The HUUB Ribble Performance Academy programme gives aspiring young cyclists the opportunity to develop their race craft and physical attributes while studying academic qualifications in Sport to enhance their career prospects.
The College’s partnership with the HUUB Ribble Cycling Team enables students to benefit from the expertise of highly qualified and respected coaches, which enhances the sport-focussed curriculum.
Training sessions and race schedules are carried out alongside your main programme of study, with a race calendar which is focussed on weekends. The academy race programme centres on road and track cycling but riders from cyclo-cross, bmx, mountain biking, cycle speedway etc are all welcome to enhance their performance in these disciplines.
Applications are welcomed from individuals who regularly participate in cycling and who show a desire and willingness to develop their sporting performance.
To qualify as part of the HUUB Ribble Performance Academy race team, you must meet the physical and endurance demands of elite level cycling. This performance testing will determine if you are part of the race team or development squad.
Academy cyclists will need to have their own Race licence or be prepared to obtain one in order to gain entry points for specific races.
Entry to the Level 3 Extended Certificate in Sports Coaching and Development requires candidates to have a minimum of five GCSEs at grades 9-4 (A*- C) including English and Maths.
This course has been designed specifically to allow for optimal access to your training programmes. The course is available for remote delivery and therefore you can study from home and access the coaching programmes remotely via Training Peaks.
Students may also be able to access the Cycling Academy programme by studying a Level 2 course or A-levels, depending on if the timetable fits in with training sessions and performance tests. However, any GCSE resit requirements will take priority over your access to training.
In order to train and ride together, we strongly encourage riders to study the Level 3 Extended Certificate in Sports Coaching and Development. Elite riders involved in performance programmes will be catered for individually by following that pathway.
For academic course information, please see the Extended Certificate in Sports Coaching and Development web page for further guidance.
*CV-19 restrictions
Physical assessments will be conducted to identify your biological passport and physiological markers. Your performance will be closely monitored through the completion of a tailored training protocol through Training Peaks.
Academic assessment on the study programme will be continuous over the year. Assessment methods will vary depending on the subjects delivered. See our Sports Coaching and Development pages for further details.
On successful completion of the course, students may wish to progress to the Foundation Degree in Sports Coaching at DCG or to seek employment within the sport and leisure sector.
Links with our local universities may see you selected for their cycling performance team alongside higher level study.
Derby College offer sport, health and leisure facilities for public use. This includes fitness centre, sports hall and outdoor pitch hire plus lots more. Located at Broomfield Hall, Johnson Building and Mackworth.
Fitness apprentice Rosie Sharp said Derby College is "100 percent" behind turning her passion for gym training into a new career.
Rosie, 20, decided against going on to further studies after taking philosophy, psychology and law at A-level. Instead she worked in sales at a sports magazine but eventually found the job was not really for her.
But Rosie has been keen on weight training from the age of 17, and when she found an apprentice job advertised online at B Physical in Ashbourne, she decided to go for it.
Despite having no directly relevant qualifications she managed to demonstrate her commitment to the gym environment and landed the role.
Rosie said she wasn't sporty at all at school and her mum just said "really...?", when she told her she was going to work in her a gym.
She said the college and B Physical worked closely together. She was visited once a week as part of her course.
Rosie has now passed Level 2 Personal Training and is considering going on to Level 3. In addition, she said she had also taken a sports massage distance learning course and may take her career in that direction.
Derby College has been 100 per cent important for my career because without the qualification I couldn't do what I'm doing – I had no fitness qualifications before I came here.
The college and gym work well together, and it was all relevant to what I needed to learn. It's been really good.