UCFB Etihad Campus students are getting a taste of the media industry after grasping the opportunity to earn valuable experience as a part of the Manchester FA’s media team for the rest of the academic year.
The Manchester FA has been the home of grassroots football across Greater Manchester for over 130 years and they pride themselves on establishing safe and structured football opportunities for the benefit of all concerned, irrespective of age, colour, gender and ability.
Seven students have been taken on by the organisation and will spend the rest of the semester developing their skills in front of the camera, behind the camera and in written form.
BA (Hons) Multimedia Sports Journalism student Ethan James was immediately interested in jumping on-board for the work placement as it presented a golden opportunity to expand his already impressive CV. Ethan said: “I applied for the role because I wanted to try something different from my previous media roles, which have mainly been at football clubs. The experience so far has been fantastic, and I’ve learnt a lot more in a month than I initially anticipated. I have developed my skills at interviewing, managing social media, conducting pieces to camera and more.”
The Second Year students involved have been working closely with the Manchester FA this month to promote local futsal programmes, and Ethan is enjoying the multimedia aspect of the placement, He added: “The project for this month is to promote futsal in the Manchester community – we’re calling it #FutsalFeb. It’s been a fun project to do. Most recently we covered the Manchester FA Referee Development session which was also a great experience to try my hand at a bit of photography, as well as doing some interviews.”
Another BA (Hons) Multimedia Sports Journalism student taking part in the placement is Vincent Ray, who explained that the reaction to the students’ work so far had been well received. He said: “The feedback for our coverage has been very positive so far, and I’m only glad to try and help shine a light on the Manchester football community and its brilliant people. I’m so excited to continue this journey until the end of the academic year and, hopefully, beyond.”
Liam Amos, also a BA (Hons) Multimedia Sports Journalism student, explained how accessible it was to get such a great opportunity to work in the industry at UCFB. He said: “We were finishing a lecture and one of the Employment & Enrichment representatives checked in on us to promote the placement. I’m very grateful to be studying somewhere like UCFB, who want its students to get out there and show the world what they can do.”
