I am an MSc student with UWS after moving to Scotland from England in the summer of 2018. In the paragraphs below, I will detail some of my history relevant to the position I have shown interest in; to highlight the main reasons I feel, I could make a positive contribution. 

Whilst working in England I served as Chief Coach of Preston Swimming Club between 2014 and 2018. During this time I pioneered the amalgamation of the swimming club and the varsity programme out of Lancaster University. This led to me, then, dually becoming the Head Coach of the Club and University continuing to working closely with the Head of Sport and the club's committee. This provided me with the opportunity to lead a project which provided students across the UK who were also competitive swimmers to access a nationally recognised swim team whilst pursuing their academic studies at the Sunday Times' University of the Year (2018). I was involved in regular discussion and planning with the: student union, student engagement and recruitment, sport development team and the swimming committee to represent the University and the aquatic strategy. Between 2015 and 2018 we welcomed a number of student swimmers from across the UK and some overseas as far as Asia. For the first time, Lancaster University boasted a development and performance pathway for its student swimmers, something which became a clear objective from the outset and something we were able to fulfil for the members of the swimming committee and the student union. All the above had major benefit to the University, both in terms of recruitment and performance. 

In 2017, I was elected as Vice-Chair to the Northwest region's coaches forum, which was a role that allowed me to work closely with coaches, volunteers and club's. The forum met quarterly but we were responsible for communicating each month and being the 'go to' for coaches and volunteers in the region, to then feedback to the national governing body's representatives. 

Since relocating to Scotland, I have taken up the full-time Head Coach position at West Dunbartonshire, as well as studying at UWS on a part-time MSc. I was invited to voluntarily sit on Scottish Swimming Technical Panels giving me the opportunity to help contribute towards the strategic development of competitive swimming within Scotland. 

My day-to-day job involves working with people. I am a swimming coach by trade. But, as well as working with athletes and trying to help individuals get the best out of themselves, I also have experience in managing and developing teams whether it be in a sporting or organisational context. I believe my passion for helping others is firmly evidenced in this, but my experiences and working with a wide range of people throughout my coaching career, thus far, would be advantageous for the position of School Officer. 

I would be delighted to be nominated as a School Officer. Knowing I could be the voice of the divisional representatives and using my experience in navigating positive change and collaborating effectively with various stakeholders to optimise results fills me with geniune enthusiasm. More importantly, knowing I could give something back to the institution that provided me with the great opportunity of studying a Masters degree would be something I would relish, and I would take sincere pride in representing the students, divisional representatives and University as a whole to help meet their needs.