Me and My Job: It's a case of 'your leisure is my pleasure' for Michelle Bennett who works as a physical recreation officer at Trinity College Dublin. Catherine Foley reports

It's mid-morning. The day is only warming up but inside the sports complex the gym, courts and weight-rooms are buzzing with activity. Young third-level students, in an assortment of shorts, leggings and T-shirts, are pumping iron, lifting weights, running on treadmills and playing squash. They don't even look up when Michelle Bennett, physical recreation officer at Trinity College Dublin, passes through.

"Yes, it's very busy, she says, glancing at the intense activity all around. "I suppose it's an outlet for people to release the stress and strains of college life. Our job is to make sure we provide as much opportunity as possible. we ensure we have staff in place to run the facilities.

"I think you have to have a genuine interest in sport," says the former international volleyball player for Ireland. "It helps you to understand the people you are dealing with. Once you have a common ground you know how to gear the programmes - you know what they are looking for. We have to ensure that the sports facilities are available and that we run programmes that students want."

Part of her job involves balancing time-tables, prioritising where necessary and making sure that every club in the university has use of the facilities. "You have to be a bit of a problem-solver. Problems do arise. They are all looking for 100 per cent. You have to balance it out." Bennett has been physical recreation officer in the college for more than four years. Before that, she was administrator at Dublin City University's sports complex.

"Each day is different. It's quite a busy job. Something new happens every day." Her office on the ground floor of the sports block is at the heart of the sporting action, but staff and students who come in with queries usually go to the reception desk as their first port of call.

Bennett is usually at her desk at 9 a.m. and "realistically" she finishes at 6 p.m. There are plenty of enquiries about bookings throughout the day. With 47 sports clubs in the university, its indoor and outdoor sports facilities are in great demand. Bennett must plan ahead. There are regular meetings to attend, such as meetings of the student services committee and the Dublin University Central Athletics Club. She is also treasurer of the Council of Universities Sports Administrators of Ireland.

"In my job, I would look after the day to day stuff," she continues. Planning ahead is crucial also as a new 10,000 square metre sports centre is due for completion in one to two years. As well as those sports clubs, which are fairly serious "others just want to play for enjoyment. We have a big focus on students in terms of well-being and promoting healthy living and a better university experience. We try to contribute to that. We run a number of fitness classes. We are noticing quite a significant shift from competitive sport to recreational activities. Quite a lot want to get involved just for fitness."

"You have to see the bigger picture, look to the future, see what are the future trends," she says. The aim is to ensure that the facilities are part of promoting "a good attitude to healthy living and part of the whole ethos around health promotion".

With the budgeting and pricing of courses and classes that her job entails, she says certain business skills are needed. "You would have to have a broad range of skills in business. You would have to understand the basic skills of financing and marketing."

In primary school in Beaumont, Dublin, she was "involved in every sport". In second-level, she went to the Dominican College in Griffith Avenue, largely because they were "building a new sports centre". She was especially active in athletics and volleyball. After her Leaving Cert exam in 1988, she did a PLC leisure and recreation certificate course at Inchicore College, and this was the "stepping-stone" to Waterford Institute of Technology, which had a diploma course in business studies, recreation and leisure.

After graduating, she says, "I knew that I wanted to work in a sporting environment." She worked in a number of summer sports camps. She studied for a national certificate in exercise and fitness. She worked in DCU as a fitness instructor, and as a duty manager in Loughlinstown Leisure Centre. When the position of sports administrator in DCU came along, she was ready.