I play elite sport and train a lot and have competitions. Could this be done outside the army whilst being a solider?

Hi there, Thank you for your question. Yes absolutely! The Army is fantastic at supporting sporting excellence and you will definitely be able to continue to train and play for your own clubs. If you play for a national club then the Army will often release you in work time too. There may be times when the Army cannot release you to train or compete due to operational commitments and clearly your job must always come first, but you will always have fair warning of this. There are also a huge amount of sporting opportunities within the Army which would allow you to keep developing your skills, but also benefit others in the Army by sharing your knowledge. The Army has produced some extremely high quality athletes, Dame Kelly Holmes, Kriss Akabusi MBE, Josh Lewsey MBE, Semsesa Rokodugini, and Heather Stanning are just a few of them! I hope this helps. Katie

Hi, I play touch rugby for England and would love to bring this into the army and grow the sport. I have a World Cup and a European championships next year and if I join as an officer I’m concerned I’ll still be in training during these competitions. Has anyone been allowed to take time off training for things like this before? I completely understand the job comes first though. Thanks!

Hi there, It is very unlikely indeed that you would be given time off in training to train or compete. If you have commitments like this upcoming I would suggest starting your military training after you have competed. It is really important that you complete all training as it prepares you for managing soldiers and being able to do your job, you wouldn’t want to miss any parts as it could effect your competency. Katie

Thanks so much for your help! I understand that my job in the army would be a priority.