Sports Studies

Managing a Sport Centre and planning recreation programs in a community both require effective resource management (from equipment to staff and volunteers), surveying the community to define precise objectives, the elaboration of an appropriate marketing strategy to sell/rent sporting venues, and the implementation of concerted actions to mobilize the community and promote physical activity/healthy behaviors. This course is designed to help you develop the skills and knowledge to effectively manage a Sport Centre as well as design a comprehensive and economically sustainable recreation plan for a community.

Through lectures, workshops, and case studies, you will learn about the theories and best-practices supporting successful management in a sport-specific context while also reviewing modern initiatives leading to sustainable recreation plans. This course will also allow you to develop key liberal education skills such as: quantitative reasoning, problem solving abilities, social confidence and inter-personal competence, capacity for civic engagement.

This course will explore the fundamentals of athletic coaching. Students will study teaching theories, researches on motor learning and will apply these concepts to design annual training programs, elaborate effective practice sessions and plan specific interventions. In addition, because successful coaching requires first and foremost successful leadership, this course will include practical workshops to allow students to reflect and work on their own leadership skills. At the end of the course, students will be able to plan and conduct a training session as well as evaluate the efficacy of their actions.

To be successful, students will be expected to play a major role in their learning process. Specifically, the course will involve many in-class discussions as well as substantial group works requiring continued involvement. Just like a coach expects his/her athletes to give their “110%”, I expect you to do the same in this class.

Specific objectives:
- Define your own coaching philosophy
- Identify different coaching styles
- Understand the dynamic of group development and its consequences on coaching
- Manage conflicts
- Motivate athletes
- Plan effective training sessions
- Apply basic motor learning theories
- Set appropriate objectives with your athletes
- Understand the “Long Term Athlete Development” model
Specific skills:
- Critical thinking skills
- Oral and Written Communication Skills
- Problem Solving Abilities (+)
- Creative and Adaptive Thinking (+)
- Social Confidence and Inter-personal Competence
- Ethical and Moral Reasoning