Sports students explore leisure centre life

Sports students at Walsall College recently gained insights into the experiences of customers and staff at a Walsall Wood leisure centre.

Oak Park Active Living Centre welcomed the aspiring personal trainers and sports massage therapists for a taster day.  The students also became some of the first to try out the newly opened Box12 fitness space.

Box12 makes use of the latest technology to optimise and tailor training to a user’s fitness level, making it suitable for people of any abilities.

In addition to taking part in a Box 12 fitness class with a Box 12 gym instructor, the students also received talks and attended practical sessions with a swim instructor, lifeguard, apprentice lifeguard and receptionist.

Nichola Arrowsmith, Advanced Practitioner and Personal Development Lead at the college said that the students valued the opportunity to receive an all-round view of the operational style of a leisure centre as well as information about specific careers and the professional approaches of the centre staff.

“It’s always beneficial for our students to explore the services and customer experiences provided by different exercise and fitness providers, particularly when they offer something brand new like the dynamic Box12 Studio,” she said.

“It was great to receive a full tour of the centre and take a closer look at all their facilities,” said student, Lewis Hawkins.

“We now have a better understanding of some of the daily tasks that are carried out by staff, including some of the responsibilities of a gym manager.”

Lewis added: “It was also useful to see how different staff such as lifeguards carry out their training and how this compares to the training methods we’ve explored in class.  We all came away with approaches that we could implement into our own coaching and training back in college.”

For information about sports and fitness courses at the college, see here.