In an effort to increase knowledge about coaching, MSU is offering three new online courses through the Department of Kinesiology.
The classes are graduate-school level but are available to anyone who is a part of the lifelong education program. In conjunction with MSU's Institute for the Study of Youth Sports, the courses are designed to help men and women interested in coaching youth sports. The institute researches youth sports and conduct training camps.
All three courses are part of a new coaching education certificate program. Eugene Brown, the Department of Kinesiology's online course coordinator, feels the courses will be useful in a couple of different ways.
"There is a value for online education," Brown said "It's a secondary thing that will make it easier for coaches to obtain the proper information about coaching or being an administrator in a sport."
The first course, Kinesiology 854, Sports Law for Administrators and Coaches, will be offered this fall. The course will teach students about the concepts, policies and procedures relevant to the legal and administrative aspects of coaching.
Kinesiology 855, Psychological Bases of Coaching Athletes, is the second course and will be offered in spring 2004. In it, students study the sociological, psychological, philosophical, developmental and instructional aspects of coaching.
The third course is Kinesiology 856, Biological Bases of Coaching Athletes, and will be taught in summer 2004. It offers students a chance to learn about the anatomy, physiology, sports medicine and biomechanical aspects of coaching.
The three courses are directed primarily toward individuals who want to become high school coaches or administrators, but they might also be helpful to principals and superintendents as well. None of the classes are sports-specific and each will allow a person to apply the information taught to any sport.
Since the course is only given online, professors will only be able to present information through that medium. Neither Brown nor his peers have attempted to do such a thing yet, leaving some uncertainty about how to monitor the classes. But by keeping the class size at 25 students, he believes they can be successful in their attempt to deliver an informative course.
MSU women's golf coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll feels offering these types of classes will benefit youth and high school sports.
"It's a good thing that we are offering some education for people," Slobodnik-Stoll said. "In my experiences, I know there are a lot of youth coaches that have no experience with sports, so something is better than nothing."
Enrollment for the courses is offered to either graduate students or those in the lifelong education program.
For more information, contact Eugene W. Brown in the Department of Kinesiology at (517)353-6491.
