CURIOUS representatives from the only dedicated sports university in Lithuania have visited Worcester University to get insights into its sports provision.
The visitors from Lithuanian Sports University were particularly interested to find out how Worcester University manages elite athlete students through its sports scholarship programme and more about the sports therapy clinic, which offers practical sessions for students on real-life clients.
Delina Neidorf, head of study department at Lithuanian Sports University, said: “It’s always beneficial to examine how other universities are addressing similar challenges. For instance, many institutions face issues related to the study process, particularly for athletes who need to attend training camps and competitions while still fulfilling their academic requirements. We might discover new ideas we can implement by looking at what other universities are doing.
“It’s fascinating to learn about the different strategies Worcester University has adopted to manage this situation. As a sports university, we aim to attract and retain athletes, as we want to be their first choice. Therefore, discussing approaches here at Worcester has been very helpful.”
The visitors sat in on some lectures, including one with the university’s sports scholarship students, and spoke to staff that manage these elite level athlete students. They also got to see a sports therapy theory to practical session and one of the sports therapy clinics in action.
Edgaras Lapinskas, director of the physiotherapy study programme at Lithuanian Sports University, added: “We’re learning to establish the same. We’re here to explore how you are running these clinics, what equipment you have, what’s the management of this clinic and how to attract other athletes to use these facilities.”