Sport Coaching – BSc (Honours)

At a glance

Make a career out of unlocking the potential in people through sport, on a course that emphasises the practical elements of the subject and utilises the latest industry technology. You learn from lecturers with industry experience and choose from placements in the UK and abroad. You can further enhance your skills and experience through our coaching volunteering programmes.

Key points
• Develop your ability to coach young people, adults, developing performers and performance athletes.• Use the latest coaching technology and performance analysis systems.
• Gain industry experience and additional qualifications through a six-week placement and our volunteering and internship schemes.
• Study in our world-class facilities at the English Institute of Sport Sheffield.

What is sport coaching?
The sport coach's role is wide ranging. Coaches help to develop people, and sport is a valuable tool. The well-being of individuals, social issues in the community, and the pride of the nation can all be promoted through sport. Sport Coaches, their skills, understanding and knowledge are pivotal to this process. From the promotion of participation in sport to the development of performance, well-educated and experienced sport coaches are key to the process.

This course

Develop your skills for a career as a professional coach and help unlock the potential in young people, adults and performance athletes. You study all aspects of coaching, giving you the confidence and ability to design, deliver and evaluate modern sport coaching activities. Employment prospects as a graduate sport coach are enhanced by the legacy of the Olympics 2012 and the changes in physical education and school sport provision.

You gain from the experience and skills of our lecturers, who are all experienced coaches, and have coaching related research and consultancy profiles. A key feature of this course is our well developed local and national partnerships which can support your volunteering and work placement opportunities. You also gain insights from guest lecturers, which in the past have included GB senior and youth coaches in volleyball, hockey and basketball.

Practical elements of the course are delivered at our sport campus, the English Institute of Sport, Sheffield (EISS). The EISS is a world class sports facility and training base for Jessica Ennis and many of Team GB's other top athletes. You also benefit from a strong emphasis on using the latest technology in your coaching, such as performance analysis systems.

Throughout your degree you are encouraged to develop your coaching skills through our successful in-house volunteer programme Ready, Steady, Coach. You can gain further practical experience as a student sport activator, delivering social sport sessions in return for coaching qualifications. Some of the modules you study also have built in opportunities to achieve coaching awards.

Our annual physical education, sport development and sport coaching student conference is an example of how we provide you with the most current and relevant learning experience. This allows you to meet with current coaching professionals and further develop your knowledge and expertise in the area. It also enables you to examine a range of possible career routes.

In your second year, you take a work placement of six weeks. Many previous students have found placements in schools and other educational organisations. Others have taken opportunities to go further afield, such as, to Tanzania delivering coach education, to South African townships coaching football and to the USA to work with the US Kayak team.

Your final-year options include more specific and applied coaching modules where you can specialise according to your interests. You learn how to set up your own coaching company and also complete a coaching related research project. Previous project examples include• talent identification for a football academy coach
• evaluating the success of a community coaching programme
• developing a coaching resource for disabled performers
• the effectiveness of verbal feedback for a club netball coach

Our Centre for Sport and Exercise's internship programme – delivers sports performance services to clients including Team GB, Sheffield Wednesday FC, professional basketball, golf and boxing. Opportunities are available for students to shadow and assist in this work with these and a range of clients.

Key areas of study
Areas of study include • how and what to coach • coaching specific populations • science applied to coaching • technology and coaching • coaching research • FUNdamentals • training and conditioning • Multiskills • the context of sport coaching in the UK • coaching enterprise.