Ben Whiteman visited a Preston Centre of Sporting Excellence class earlier this month to share his insight into the psychological and the mental aspects of football, supporting learners with their current learning as part of their Diploma in Sport programme.
Preston North End Community and Education Trust and Preston College work in partnership to offer high-quality, technical Diploma in Sport qualifications at levels one, two and three, for 16 to 19-year-olds in Preston.
🎓 @BenWhiteman17 visited our Centre of Sporting Excellence learners @PrestonCollege recently!
— Preston North End Community and Education Trust (@pnecommunity) October 29, 2021
Our thanks go to Ben for sharing his insight into the psychological and the mental aspects of football, supporting learners with their current modules. 👏#PNECET #PNEFC @EFLCEFA
Learners enrolled on the programme have the opportunity to improve their knowledge about multiple areas of the sporting industry while accessing unique work placement opportunities, both from PNECET and Preston College.
In addition, learners have the opportunity to represent both organisations in national, competitive football leagues, against other professional clubs, including the EFL Community and Education Football Alliance League.
With learners currently focusing on sports psychology, Whiteman visited Preston College to answer the class’ questions both about that subject and his football career more generally.
Whiteman said: “It’s been very good to come back out into the community, it’s been a long time with Covid.
“It was very good and the learners asked some good questions in terms of lifestyles and what it takes to become a professional footballer. It was good to give them some advice and it’s up to them now to take that on.”
PNECET Post-16 Curriculum Lead Zach Clark added: “We were delighted to have Ben Whiteman joining our Preston Centre of Sporting Excellence learners as a guest speaker in a recent lesson.
“Our learners were able to ask Ben about aspects of an elite athlete’s lifestyle, including his mentality and psychological approach to training and matches.
“Gaining a real-life insight into these areas is a fantastic way for our learners to relate their studies to real life examples, particularly coming from aspirational figures like Ben as a first team player for Preston North End.
“We’ve been pleased to continue to rely on the support of our first team players to support our education programmes in an online capacity during the pandemic, but it was fantastic to welcome a player in-person again for our learners to be able to physically see the close partnership that we have with Preston North End.
“Our thanks go to Ben for answering our learners’ questions in a professional manner, and we look forward to welcoming more of the first team squad into our lessons throughout the academic year.”
Visit PNE.Com/NewStudent to enrol with Preston Centre of Sporting Excellence for the 2022/23 academic year, or email graeme@pne.com to find out more.