Hear from our Sport staff, students and alumni

Meet Hannah
BA (Hons) Fashion Design and Technology Product Developer, Vorteq

What was it that drew your to specialising in sportswear? 

My background in competitive swimming and other sports drew me to study sportwear at Manchester Met. I wasn’t interested in women’s fashion, I wanted to design technical swimwear intially. 

I loved learning about all elements of the fashion and sportswear industry, from design to promotion. By exploring differing avenues, I was able to discover employment possibilities within the industry based on my strengths. I learned over the years that I preffered developing products rather than designing them, yet I still acquired a knowledge of the entire process of production. 

During your degree, did you have any opportunities to gain experience of working in industry or working with companies? 

After my second year, I had the opportunity to work in industry for my placement year. I spent two weeks working at Milano Pro Sport, a leading gymnastics wear company that connected to my interest in swimwear. This enabled me to gain experience designing leotards, editing professional photographs and constructing garments. 

After that, I spent nine months living in Denmark working as a design intern for Saysky, a running wear company based in Copanhagen. Here I spent a lot of time creating technical packs and communicating with factories to develop samples.  

In my final year of University, I won a live design brief for Ping. This gave me the opportunity to work for Ping for two weeks, designing graphics and prints for performance golf.   

I was fortunate enough to have my final collection showcased at London Graduate Fashion Week. It was there my work was seen by industry experts and I was asked to work for my current employer who were looking for someone to develop performance-wear for the Olympics.  

My final collection and project concept was also chose in a worldwide competion, the Woolmark x Adidad performance challenge. As one of the ten finalists, I presented my project to a judging panel in Munich after visiting the Woolmark Company Will in Shanghai. This was a once in a lifetime experience that I could have only achieve through studying at Manchester Met. 

Out of the skills you gained during your degree, which have been the most useful in your career so far? 

One of the most beneficial skills I gained form my degree was mastering the innovation machinery at Manchester Met. The skills gained using adhesive bonding machinery and othe rinnovative construction techniques have not only been the reasn for my success in final year, but has enable me to transfer this knowledge and ability to develop products to my role in industry now. 

Meet Zahrah
BSc (Hons) Manchester City Community Football Coaching

Second year student, Zahrah Malik tells us what life is like on the BSc (Hons) Manchester City Community Football Coaching degree.

“From the minute I arrived, everything was so organised and all of the staff were really welcoming.

The Manchester City Community Football Coaching degree is based at Manchester City Academy. We use the press conference room for our lectures and the indoor dome for our practical sessions, along with the community pitch. We also have access to everything at the main University campus as well, such as the All Saints Library, whenever need to study.

The teaching on the course is brilliant - the lecturers got to know us all as individuals and connected with us and it really shows in the teaching. The lecturers challenge us to push ourselves and be the best that we can be.

I would say to anyone considering this course: take the opportunity and grab it with both hands! There is no limit to how far you can go. We are given so many opportunities that other people could only dream of. Make the most of everything and put your all into everything you do – it won’t go unnoticed and the hard work pays off.

In the future, I would like to work full-time for City in the Community, as well as getting involved with the participation of girls and women in football in my local community. I’d like to continue to work my way up the ladder in my coaching career and achieve my UEFA B coaching badge.”