Iwo’s experience of online learning alongside elite football training
Calling all you young sportsmen and women out there! Have you encountered the problem of chasing your sporting dream whilst having to maintain your regular education alongside the demands of training, fixtures, physio, gym sessions and team events? Education is the essential back-up plan all talented athletes need to schedule into their busy lives. Preparing for vital exams such as GCSEs can be a challenge of its own but more so when following a sports programme where your heart really lies.
16 year old Iwo Karacayli from London, found a solution that proved to be successful.
As a talented football player at the FCV Academy (considered to be one of the top UK Football academies), his ambition and determination to become a professional player is always foremost in his mind but sensibly Iwo has chosen an education pathway which will allow him to train, play and complete his education. How? He joined the football academy last September and is studying the second year of his GCSE programme online.
He studies five GCSEs in English, Maths, Business, Geography and Turkish and this is how he describes his programme.
“I have lessons only on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which is perfect as I have football training on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. All the teachers have tailored each lesson so that I can improve as much as possible.”
Iwo studies in a purpose-built classroom at the academy and logs in to our learning platform. He studies one to one with his teachers using webcams to see each other, a shared whiteboard, PowerPoint presentations displayed and a range of other annotation tools. He says,
“Even difficult explanations become easier to understand as the whiteboard tools solves this problem, I can see what the teacher is describing to me.
The many advantages of learning online in this way include not only the flexibility to study around sporting and training commitments but also studying at a time of day that suits you, at the pace that is good for your learning with lessons specifically designed to teach you what you have to learn. Our teachers focus on you and plan the lesson around what you need. Iwo explains further,
“I would say that it will really improve your ability by a lot because each lesson is tailored to your specific purpose, which means that you get to learn more things and at a faster pace. This is way better than school!”
Our timetables are programmed considering your needs as a player and a student. We understand the pressures placed on a student in both worlds. Our teachers are all highly qualified and experienced in teaching online to get the very best out of you, teaching you in a way that best addresses your learning style and daily routine. I’ll leave the last word to Iwo.
“I love that the teachers and I have built a good personal relationship with each other, which helps me to get more work done and motivates me too.”
