Academy players have days packed full of skills sessions, strength and conditioning training, recovery programmes and not least their education. The dedication and time required to break into the elite level means players cannot attend mainstream schools. JET, and more importantly the parents did not want to compromise on education, so a more flexible approach was needed. One of the parents had already enrolled their child with InterHigh and had been impressed with the professionalism of the school’s staff and service. The online lessons, which are all recorded, fit well with the needs of our players. InterHigh offer a full UK curriculum from Year 4 to A level meaning the different age groups within JET can be catered for. JET engaged with InterHigh, but it became clear very early on that something more than the standard service would be needed. The Academy was looking for on-site support in the form of a supervisor for the pupils during the study sessions to accompany the online platform. InterHigh have been able to help, with a full-time teaching professional located in the JET learning centre. This means a safe environment and guidance is available for both the sporting and academic side of the players’ day. For the players/pupils themselves, they never have to miss-out on their education, even when competing at international tournaments. We all wish these amazing young people every success, but a sports career is a precarious one, so there should always be a safety net in the form of education.

This generation live online, and for them it has been a reasonably easy getting to grips with the service. The parents were a little more nervous in the beginning, it has helped tremendously to have Sam, the centre’s learning supervisor, on-board. Not only is safeguarding covered, but he’s also able to check that all the players are keeping up with their work. They can speak to Sam and he can liaise with the InterHigh teaching staff where needed.

JET have plans to expand the number of players we support, and even though our partnership with InterHigh is a new one, it will likely grow and develop as the academy does. We look forward to the future and would strongly advise other sporting academies to seek a similar solution for their academy members.

From our perspective, it’s certainly Game. Set. Match.

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