Applied Coaching Research Journal Volume 1 | Page 50

APPLIED COACHING RESEARCH JOURNAL 2018, Vol. 1
An Interview
with Professor
Ben Jones
Ben is a Professor at Leeds Beckett University, Research and
Innovation Manager for the Rugby Football League, Head
of Science at Leeds Rhinos Rugby League club, and Head
of Academy Science and Research for Yorkshire Carnegie
Rugby Union club. Prior to becoming involved in research
Ben followed a traditional academic route, completing an
undergraduate degree and a Master’s degree in Sport and
Exercise Science, followed by a PhD looking at fluid and
electrolyte balance in rugby players. Interview conducted by
Ann-Marie Bunyan, UK Coaching.
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How and
why did
you become
involved in
research? It was during my Master’s when I started
to become interested in research. Prior
to that I was working as a personal
trainer and during my Master’s I started
working in professional sport. When I
started doing research I had an interest
in applying research to the real world,
which is what inspired me to do research
in the first place. I did a PhD to improve
my knowledge because despite having
a Master’s I felt there was so much I
wanted to know. I was working in sport
at the same time so I felt that working
with athletes gave me the breadth of knowledge, and the PhD gave me the
depth. There were times when I felt
like they conflicted in that I was getting
depth in an area that probably was not
relevant anymore. The research process
from start to completion is probably
about 12–18 months, but you can get six
months in to that process and things in
the real world change; you realise that
your starting point is not the same. It
was more towards the end of my PhD
that I genuinely got really interested in
research as opposed to increasing my
knowledge like at the start of my PhD.
You currently
have four
roles. Do the
four roles
complement
each other? They are all different but complementary.
In my role as a Professor, I see research
as contributing to knowledge and doing
something that has impact, that people
want to use and helps people to get
better. In sport that might be performing
better or more holistically to simply
be healthier. In my other roles, one is
working for a governing body and the
others are working for professional
sports teams. At times, I feel the best
way to describe my job is I work for an organisation that makes something –
which is the research, and I also work for
organisations which want something –
which is the roles in policy and practice.
Because professional sport is such a
quick-evolving organisation and system,
it is hard to understand what people
want because at times, they do not know.
By being in those environments you
understand their day-to-day challenges.
As a researcher you can try and forward
think what their problems might be.