St Mary's Student Wins National Coaching Award

A recent graduate of the BSc Strength and Conditioning Science (S&C) programme at St Mary’s University, Twickenham Katie Parker was presented with the Richard Holmes Award for Emerging Coach of the Year at the UK Strength and Conditioning Association's (UKSCA) annual conference in Warwickshire last weekend. Alongside her undergraduate studies, Katie has recognised the importance of gaining coaching experience and volunteered her services to numerous clubs and projects worldwide. Katie began her coaching career in 2010 providing part-time S&C support to the Watford Football Club academy, ultimately being awarded the title of ‘Head of Coaching’ for the under-9s to under-12s age groups in 2012. Katie spent the summer of 2013 coaching the Grenadian national netball and cricket teams, who she still advises on a regular basis. In semester one of 2013/14, she spent a semester studying abroad at DeSales University in the USA. During her time at DeSales she led the S&C programme for the University Lacrosse team as they prepared for their 2014 season. In October 2014, Katie was the recipient of a Gold Medal Internship at Surrey County Cricket, where she is currently Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach. She has also worked as an assistant coach at Warwickshire Cricket County Club and regularly provided coaching support to the Wales Lacrosse team during 2014/15. Programme Director Richard Blagrove said, “I am delighted that Katie’s hard work and dedication has been recognised by our national professional Association. Through many hours of voluntary coaching, Katie has developed into an outstanding coach and I am sure that this award combined with her degree from St Mary’s will allow her to secure employment as a professional coach in the near future.”