Role
Having been at NTU since 2014 as Head of Performance Sport, Chris took over as Director of Sport in spring 2025 and is the strategic lead for all elements of non-academic sport including:
- Strategic planning and partnerships
- Oversight of all the NTU sport and fitness facilities
- All NTU Sports Club and BUCS competitions
- The Sports Scholarships programme and associated student-recruitment programmes
- Sports marketing, communications, and financial operations.
Career overview
Chris graduated from Loughborough University in 2011, having studied Sport and Exercise Science with a particular focus on coaching and talent development, leading to a continuing personal focus on the development of holistic and multidisciplinary programmes ensuring that student-athletes are at the centre of what we do. He has worked in roles across the sporting pathway, initially as a development officer at the RFU, before moving to the University of Nottingham, spending 3 years working in Sport Development. Joining NTU in 2014, he was responsible for overseeing the transformation of the performance programme to become one of the most highly respected in the U.K.
Throughout his time in the sector, he has been significantly involved in the development of Higher Education Sport policy. He currently sits as a member of the BUCS Senior Manager Executive and as the Chair of the Rugby Union Sport Advisory Group, having previously held roles on the National Competitions and Strategy Review Groups.
External activity
Chris has been heavily involved in coaching rugby union for many years, having served as a Director of Rugby, Head Coach and Video Analyst in National League Rugby between 2012 and 2024. He has also led the Leicestershire County XV to a national title at Twickenham in 2019 as well as managing England Universities in 2012. However today his focus is coaching his son's junior team at his local rugby.
He also previously spent 2 years as a school Governor supporting a primary school with wellbeing and sporting initiatives, and is a member of the RFU Competitions Development Sub-Committee, as well as recently finishing supporting the union into a review of the financial commitments to the community game