Sami Ryder – Level 3 Sports and Coaching

Name: Sami Ryder

Course Name: Level 3 Sports and Coaching

Course Type: Full Time

Image Caption: NWSLC student Sami Ryder Level 3 Sports and Coaching
Name: Sami Ryder
Course: Level 3 Sports And Coaching
Course Type Full Time

Sami’s journey after college took her from playing football for a leading women’s team to supporting outreach work for Coventry City FC’s Sky Blues in the Community. After completing her course in sport and exercise science at NWSLC’s Nuneaton Campus (and being awarded Sportswoman of the Year in 2010), Sami went on to achieve a fitness instructor qualification and started work at the Everyone Active gym in Hinckley, soon after transferring to The Pingles Leisure Centre in Nuneaton.

Sami, from Nuneaton, had always wanted to be a TV presenter and enjoyed devising, creating, and editing video content for the Everyone Active social media channels and was filmed leading home workout sessions and promotional fitness class videos.

A keen amateur football player since childhood, Sami was scouted by the Aston Villa Centre of Excellence Academy while she was playing for the Nuneaton Predators Girls’ team. During the five years Sami played for the Aston Villa FC Academy, the team remained unbeaten and were widely accepted to be the leading girls’ team in the country at that time. Sami moved on to play with West Bromwich Albion LFC and later, Coventry City LFC in the Women’s Premiership.

Although the women’s game was gradually moving towards gaining professional status, Sami made the decision to find employment so that she could start to save up to buy her own house, and regretfully had no choice but to give up playing her sport.

Sami joined Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council working within the marketing and communications team alongside a graphic designer from whom she gained more creative skills and knowledge as she led campaigns to promote Nuneaton town centre and North Warwickshire leisure centres.

Having learned an enormous amount at the council, Sami moved on to secure a job as marketing and communications officer for the Coventry City FC Sky Blues in the Community charity which supports a range of initiatives in sport, health, education, and inclusion.

Sami said, “I always loved playing football and I really enjoyed my time with Aston Villa, West Brom and Coventry City. I realised that I couldn’t maintain the time commitment and I needed to find a job that would enable me to pay the bills, so I had to step away from playing full-time.

“I found that the skills I had developed in college led me into fitness instructing, which enabled me to develop my marketing and promotional skills, and now I have come full circle and I am based at Coventry City FC again in a different capacity. When I got the job here working with the Sky Blues in the Community team, it was just like coming home because of my previous experience as a player.”

Sami supports projects including football coaching, PE lessons for schools, reading with the Premier League Primary Stars programme, Turn 2 Us project – tackling holiday hunger across the city, Every Player Counts disability specific sessions, Macmillan Walking Football for people who have been diagnosed with cancer, and helping to collect and deliver donations for local Food Banks during lockdown.

Sami’s career continues to feed her passion for the media, and she has been able to work behind the scenes at pre- and post-match interviews.

Sami added, “I really enjoyed my time at college and the qualifications I gained there led directly to me securing employment in the sport and leisure industry. It is not possible for everyone to earn a living by playing football but there are hundreds of related jobs in the sector that keep you close to the game. I really enjoy my job at Coventry City FC with Sky Blues in the Community and can see my long-term future here with plenty of opportunities to learn more skills and progress.”