Diani gets on track to her dream of a life in sport
ATHLETE Diani Walker combines medal-winning prowess with her studies at college.
The 19-year- old trains at the Birchfield Harriers athletics club in Perry Barr, Birmingham, while studying Access To Sports Science at Birmingham Metropolitan College in Sutton Coldfield.
She recently won bronze at the Sainsbury’s British Indoor Championships in Sheffield.
Diani completed her 60m race in 7.5 seconds, but a week later, at the Sainsbury’s British Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham, she completed the same race one second faster. She says: ‘ People might think a sports qualification is easy, but there’s lot of in-depth study into how the body works and performs during physical and competitive activity.
‘I completed a subsidiary diploma in sport and exercise science and a sports coaching qualification at Birmingham Metropolitan College while playing volleyball, badminton and tennis.
‘I decided to continue with an Access To Sports studies course because there are so many different paths you can follow for the qualification, including coaching, teaching, physiotherapy and sports psychology.
‘Most people on my course are a bit older, between 21 and 30, which helps me be more focused and disciplined with my studies.
‘It’s a great course because you cover everything from biology and anatomy to sports nutrition.
‘ I plan to complete my degree in sports and exercise ( performance analysis) at Middlesex University, then specialise in sports psychology. The course I’ve chosen has work placement opportunities and there are plenty of job opportunities in and around London.’
Diani, who also coaches teenage boys and girls at the Birchfield Harriers Academy, adds: ‘I am pretty busy, but because I enjoy it so much, it doesn’t feel like work.’
Birmingham Metropolitan College is one of the largest UK further education colleges, providing a wide range of education, training and apprenticeship courses.
It enrols 30,000 students a year on full, part-time and higher education courses.
A college spokeswoman says: ‘We work with local businesses as well as global companies including BMW, Samsung, IBM and Network Rail to provide work experience and apprenticeships.’