Yes you can. Here is an example of an exemplary personal statement for applying for a sport and exercise science degree, written by our admissions experts.
Sport is, and has been, the most important thing in my life since starting secondary school. As soon as I started playing basketball, my goals for life and my focus became clear to me. I went from playing from the school basketball team to playing for Brighton Cougars at county league level, onto playing at a national league level for Worthing Thunder and then at regional level for south-east England at the ages of u15s and u17s.
My love for basketball, desire to get better and wish to reach my goals of playing professionally, steered me into looking at aspects of training such as strength training in the gym. I have since become passionate about using the gym as a tool to assist my basketball career; through the desire to become bigger stronger and faster, as this is an extremely sought after goal within the fitness and sport industry that all aspiring athletes want to achieve.
Not only do I simply want to achieve these goals, but I enjoy the process and want to learn about how the body and the mind work in cohesion to create a successful athlete.
Going from secondary school to college it was clear to me that sports science would be extremely enjoyable and fulfilling as a course choice. This is because I aim to use what I learn about the processes of our bodies and our minds in performing sport to aid my own career.
Since involving myself in the world of strength training I have become aware of the diversity of different approaches, and ways of training the body to achieve certain things depending on the sport. I have had first-hand experience of this as a first year student I started going to the gym, was fairly inexperienced, and I trained in certain way to build mass and strength.
However, only later did I start to realise that this was at detriment to my shooting ability on the court, and it influenced my speed negatively. This is one of the reasons that I would love to take my learning about the science of sports to another level by undertaking a relevant degree, so I can learn even more about how the body works.
Not only have I had first-hand experience of the physical side of sports, I am very conscientious when it comes to the mental side of sport. I have suffered from droughts of confidence in my basketball ability, and I understand that the mind is not constant and mentality can change over time through sport.
Another goal I aim to achieve is to understand the ‘secret’ to having ultimate mental toughness in sports to be an elite competitor. The psychological side of sports science intrigued me because I understand the importance of an athletes mind set when competing at a high level, and this is what I aim to do.
My time at college has been a great learning experience for me because I have studied lots of different aspects of sports and had new sporting experiences as the captain of the basketball first team, in a very competitive Academy basketball league.
Examples of some of my most enjoyed topics I have studied at college include biomechanics, research methods, training at altitude in hypoxia, and influences of stress on athletic performance.
One of the most challenging but rewarding tasks I carried out was a research project on a topic of my choice; I chose to focus on the link between music and physical performance. This assignment was useful from an analytical standpoint as it gave me a good understanding of how to comprise my own data with secondary research, and evaluate the outcomes of the research as a whole in order to conclude on whether there is a link between music and performance.
The experience of these assignments at college has given me the tools necessary to study further into sports using different types of testing, such as correlation analysis and testing for difference. The satisfaction gained has given me the passion to really want to learn so much more about the diverse and fascinating world that is sports and the science behind it.