David Ikeije

David's Graduate Story

Degree Title(s): MSc Physiotherapy (pre-registration)

Job title: Lead Academy Physiotherapist

Employer: Aston Villa FC Women’s Academy

As a Lead Academy Physiotherapist, I provide physiotherapy services to Aston Villa’s Women’s under 21s team. I also manage the academy pathway from under 9s to 21s, overseeing the injury prevention and rehabilitation programme implemented and doing regular auditing for medical records and liaising with the Club Doctor as required.

I work closely with the physical performance staff to implement optimal injury prevention and rehabilitation programmes to ensure players stay on the pitch and/or return from injury in a safe and timely manner.

During match days, I provide medical and physiotherapy pitch side cover for our under 21s and help in the younger age groups if needed.

After graduating, I applied for the Birmingham City Boys Academy Physiotherapist role (under 9s to 16s). I completed a 6-week placement whilst studying where I was able to demonstrate my competencies and skills. This helped me secure the job as I was already known to the staff members. I underwent an Advanced Trauma Medical Management in Football course training shortly after joining Birmingham City. This qualification allowed me to provide pitch side cover across the academy age groups and also women’s first team.

The learning experience was very tough initially for me and it took me a while to adapt to the demands of the course. However, I utilised a lot of resources provided within the School and the wider university to help guide me through it. That period helped me develop the resilience and ability needed to keep pushing myself and strive for better throughout my career.

The experience also helped me realise that you cannot get everything right the first time. The key thing is trying to do things better as there’s always scope for further learning and improvement regardless of what level of experience you have.