Olivia Patten

Assistant athletics coach Coach coordinator AU Exec Coaching and Officiating Officer Performance Analyst for Lightning Netball Performance Analyst for Loughbor

Performance support

During her time at Loughborough, Olivia has taken every opportunity possible, including in Lightning Netball as a performance analyst, Coach Coordinator, athletics coach, school games volunteer and many more. She is a role model to so many students and goes above and beyond in all roles she holds.

  

Aside from my studies and volunteer roles, I enjoy spending time with friends, going to the gym, hiking and travelling to as many places as possible. I have climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, and I am off to climb Machu Picchu in a few weeks. But I recently got back from volunteering in Uganda where we built a playground at a primary school whilst delivering creative play sessions and playing sport with the kids which has been my favourite trip to date. I am also taking helicopter lessons which is another passion of mine.

After being an assistant athletics coach in first year, I knew I wanted to get involved in Netball in my second year as that is the sport I played before university. After a meeting with the CVA I was shown the opportunity of Volunteer Performance Analyst. I thoroughly enjoyed this role. This led to me achieving my placement role with Loughborough Hockey as Performance Analyst and my return to Lightning in my final year where we won the League and is one of my top 5 favourite moments.

My other role as AU Exec Coaching and Officiating Officer came after being a coach coordinator, a member of the CVA suggested that I apply for the Exec role to increase my involvement within supporting coaching and officiating and I enjoyed all aspects of the role.

Through my volunteer roles at Loughborough, I have had the opportunity to meet so many people which has led to countless opportunities such as working with England Netball, British Athletics and England hockey to name a few. This has led to me making great connections who I have been able to reach out to for help and advice over the years and led to me choosing to carry on my learning at Loughborough through my MSc.

My experience volunteering has been such a supportive one by everyone within the CVA and Loughborough Sport. They have always been there to answer my many questions and to guide me in the right direction and I would not be where I am today without them. Whether that be pushing me to apply for roles or putting my name forward for different opportunities or even just for a chat, they have been there every step of the way.

Loughborough Sport has ensured that I not only left Loughborough with an undergraduate degree but also three years of relevant experience which is invaluable especially when applying for jobs and further study. It also ensured that I could put my degree into practice and see the benefits of what I was learning in a real world environment as well as figure out which discipline I enjoyed the most and which I wanted a career in.

It also taught me some of the softer skills required in a working environment such as presenting to large groups of people, time management alongside my studies and working with different people as a team.

Don’t wait for opportunities to come to you, there are hundreds of opportunities at Loughborough if you ask and take them.

The people I have met along the way and the experiences and opportunities I have had the honour of being part of.  

Feeling Inspired?

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