A Chester student has received one of the 'highest ever' grades for her work on mental health for footballers.

Jodie Carswell's research focused on the role of a football coach and how they can support players with mental health and wellbeing.

The 24-year-old from Welshpool in Powys, received one of the highest ever grades on the programme for her dissertation 'Beyond the pitch: insight into the role of a football coach in supporting player mental wellbeing.'

Her lecturers praised her work as having real world application and she is currently exploring adapting it for publication. 

Jodie said: "My dissertation looked at non-professional football coaches' views on their role in supporting player mental wellbeing.

"It was incredibly rewarding to conduct research in an area I am passionate about, especially since I play football myself.

"This felt like a timely piece of research given there is an increasing focus on mental wellbeing in sport but limited research exploring coaches' views on the topic, particularly at a non-professional level in the UK.

"The findings suggested that coaches are willing to support their players' mental wellbeing but would like more guidance, which I believe has important implications for UK sporting organisations.

"I really enjoyed interviewing local coaches and I am extremely grateful for their participation and to Professor Lafferty for her invaluable guidance and feedback throughout." 

The student has now secured an assistant psychologist position, which was confirmed on the last day of her course.

She added: "I am confident that I wouldn't have been successful without having completed the course.

"One of the best aspects of my experience at Chester has definitely been the sense of community.

"I've built some lasting friendships with peers from the course, which made the experience even more enjoyable."

Professor Moira Lafferty said: "Over the course of the programme Jodie excelled and gained one of the highest marks ever awarded for their dissertation.

"Her research has real world application and the area of mental wellbeing in sport is both a contemporary and important topic across all levels of sport and we are working together to publish the findings."