Winner's profile Sports

Lee Greatbatch
University of Worcester

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lee Greatbatch (left) accepting his award from Simon Andrews from TheBigChoice.com (right)

Lee Greatbatch was this year’s Xcel Sports Student of the Year award winner. Lee won this award for outstanding sporting achievements and his commitment to improving the learning of students with disabilities.

Lee is described by his tutors as an inspirational student who has been a positive role model to his peers. Lee is totally dedicated to his course having passed the second year of his degree with many modules at grade A. Lee is expected to achieve top results when he graduates in his BSc in Sport and Exercise Science from the University of Worcester.

Being blind has given me a resolve to work around any obstacle in my way and achieve success regardless.

Lee is registered blind but he hasn’t let this prevent him from excelling in life. Prior to coming to university, Lee lived at home with foster parents. During the early part of his life Lee was could still see. Lee has had to deal with the trauma of loosing his sight and the resulting impact on his life. However, where many young people might have wanted to give up, Lee has tenaciously pursued his education and shown that being registered blind isn’t a barrier to sporting success, “Being blind has given me a resolve to work around any obstacle in my way and achieve success regardless.”

Lee is also a full England International Blind Football Player with over 30 caps for England and has been awarded 2012 status from the Football Association. Lee is a member of the squad that went to the Beijing Summer Paralympics via a second place in the European Championships in Athens in 2007. With hard work and determination, Lee has already fulfilled any athlete’s dream: to represent your country at a major, international sporting event.

There are always opportunities to try new things and my advice is to push yourself to your limits and step outside your comfort zone.

But it isn’t just sporting talent that makes Lee an exceptional individual. Lee’s aim is to improve the learning experience of disabled students in higher education by furthering effective practices of learning, teaching, assessment and curriculum design. Lee devotes a lot of time and energy to this work. Lee gave a presentation on a small-scale research project he conducted to a full range of university academic staff and guests at the inaugural School of Sport and Exercise Science Learning and Teaching Research Summit in March 2008. Lee was also part of the team evaluating tenders for suitable accessibility auditors for the development of the new University of Worcester city campus and city library in conjunction with Worcestershire County Council. Lee has now started mentoring blind youngsters, developing their personal skills through sport. Lee recently won the University Bizcom competition for his business enterprise BizAbility which will help small to medium sized organisations become disability friendly. Lee’s achievements despite difficulties have led to him being invited by various organisations to be an inspirational speaker.

Lee’s positive attitude and the initiative he has shown to enhance other disabled students’ progress in higher education makes him an Xcel award-winner. When asked how he felt about winning this prize, Lee said: “I am very happy and proud to have won this award, because it stands as a token of my hard work academically and the barriers I have been able to overcome in my life.” Like other Xcel award-winners, Lee acknowledges the importance of recognising students who have gone above and beyond: “Celebrating students’ achievements is a great way to inspire others, especially those who might not think that they can achieve success academically because of disadvantage. There are always opportunities to try new things and my advice is to push yourself to your limits and step outside your comfort zone.”