Post by QPR Report on Apr 22, 2010 7:06:02 GMT
PFA
PFA careers after football: John Curtis
Former Manchester United defender opens his mind to the Open University
By Lawrie Madden April 21, 2010
John Curtis started his career with Manchester United over 20 years ago and was a member of their FA Youth Cup winning side in 1994-95.
After spells with a variety of clubs, including Blackburn and Nottingham Forest, the defender is now plying his trade at Northampton town and looking to the future.
With the help of the PFA John has started an Open University degree course. Here he tells givemefootball all about his off the field activities.
Q. You have started a course with the Open University. What are you studying?
A. I am taking a physical science degree. It is broken down into modules and you add them all up to get 360 credits which then gives you a degree. I have taken modules which are worth 60 credits so far. It is about exploring science and there are lots of ways to view science.
Q. This is a little unusual for a footballer isn’t it?
A. I am very interested in science and in hindsight I wished I had done it years ago. The course will probably take me four years to complete and there are one or two modules which are residential of about a week otherwise it is completely 100 per cent distance learning.
Q. How did you get involved with science?
A. I looked at sports science and it was a little easier in that I knew the basics from working with the physios and nutritionists. I have always had intentions of doing something within the science field. I like reading science books, I am a curious kind of guy although I am not an academic in any shape or form.
Q. How are you looking to use the degree afterwards?
A. I started doing this course because I was interested in this. I didn’t do it to purely get an actual job at the end of it but hopefully it will help me get a job. In many cases the degree you do isn’t always related to the job that you do. In many cases they want someone who has been educated to a degree standard.
In my case this is a daft degree and one of the hardest so hopefully employers will understand that. But the jobs in this field are really to do with physics, academic jobs or a doing something such as nuclear physics.
Q. Was it a simple process in dealing with the PFA over this degree?
A. The PFA were absolutely fantastic. I sent away the details to the PFA to get the money and within 14 days a cheque had arrived through the post. I didn’t contact the PFA but looked on their website under education. It was the very first time I have ever used the PFA.
Q. Any advice to young players in the game?
A. I would advise all young lads in the game to do something. Over the years I have wasted so much time like being at home and being on the Playstation. I would say crack on with something - anything you are interested in. The resources online these days are exceptional.
www.givemefootball.com/pfa/pfa-news/pfa-careers-after-football-john-curtis
PFA careers after football: John Curtis
Former Manchester United defender opens his mind to the Open University
By Lawrie Madden April 21, 2010
John Curtis started his career with Manchester United over 20 years ago and was a member of their FA Youth Cup winning side in 1994-95.
After spells with a variety of clubs, including Blackburn and Nottingham Forest, the defender is now plying his trade at Northampton town and looking to the future.
With the help of the PFA John has started an Open University degree course. Here he tells givemefootball all about his off the field activities.
Q. You have started a course with the Open University. What are you studying?
A. I am taking a physical science degree. It is broken down into modules and you add them all up to get 360 credits which then gives you a degree. I have taken modules which are worth 60 credits so far. It is about exploring science and there are lots of ways to view science.
Q. This is a little unusual for a footballer isn’t it?
A. I am very interested in science and in hindsight I wished I had done it years ago. The course will probably take me four years to complete and there are one or two modules which are residential of about a week otherwise it is completely 100 per cent distance learning.
Q. How did you get involved with science?
A. I looked at sports science and it was a little easier in that I knew the basics from working with the physios and nutritionists. I have always had intentions of doing something within the science field. I like reading science books, I am a curious kind of guy although I am not an academic in any shape or form.
Q. How are you looking to use the degree afterwards?
A. I started doing this course because I was interested in this. I didn’t do it to purely get an actual job at the end of it but hopefully it will help me get a job. In many cases the degree you do isn’t always related to the job that you do. In many cases they want someone who has been educated to a degree standard.
In my case this is a daft degree and one of the hardest so hopefully employers will understand that. But the jobs in this field are really to do with physics, academic jobs or a doing something such as nuclear physics.
Q. Was it a simple process in dealing with the PFA over this degree?
A. The PFA were absolutely fantastic. I sent away the details to the PFA to get the money and within 14 days a cheque had arrived through the post. I didn’t contact the PFA but looked on their website under education. It was the very first time I have ever used the PFA.
Q. Any advice to young players in the game?
A. I would advise all young lads in the game to do something. Over the years I have wasted so much time like being at home and being on the Playstation. I would say crack on with something - anything you are interested in. The resources online these days are exceptional.
www.givemefootball.com/pfa/pfa-news/pfa-careers-after-football-john-curtis