Dr Alice Harkness-Armstrong
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Email
a.harkness-armstrong@essex.ac.uk -
Telephone
+44 (0) 1206 873565
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Location
ESA.3.32, Colchester Campus
Profile
Biography
Alice Harkness-Armstrong is a lecturer in Performance Analysis within the School of Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences at the University of Essex. Alice is currently the Inclusivity Lead and Departmental Study Abroad Officer for the School of Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences. Prior to joining the University, Alice worked at University Academy 92 as an Associate Tutor, delivering across the BSc Sport and Exercise Science and BA Physical Education degrees, and Leeds Beckett University as an Associate Lecturer, delivering on the BSc Sports Coaching programme. Alice received her BSc in Applied Sport Science with Coaching and MRes in Exercise Science from Northumbria University, and PhD in Sports Coaching from Leeds Beckett University. Alice's research interests are within sports performance, and in particular female football. Alongside her current role as a lecturer, Alice is currently working as a Para Football Performance Analyst at The Football Association, supporting the England Partially Sighted and Deaf Women's futsal teams. Alice has previously held applied performance analysis roles across a range of sports and contexts, including Huddersfield Town AFC, Sunderland AFC Ladies Centre of Excellence, and Northern Ireland Volleyball senior women's team. Beyond her experience as an academic, researcher and practitioner, Alice has previously represented Northern Ireland in football and volleyball, and is currently captain of the Northern Ireland Women's Futsal team.
Qualifications
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PGCert Higher Education Practice University of Essex, (2024)
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PhD Sports Coaching Leeds Beckett University, (2022)
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MRes Exercise Science Northumbria University, (2016)
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BSc Applied Sport Science with Coaching Northumbria University, (2015)
Appointments
University of Essex
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Lecturer in Performance Analysis, School of Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences, University of Essex (1/6/2022 - present)
Other academic
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External Examiner (MSc Sport Data Analytics), University of Strathclyde (1/10/2023 - present)
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External Examiner (Fd Sports Coaching and Performance Analysis, validated by The Open University), Belfast Metropolitan College (1/9/2024 - present)
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Associate Tutor in Sport, University Academy 92 (13/9/2021 - 28/1/2022)
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Associate Lecturer, Carnegie School of Sport, Leeds Beckett University (23/9/2019 - 30/7/2021)
Research and professional activities
Conferences and presentations
Understanding and application within women's football: Opportunities and challenges (Invited Topic Session: 'Data driven perspectives on football')
Invited presentation, Royal Statistical Society (RSS) International Conference 2024, Brighton, United Kingdom, 5/9/2024
A holistic approach to understanding match demands in women's soccer (Invited Symposium: 'Searching for the holy grail: understanding women's soccer for performance and injury prevention')
Invited presentation, European College of Sport Science (ECSS) Glasgow 2024, 4/7/2024
Teaching and supervision
Current teaching responsibilities
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Professional Skills and Development 1 (SE101)
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Sport and Exercise Psychology (SE104)
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Professional Skills 2 (SE201)
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Applied Performance Analysis (SE236)
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Research Project (SE309)
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Research Project (SE318)
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Sports Analytics (SE323)
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Contemporary Issues and Perspectives in the Sport Pedagogy Landscape (SE333)
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Further Research Methods in Sport, Exercise and Health (SE738)
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Research Project (SE740)
Current supervision
Previous supervision
Degree type: Master of Science (by Dissertation)
Awarded date: 16/10/2023
Publications
Journal articles (8)
Harkness-Armstrong, A., Seth, L., Lowry, R. and Datson, N., (2025). Applied performance analysis practices in women's football. International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching. 20 (2), 568-584
Feist, J., Datson, N., Runswick, O., Harkness-Armstrong, A. and Pocock, C., (2024). Visual exploratory activity in elite women’s soccer: An analysis of the UEFA Women’s European Championship 2022. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology
Harkness-Armstrong, A., Till, K., Datson, N. and Emmonds, S., (2023). Influence of match status and possession status on the physical and technical characteristics of elite youth female soccer match-play. Journal of Sports Sciences. 41 (15), 1437-1449
Harkness-Armstrong, A., Till, K., Datson, N. and Emmonds, S., (2022). Determining age-specific velocity thresholds for elite youth female soccer players. Science and Medicine in Football. 6 (5), 581-588
Harkness-Armstrong, A., Till, K., Datson, N., Myhill, N. and Emmonds, S., (2022). A systematic review of match-play characteristics in women's soccer. PLoS One. 17 (6), e0268334-e0268334
Harkness-Armstrong, A., Till, K., Datson, N. and Emmonds, S., (2021). Whole and peak physical characteristics of elite youth female soccer match-play. Journal of Sports Sciences. 39 (12), 1320-1329
Harkness-Armstrong, A., Till, K., Datson, N. and Emmonds, S., (2020). Technical characteristics of elite youth female soccer match-play: position and age group comparisons between under 14 and under 16 age groups. International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport. 20 (6), 942-959
Vickery, W. and Harkness, A., (2017). Physical, Physiological and Perceptual Match Demands of Amateur Mixed Gender Touch Players. JOURNAL OF SPORTS SCIENCE AND MEDICINE. 16 (4), 589-594
Conferences (6)
Harkness-Armstrong, A., Till, K., Datson, N. and Emmonds, S., Establishing appropriate velocity thresholds for quantifying and interpreting physical performance of elite youth female soccer players
Harkness-Armstrong, A., Till, K., Datson, N. and Emmonds, S., Understanding how match status and possession status influences the match-play characteristics of youth female football players
Harkness-Armstrong, A., Seth, L., Lowry, R. and Datson, N., An investigation into applied performance analysis practices in women's football
Taylor, J., Quick, S., Morgan, C. and Harkness-Armstrong, A., An investigation of coach behaviours and practice structures during male academy football training sessions
Adams, T., Waterworth, S., Lowry, R., Lewis, T., Datson, N. and Harkness-Armstrong, A., Physical characteristics of youth female football players during training
Feist, J., Datson, N., Runswick, O., Harkness-Armstrong, A. and Pocock, C., (2025). Visual exploratory activity in elite women's soccer: An analysis of the UEFA Women's European Championships 2022
Other (1)
Harkness-Armstrong, A., (2022).Diving into the stats behind youth games. Women's Soccer Coaching(21)
Grants and funding
2025
Do sex-specific football boots alter the movement mechanics of female footballers?
International Centre for Sports Studies
