Dirk Lambertson Jr turned a season-ending ACL injury into a breakthrough moment in his coaching career.
Dirk decided to join our BSc (Hons) Football Studies degree, rather than studying at home in the USA. He was drawn to the focused nature of our degree, whereas in America he would have to take classes in lots of different subjects. He says, “I was able to do exactly what I wanted to do from the start.”
He also valued the real-world experience he could gain on the degree. In his first year, he completed football scouting tasks for lecturer Craig Lawlor, who was also a scout at Preston North End. Dirk says, “that was really cool, getting to do real-life experience for someone working at a professional academy.”
In his second year, he completed a placement coaching at the academy for Bolton Wanderers. He says that “being able to work in a professional environment because of the connections that the University has helped me know that I wanted to go into coaching.”
He was also part of the Football Player Development Pathway. This gives sport students the opportunity to train and play for Macclesfield FC, while studying for a degree with us.
In his second year, Dirk suffered an ACL injury that required him to fly home for surgery. This happened around the time that a lot of assessments were due. Luckily, he says, “all of the lecturers were really understanding and gave me the extra time that I needed.”
While recovering from his injury, he started to coach his old high school football team. This was a turning point, as he had been undecided between sport coaching and analysis before then. He says, “I had to learn how to coach without being a player, so that helped me decide that’s what I want to do.”
He returned for his final year and went on to study our Sports Coaching MSc. He’s glad that he did, as he says, “my master’s year was my best year.”
When asked for his favourite thing about the course, he said the guest lectures by professionals in the sports industry. “It helped me understand more about the job I’m getting into in a professional context”, he says.
Dirk also undertook an internship at Macclesfield FC alongside his master’s. This included a lot of business admin tasks that he hadn’t been exposed to as a player. Arranging games, booking referees and raising invoices are all vital tasks when running a football club.
At the end of his course, Dirk was offered a coaching role with Macclesfield FC. He leads passing patterns and assists with the technical side of training. He also helps to analyse match performance and plan training sessions. He has continued to manage the admin side of things, which he says will help him when applying to roles in the future due to his breadth of experience.
When asked for his favourite thing about being a coach, he said “seeing that progress in a player is the best thing. It’s what makes coaching worth coaching.”
