coaching science and coaches externally in elite level football. He has helped evolve the game of blind futsal and is a qualified FA Tutor. David is the Head Coach of Worcester Blind FC and has previously coached the England and Great Britain Blind Futsal teams at major tournaments, and is currently the Head Coach of the Czech Republic National Blind Football team.

David has a variety of NGB Awards and as an ex-professional football player is a member of the Professional Footballers Association. His role at the University has grown since 2006 and he is now the Link Tutor for the SSES Partnership programmes with Masaryk University in the Czech Republic.

Alexandru Radu

Alexandru Radu joined the School of Sport and Exercise Science in May 2010 after lecturing at Northumbria University, where he gained an MSc in Sport Management UK/European and the APT Award (Applauding and Promoting Teaching Award). As well as teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students, Alex is actively involved in coaching basketball – Romania Women National Team, Romania U20 Women National Team, Worcester Wolves (BBL) men team, Cardiff Archers (WBBL) women team and Wales U18 Men's National Team are amongst some of the teams he coached (as either Head Coach or Assistant Coach).

The books Basketball Coaching - Putting Theory into Practice (2015); The Science of Basketball (2018) and Basketball: Skills, Drills and Session Plans (Technical Drills for Competitive Training) (2023) are three of his key publications.

Professor Don Vinson

Don's specialist area is sports coaching.  He is driven by balancing his roles as teacher, researcher and practitioner, applying his expertise in learning and pedagogic theory to all areas of his work. Don has written extensively in the area of sports coaching, performance analysis, leadership and higher education pedagogy. In particular, his recent research focuses on Coach Developer learning through the perspective of Landscapes of Practice in various contexts.

Don is a member of the International Council for Coach Education (ICCE) Research Committee, founder-member and Secretary of the Cluster for Research into Coaching (CRiC) Steering Committee and is the UK representative for the International Advisory Board for the Teaching Games for Understanding Special Interest Group.

Don has worked with a large number of National Governing Bodies (NGBs) including the Football Association, British Cycling, British Gymnastics, British Rowing and the British Equestrian Federation. Don has also consulted for many influential bodies within the sport sector such as UK Sport, UK Coaching and the League Managers’ Association. 

Don is passionate about most sports and, in addition to hockey, can also be regularly found playing squash, badminton and golf.

Dr Julia West

Julia West has a keen interest in sport and performance. She played football for a number of years in the Women's premiership as goalkeeper for different clubs and earned her England University caps against America, Scotland and Wales.

As a keeper, Julia's perspective on football may be slightly different, if not interesting and she is happy to discuss this with all comers. Julia read her BSc in Sport from Brunel University, where she also successfully achieved an MSc in Sports Coaching. Having completed her PhD in situational motivation, which arose from observations within her goalkeeper coaching, Julia has now turned her attention to all things goalkeeper related. 

Craig Williams

Craig successfully blends his passion for student learning and employability in his roles at the University of Worcester where he is a Senior Lecturer in Sports Coaching Science, Course Leader for the BSc Cricket Coaching and Management degree and the Coach Education and Development Manager. As well as a Senior Lecturer in Sports Coaching Science, Craig is an affiliate tutor with the Football Association delivering courses from Level 1 to 3 (UEFA B) and a qualified and active Cricket Coach.  

Since 2001, Craig has created a vocational coach education programme that has provided over 16,600 opportunities for University students and community coaches to secure accredited coach education and relevant coaching and officiating CPD. These qualifications and opportunities provide University of Worcester students with the necessary skills and qualifications to secure coaching and officiating opportunities.

Dr John Francis

Drawing on his wealth of applied performance analysis practice and his emerging research portfolio, Dr John Francis is passionate about enhancing the learning and employability opportunities for all undergraduate and post-graduate performance analysis students. He has provided performance analysis support to a variety of teams during eight European Championships, four World Championships, two World Cups and a Paralympic Games as part of his ongoing applied performance analysis work. Producing impactful and insightful research that informs future practice is important to his research interests and is particularly proud of how his work is shaping the future of performance analysis and the role of the analyst.

Michael Bateman

Mike joined the University of Worcester in January 2017 following a career as a Performance Analyst in professional football. Mike had worked closely with the University before becoming a member of staff by developing placement and internship programmes for both undergraduate and postgraduate pathways.

His passion continues to focus around the importance of performance analysis within the coaching process and utilises his knowledge of the applied field to assist in the education of students. He also supports the University of Worcester franchise teams, utilising technical expertise to help bridge the gap between the applied and theoretical world of performance analysis.