Athlete Professional Development
Athlete professional development addresses a challenge that many high-performing athletes face but rarely have the opportunity to prepare for: the transition out of sport. A career in elite sport, whether in football, cycling, or another discipline, demands total commitment while it lasts, but it is also finite, and the skills developed on the field or track do not automatically translate into professional success in other contexts. This programme exists to change that, providing athletes with the educational and personal development foundation they need to build a meaningful life beyond their sporting career.
At the University of Derby, this two-year full-time foundation degree has been developed in collaboration with ProChance Football, and is aimed at aspiring athletes engaged with partner organisations across football and cycling. You will study while pursuing your athletic commitments, developing academic skills and professional self-awareness alongside your performance goals. The programme covers themes relevant to the transition from sport, including personal development, career planning, communication, and the transferable skills that elite sport develops but that athletes may not immediately recognise as valuable in other contexts.
It recognises that your life outside your sport is crucial, and that planning for the future is not a distraction from performance but a complement to it.
Graduates of this programme are equipped to move into a wide range of roles in and around sport, including coaching, sports development, performance support, sports administration, and sports business and media. The personal qualities developed through elite sport, including discipline, resilience, teamwork, and the ability to perform under pressure, are widely valued by employers across sectors, and this programme helps you articulate and build on those qualities in a professional context. Many graduates also use the foundation degree as a stepping stone to further higher education, building on the academic skills developed during the programme.