1 November 2000 Lincoln Sports Foundation Course will 'score' you entrance to University

School-leavers keen to go on to university but lacking an Entrance qualification can still make the cut if they have a good track record in sports achievement and the commitment to study for a year on Lincoln University's Sports Foundation Course.

The course, built around Lincoln University's Certificate in Foundation Studies, meets the entry requirements of all New Zealand's tertiary institutions and also provides a tertiary qualification in its own right – the Certificate in Foundation Studies. When you've completed your Certificate you automatically have the right to enrol in a full university course for a degree or diploma. Essentially it is an alternative university entrance qualification.

Specifically the Sports Foundation Course offers school-leavers a combination of both study and sports training opportunities. The study part of the programme covers two 12-week semesters of work with an interesting choice of subjects designed to ‘staircase’ you into tertiary study.

The subjects for 2001 are – English Language & Communications; Learning and Inquiry Skills; Computing; Calculus or Human Studies; Economics; Statistics; Accounting or Environmental Studies.

The sports part of the course involves sports-specific training by specialists in whichever code the student is associated with – cricket, hockey, netball or rugby – and individual fitness programmes designed and guided by experts from Lincoln University's Recreation Centre. General sports development activities directed by some of New Zealand's leading consultants are also a feature, and there is of course the opportunity to keep on playing and link up with local teams while studying.

Lincoln's Sports Foundation Course is a new development building on the success of the University's Sports Scholarship Programme which kicked off last year. That programme covers four codes – cricket, hockey, netball and rugby – and it has attracted scholars who are also sports achievers, from throughout New Zealand. Canterbury NPC fullback Ben Blair, who is off on tour overseas with the New Zealand A rugby team, is a high profile example of a Lincoln University Sports Scholar.

In applying for the Sports Foundation course you should ideally have completed five years at secondary school and achieved good Sixth Form Certificate grades. You should also have achieved representative honours within your chosen sport and have the potential and commitment to progress further in that sport.

As with Lincoln's Sports Scholarship Programme, the Sports Foundation Course is all about offering young people the chance to capitalise on their sporting ability and balance this with the achievement of academic qualifications for 'life after sport'.

Not everyone can succeed in sport alone, and even for those who are successful the competitive years must eventually come to an end. A university degree or diploma provides a valuable basis for forward planning to the days beyond sport. For school-leavers without a University Entrance qualification, the Sports Foundation Course is the first stepping stone to tertiary study.

Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand