Physiotherapist Loughborough University National Tennis Academy

Physiotherapist Loughborough University National Tennis Academy
Management and Specialist grade 6 from £33966 to £44263 per annum. Subject to annual pay award.

Full time and open ended (subject to external funding)

Loughborough University National Tennis Academy (LUNTA) is looking for an experienced, enthusiastic, and dynamic Physiotherapist to support the performance of developing elite junior tennis players as part of the LTA’s Player Pathway. The successful candidate will be responsible for developing and delivering a comprehensive Physiotherapy strategy to meet the needs of LUNTA players and coaches, including but not exclusive to, identifying and delivering individualised athlete management and rehabilitation programmes and targeted injury risk management strategies to enhance performance in collaboration with the IDT, coaches, and players.

About the programme

LUNTA is a transformational environment for elite junior international tennis players, targeted at developing a greater number of British professional players inside the senior top 100 in both the Men’s and Women’s game. The individualised, pro-style, interdisciplinary training environment tailored specifically to prepare players for the demands of professional tennis supports players between the ages of 14-18 years old (as young as 11 in exceptional circumstances). From August 2024, LUNTA will become Great Britain’s only National Tennis Academy for elite junior British tennis players, supporting up to 24 players in pursuit of tennis and academic excellence.

Our philosophy is centred around providing accelerated progress and where whole chapters of development can be turned, as well as pages. Our mission is to develop Great People, Great Performers and Great Tennis Players, through high player-care and valuing the pursuit of excellence. We are a National Tennis Academy aimed at taking players on their journey to the top of U18 International Tennis and supporting their progress beyond through a quality academic experience, coaching excellence, leading performance support and unrivalled training and competition programmes.

More information about our programme can be found on our website at https://www.lboro.ac.uk/sport/sports/tennis/national-tennis-academy/

Roles and responsibilities of this exciting position are as follows:
- To work closely with the Head of Performance Support and Head Coaches in the development of an applied and proactive physiotherapy service appropriate to the needs of the LUNTA players.
- To coordinate the medical provision for the Academy. This includes working closely with the Academy Doctor to develop a network of medical professionals that can provide timely and quality support to LUNTA players when required.
- To work closely with the LUNTA Coaching Team, Head of Performance Support and Strength and Conditioning Coaches to develop underpinning physical qualities associated with desired improvements in a player’s technical and tactical tennis performance. This includes spending a significant amount of time on-court with players in action.
- Attend and provide physiotherapy support of national domestic and international tournaments and training camps each year. This significant part of the role will include supporting coaches in logistics, operation, and administration on trips.
- To be an integral part of the LUNTA Performance Support Team. Working alongside practitioners and coaches to deliver a world class support service for Academy players through a fully integrated interdisciplinary approach. This includes providing medical and physiotherapy input into player Individual Development Plans (IDPs).
- To keep up to date through continued professional development within appropriate areas of clinical expertise.

There is a great opportunity with this role to travel to both domestic and international junior and senior tennis tournaments with other members of the LUNTA staff team and our junior tennis players and it will be necessary to work outside normal 9-5 working hours, including work in the evening and at weekends, at times.

Loughborough University is committed to developing staff. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to learn within the Academy, but also utilise skills and experiences of other Loughborough Sport performance and development practitioners to grow and develop.

Skills and experience – what are we looking for?
- Proven track record and experience in the provision of physiotherapy services to athletes and coaches to improve performance. This should include significant experience working with developing elite junior/senior level athletes.
- Experience of working in a high performance or Academy level squad.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
- Proven track record and significant experience of working in an interdisciplinary team of coaches and practitioners to review players’ development, establish and implement individual development plans.
- Significant experience of analysing the demands of sports and defining and implementing a physiotherapy/sports medicine strategy to support performance outcomes.
- Detailed knowledge of functional anatomy, movement science and the ability to integrate this knowledge within assessment and clinical reasoning.
- The ability to work alongside, motivate and drive performance of young, adolescent athletes.
- Excellent presentation and communication skills that can motivate behavioural change to have a positive impact on performance.
- Ability to multi-task in an open-plan office environment and on the road, and work within a fast-paced, driven environment.
- Growth-mindset – a candidate that is looking to develop a career in performance sport/performance operations, and willing to learn.
- A great team player – a candidate who enjoys and is comfortable in working with multiple stakeholders.

More detail is provided in the job description and on request. Informal enquiries should be made to Kamlesh Sodha - Head of Performance Support & Strength & Conditioning Lead at [email protected]

The closing date for receipt of applications is Wednesday 17 April, with interviews taking place weeks commencing 22/29 April (specific days to be confirmed).

Further details can be found in the Job Description and Person Specification.

Loughborough University is committed to achieving equity and valuing diversity in all aspects of employment and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.