University of East London Graduate, Natasha Furnell is the latest Member to join the Society of Sports Therapists Communications Group. Natasha currently lectures at Solent University but is also heavily involved working in team sport. We caught up with her to find out a little more about her work and what she is looking forward to working with the Communications Group.
Tell us a little about your Sports Therapy background.
I graduate in 2015 and from there I started working with Reading RFC after doing the majority of my placement hours with them in my final year of study. I have since worked at private clinics based in, and around the Reading area and have worked with a range of athletes within a variety of sports.
Alongside your lecturing role at Solent you also work clinically with two different sports. Tell us about your work with the GB Softball team and how the role came about
I started working with the GB softball team earlier this year at the height of the pandemic. Since starting, I have been involved with some team zoom calls and am currently working with the rest of the therapy team to develop the protocols in the sport (specifically concussion and athlete testing).
Sadly, we have been unable to compete this year but it is hoped that camps will go back to normality in 2022, meaning I can meet the team in person! The role was advertised on the UK sport website and I applied for the position. I was then invited for an interview (virtually) and was selected to work with the U15 ladies’ team.
And Reading Rugby Club- How did you get involved there?
I applied for a position in my final year of university to help provide first aid cover to the youth section of the club. Within this role there also came the opportunity to supervise the First XV therapist, which I seized with both hands. I ended up completing most of my placement hours with the club and was asked to continue working with them on graduation, where I started with the 4th team. I have worked my way up to now be the First XV therapist and the medical team lead, facilitating the other members of our medical team.
Life is clearly very busy for you – how are you enjoying lecturing?
I very much enjoy my role at Solent University. It is fantastic to pass on to the students, knowledge that I have gained from my own undergraduate degree and my experience working within the industry. It is always so rewarding to see the students excelling on the course, and post-graduation, in the roles that they have worked hard to achieve.
Why did you want to join the Communications Group?
I have been a member of The Society of Sports Therapists since I graduated from university and felt that through my role as a Lecturer, I could offer insight to those new members who are joining once they leave university. It has also been interesting to watch how the SST has developed over the years of my membership and I was enthusiastic about being involved with this myself.
What skills do you feel you’ll bring to the team?
It is really important to me that the voices of the current SST members are heard and utilised to further the communication from the governing body. In my role as a Lecturer, I utilise feedback on a regular basis and feel that the ability to reflect on this and make changes can be so important. Utilising these skills within this role will help to feed forward and implement what the members think would be beneficial from their governing body. I have worked with lots of different technology and feel that this could be transferable to my role within the communications group.
What kind of content are you interested in creating for Members?
I would love to set up a student conference that presents undergraduate/postgraduate research that students are working on. This would be beneficial to both students- giving them exposure to conference experience, but also current members who would be able to see what current research is taking place. I also feel that the hugely successful webinar series could be developed into a conference and would love to have some involvement in facilitating that. Further to this, regular research updates using infographics through our social media sites are something that I always find beneficial so would like to develop something similar with the Society.