West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin visits Leeds Beckett University’s Carnegie School of Sport to spotlight world-class facilities and community partnerships

Academics and students from the Carnegie School of Sport were joined by double Olympic Champion Alistair Brownlee, Leeds Rhinos and Leeds Well School Partnership to showcase the impact the university and its partnerships have on sport and health outcomes – from grassroots to global elite sport.

Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, said: “I was blown away by the facilities and expertise at the Carnegie School of Sport.

“From helping young people to develop physical literacy to pioneering research, innovation and technology, Leeds Beckett University is an inspiration.

“I’m encouraged by their ambition to supercharge excellence and access to sport, as we work to build a stronger, brighter West Yorkshire that works for all.”

The visit introduced the Mayor to some of the research and knowledge exchange projects underway at Leeds Beckett University, where the focus is on working with people, communities and organisations to make a positive difference. Opened in 2022, the state-of-the-art building housing the Carnegie School of Sport is an asset to the City and Region as it is an integrated hub for sport and health. Areas showcased during the visit included:

• Supporting grassroots sport and specifically the development of the sporting workforce and children’s physical literacy, through partnerships including the Leeds Well School Partnership and ICOACHKIDS  which serve to provide quality, positive experiences which foster a lifelong love of sport. These developments are supported by our Centre for Child and Adolescent Physical Literacy and Centre for Sport Coaching

• Health and Performance Hub, and access to environmental chambers, performance labs and strength and conditioning facilities which help to prepare world class and recreational athletes alike for training and competition, most recently this summer’s Paris Olympics and Paralympics.

• Developing technology to improve player safety and welfare, including the TACKLE project which initiated the first multi-phase validity study of instrumented mouthguards, the findings of which has directly impacted national and international rugby policies and practices (e.g., contact load guidelines, legal height of the tackle outside of the senior professional game) to help reduce injuries. Supported by our Carnegie Applied Rugby Research Centre

• Testing medical devices to understand their mechanisms of action (e.g., collaboration with OPED to examine the use of their controlled ankle motion (CAM) boots following Achilles tendon rupture). Gait analysis can provide important information about someone’s kinematic and kinetic motion patterns, risk of falling and balance capabilities.
• Commitment to fostering healthy ageing with a focus on musculoskeletal health, particularly the use of imaging techniques (e.g., DXA) and analytical techniques (e.g., LCMS). This work is driven by our Centre for Active Lifestyles and Healthy Ageing

Professor Sue Backhouse, Director of Research in the Carnegie School of Sport at Leeds Beckett University said: “It was a pleasure to host the Mayor today and introduce her to some of our wonderful colleagues and collaborators who together are making an impact within West Yorkshire and beyond.  

“So much of what we do here supports the Mayor’s pledges, from inclusion and access to quality grassroots sport to developing West Yorkshire as a ‘region of learning’ .  

“Leeds Beckett’s role in elite sport is well documented, and today we got the opportunity to show how our expertise and commitment is helping to tackle some of our communities biggest health and wellbeing challenges.”