Making education accessible is at the foundation of Portobello Institute.
This college was founded by Delia Lyons with the express desire to offer education to those who otherwise couldn’t get it. Since Rebekah Lyons took over from her mother, the college has continued the legacy of Delia by making decisions based on what is best for each individual student.
For mature students, this is particularly valuable.
Portobello’s degree courses and the delivery modes available through which they can be studied makes it easier for learners to incorporate their education into their broader lives.
Mature students have families and full-time jobs to support their families so they need their education to be flexible.
The work-life-education balance can be a fragile one.
Shane Malone was one of those mature students who found Portobello to be the perfect solution. Shane not only wanted to find a job that would allow him to provide for his family, he wanted to enjoy a fulfilling career also.
“I discussed it with my family and we came to the conclusion that a degree would benefit us and my son in the long run…the long term impact of this course and the doors it will open in the long run convinced me to sign up.
I was always interested in the ‘why’ side of sport.
Mainly it is the strong interest I have for sports science, I always said I want a job that I enjoy doing and the opportunity to go to Portobello to study sport science and performance analysis will give me the chance to do that.
The course was only sports performance analysis when I started but fairly quickly into the course Dr. Giblin emailed me about the thoughts of changing it to “sports science and performance analysis” which was a huge plus for me!”
Knowing where he wanted to be, Shane then set about making sure what the right route to get there was. For that, he had to understand what modules were available on the course he was going to study.
“What modules I would be doing was a big one for me, with biomechanics and physiology was a major deciding factor in choosing this course.”
In Year 1, students develop a foundation and broader understanding of sports science and performance analysis before advancing that understanding so that they are ready to work in elite sports environments immediately upon graduating.
Ireland is a hub for sports science companies. Many of the largest sports science and performance analysis companies in the world are based here.
As such, there is a constant need for sports science graduates and a plethora of companies actively pursuing them.
Portobello Institute values the one in everyone and understands that education is only a part of your life. We don’t want to take up all of your time and create stress for you. You should go to college to improve your life outside of college and after college.
We are training the sports professionals of the future. If you would like to work in sport in a professional capacity, you can find a course that will provide you with the requisite education to do so.
Our sports courses are listed here.
To read more articles like this one, you can visit the Sports section of the Knowledge Zone.
If you would prefer to have a direct conversation with Johanna, you can contact her on 01-892-0024 or you can email her at jo.shaw@portobelloinstitute.com. Meetings with Johanna can be booked through this link.
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Johanna Shaw has a 2:1 in BSc (Hons) in Sports and Exercise Science from Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh. She completed an MPhil Studentship in Physical Activity for Health alongside an Exercise Development role. She then went onto a Tackling Inactivity in Students role funded by Sport England within a Further Education College in London before moving back to Dublin to Portobello Institute.
