Master of Science in Coaching and Athletic Development

The Master of Science (MS) in Coaching and Athletic Development program is a combination of the study of sport and exercise science, sports business management, and athletic coaching. This degree program helps provide students with the knowledge to train and develop athletes for sport competition and lifetime sport involvement by applying methods of exercise programming, coaching pedagogy, and financial and business principles to sport. The concepts of developing athletes for optimal performance through sport-specific training techniques and strategies will be explored. Students will acquire the skills often necessary to train athletes in both small and large group settings and implement business principles for owning and managing sport-specific training facilities and businesses.

Degree Program Objectives

In addition to the institutional and degree level learning objectives, graduates of this program are expected to achieve these learning outcomes:

• Analyze sport movements and design movement-oriented exercise prescriptions.
• Illustrate the potential for enhancement of muscle strength, muscular endurance, power, flexibility, and motor performance during anaerobic training.
• Assemble protein, carbohydrate, and fat recommendations for athletes, and discern between dietary recommendations for disease prevention and recommendations for performance.
• Evaluate best practices to measure selected parameters related to athletic performance, and explain how to administer field tests appropriately.
• Apply management theory and managerial leadership concepts to contemporary sports industry practices.
• Integrate economic decision making and advanced finance theory and concepts to sports and sports- related enterprises as it relates to sports in contemporary society.