Sports scholar Barnabas aims to star on the world ice hockey stage

I began playing ice hockey when I was six or seven years old, it’s a really big sport in Hungary, probably more so than in the UK, and it gets a lot of Government support. I enjoyed playing right from the very beginning, I just felt it was something I had a talent for.

I moved to the UK with my family when I was eight years old, though I did return to Hungary for a couple of years before starting university.

I really enjoyed playing at under 17 and under 18 level with Hungary, it’s very competitive and everyone is so excited to be playing. I’m not sure if I’ll try to play for Hungary or Team GB at full international level yet, but my ultimate ambition is to represent my country in a Men’s World Championships and to one day play in an elite league.

Barnabas Sari

Whatever I do, I’d like to have a career in sport in some way, and the course at Coventry University is great, it’ll give me options whatever I decide to do.

I specifically looked for universities that offer sports scholarships and having access to the fantastic facilities available at Coventry University has definitely been a real positive for me and helped me with my sport.

Barnabas Sari

Research shows talented athletes make really great students; there are a lot of transferable skills – time management, determination, resilience, teamwork, leadership - which can all have a positive impact on their studies and professional lives. Having these individuals study with us helps to inspire other students and prospective students and offers those studying on some of our courses the opportunity for practical experience working with talented athletes.

For us success is seeing our students get a good degree, get a great job and reach their potential in their sport. We are very proud to have had many of our students go on to have successful sporting careers.

I believe our sports scholarship programme really is one of the best out there, several different departments are actively engaged with it meaning our scholars get to benefit from a wide range of support including strength and conditioning, sports nutrition, sports psychology, physiotherapy, and performance lifestyle advice.

It’s great to have Barnabas engaging with the benefits the scholarship offers and we look forward to seeing how he progresses through his dual career on and off the ice.

Tom Shakespeare, Coventry University’s sports scholarship manager