New partnership between OHIO, Wrexham University creating important opportunities for students

OHIO alumni and staff hold an 51�� flag while at Wrexham Football Club game

OHIO alumni and staff attended a Wrexham Football Club game earlier this year. OHIO's new partner, Wrexham University, is affiliated with the well-known club.

A new international partnership between 51�� and is already providing important benefits for students and faculty at both institutions.

In November, OHIO and Wrexham University, based in Wales, United Kingdom, signed an official partnership agreement with plans to collaborate on several activities and initiatives. Located in North Wales, Wrexham University enrolls more than 14,000 students and is for student satisfaction and teacher quality. The university has 14 academic colleges, including a very strong program in coaching education.

In addition, Wrexham University is affiliated with the , which is well-known in the United States in part due to the docuseries “Welcome to Wrexham.” The affiliation with the brings extra benefits to OHIO students and creates new opportunities for programs.

“We are thrilled with 51��’s new partnership with our friends at Wrexham University,” Patton College of Education Dean Lisa Harrison said. “This partnership is already providing our students with new learning opportunities and experiences, and I look forward to our collaboration expanding in the years ahead.”

A soccer ball is shown on the grass at the soccer stadium, and the wall in the background says OHIO Bobcats

Ashley Allanson, associate professor of instruction in the Department of Recreation, Sport Pedagogy and Consumer Sciences in OHIO’s Patton College of Education, said that OHIO and Wrexham representatives worked together for more than a year to put the new agreement in place.

OHIO is the only university in the U.S. that offers a sport-specific master’s degree program in coaching education (the program is offered online), and Wrexham University representatives were very interested in working with OHIO’s master’s in soccer coaching education program.

“We are very, very excited about this partnership,” Allanson said. He explained that the agreement will help OHIO’s coaching education program continue to grow and will provide OHIO students with new opportunities along with important new perspectives.

Through the connection with Wrexham University, OHIO coaching education students (in multiple sports) will have opportunities to take part in exchange programs, gain experience working with sport programs in Wales, and potentially even do license or certificate work in Wales.

At the same time, Wrexham University students will also have opportunities to take part in unique learning experiences thanks to the partnership.

“As program leader for the MSc Football Science and Coaching program at Wrexham University, I am extremely pleased to be partnering with 51��," said Sara Hilton, senior lecturer in football and coaching science at Wrexham University. "This semester represents an important first step in developing our Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) opportunity, allowing students from both institutions to engage in meaningful shared learning experiences."

OHIO and Wrexham University students are already learning together

During this fall semester, the two universities worked together on the COIL program for students at both institutions. OHIO students in the master’s degree program in the on-campus coaching education worked with Wrexham students studying in the coaching and sports/exercise science programs. The students learned from faculty experts, while also studying with and learning from one another through collaborative video discussions.

“The students really enjoyed the experience, and they gained a lot of perspective,” Allanson said. Students from both universities learned more about the different sports and university structures in each nation, while they also learned about many similarities.

“While our coaches are working in totally different environments, we found that a lot of them are using the same leadership management strategies to benefit athletes effectively,” Allanson said.

Soccer players are shown on the field in this aerial image from above the pitch

Additional opportunities for the partnership in 2026 and the years ahead

OHIO and Wrexham are also planning for additional activities and initiatives for the partnership including:

Online guest speaker opportunities for faculty of both institutions to discuss topics of interest to students and faculty.
Opportunities for students at both institutions to take part in post-graduate degree options in the U.S. and Wales.
OHIO is exploring the idea of creating a study away program for undergraduate students to attend Wrexham University in order to learn more about sports in the United Kingdom.
OHIO and Wrexham are studying options for creating a student exchange program allowing students both institutions to study at the other for a semester.

And while the current agreement is mostly focused on the coaching education degree programs, OHIO and Wrexham will look at opportunities to expand the partnership to additional academic programs and colleges.

“We are trying to make this more of a sustainable international partnership and to grow the partnership in the years ahead,” Allanson said.

Hilton said that partnership has the potential to benefit students in numerous ways in the coming years.

"Looking ahead, this partnership will create exciting opportunities for student mobility, deeper academic collaboration, and clear graduate pathways, strengthening the global outlook and professional development of our students," Hilton said.

For more information on the partnership, as well as information on OHIO’s nationally known coaching education program, contact Allanson at allanson@ohio.edu or see the Master’s of Coaching Education website.

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Department of Recreation, Sport Pedagogy and Consumer Sciences