Advanced Apprenticeship in Motor Sport
The Motor Sports Association, governing body of UK motor sport, has announced the creation of the first ever Apprenticeship in motor sport driving and has opened registrations for the first intake of 50 drivers and co-drivers to start the course in August 2009.
The Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE) is funded by the Learning and Skills Council and is already well established in many other sports including football, rugby, tennis, golf, athletics and swimming with notable success - for example, Rebecca Adlington was an AASE student when she took double Gold in the pool in Beijing.
The Advanced Apprenticeships have been designed to meet the needs of young people aged 16-18 (up to 24 in some cases) who have the realistic potential to achieve excellence in their sport and are seeking to perform at the highest level as their main career goal.
The programme teaches the broad range of competences required in elite sport and will focus on the development of the student as a motor sport competitor. But as well as improving their human performance, students will also develop a mix of transferable skills and qualifications that can be used in later life to progress to further/higher education and/or gain employment within the field of motor sport or outside it.
The MSA has appointed Croydon College as its lead education provider and the course content will be in two parts: half vocational (NVQ) and half technical certificate (BTEC). For the vocational element, students will receive a Level 3 NVQ in Sporting Excellence. Alongside this, students will either study for a BTEC National Certificate or National Diploma in Sport, or continue with their regular 'A' levels. The National Certificate in Sport is equivalent to two 'A' levels while the National Diploma is equivalent to three 'A' levels. A recognised coaching qualification will also be included in the technical certificate.
The MSA is now looking for the first intake of 50 competitors to enrol on the AASE motor sport programme which begins in August 2009. All AASE students must be aged between 16 and 24 and be able to demonstrate their potential to go on to become Elite performers within the sport. The MSA has drawn up a minimum level of performance that will be expected of successful applicants which can be found at www.msauk.org/AASE.
The motor sport AASE will sit beneath the current MSA Elite programmes in both Race and Rally, working with potentially elite athletes. It is the first programme to be brought through under the guidance of MSA Performance Director and former WRC Champion, Robert Reid. It will form part of the MSA's new competitor development pathway that will ultimately take competitors from eight years of age through to Elite and world levels.
Robert Reid, MSA Performance Director:
"AASE is a vital step in allowing motor sport driving to become a genuine career choice for young people. It allows them to commit to their performance, be trained in their sporting development and also receive a recognised qualification at the end of it. It is designed to make the best of the most promising athletes and is geared towards achieving excellence, but for those whose career does not take off, there is the safety net of transferable qualifications. For competitors, this is probably the best opportunity they have to develop their talents within a structured framework and it will form a key part of the MSA's vision of talent development for the future."
Colin Hilton, MSA Chief Executive:
"The MSA is committed to achieving excellence with the UK's most talented competitors, but also ensuring that young people's education does not suffer as a result of their competitive commitments. The success of AASE in other sports reinforces that this is the right choice for the future development of motor sport."
Further information on the AASE in Motor Sport can be found at www.msauk.org/AASE.
