The beautiful game in Northumbria
MSc student Hannah Marshall maintains that Northumbria University is the ideal place for her personal development and love of football
Hannah Marshall is about to complete her postgraduate degree in international sports management at the Northumbria University. Hannah was Northumbria’s Sports President from 2013-14.
‘I’m a northern girl and wanted to study in the north. I looked at several universities, but was incredibly impressed with what Northumbria offered; it’s ranked in the top 30 in the UK for this course. After completing my undergraduate degree in sports science here, I wasn’t completely sure what direction I wanted to pursue but one important consideration was that I could continue to play football. I play for Newcastle United Women’s team.
One of the great things about this university is the opportunity for volunteering in the local community. I did some football coaching in my third year here and really enjoyed it and I’ve continued to coach now that I’m on the Master's course. I see it as a means to develop people. I’m part of Northumbria’s Sports Development programme, which includes Football Future where volunteers from the university go into local clubs to coach young people. I’m also involved in raising money for Zambia’s Ideals project.
I saw this Master's course as a means to develop a deeper understanding of the subject, as well as developing myself as a person. It’s great to achieve your degree at the end of any course, but personal development, which enhances your career prospects, is just as important. I’ve been fortunate to benefit from some financial support from the university and also working as an intern in the department. This means taking on a professional, paid role, albeit part time, alongside my studies.
I’m very interested in sports development and one of the attractions of this course is its international focus. We have students from all over the world – from 10 countries. I’ve been able to learn about how sport is managed and developed in different countries because all the students on this course have different backgrounds. The course covers many aspects of sport, including sports management, business and marketing. I’ve been to Lausanne on a week-long field trip where I met members of the International Sports Federation, which taught me a huge amount about working in the sports industry.
One of the main aspects of the course here at Northumbria is that it gears you up for work – it’s a very vocational course. I’ve now been offered my first job when I graduate: a sports development role in Malaysia, which is my dream job.’