Sports and Exercise Science
The Appliance of Science
The advances in sports professionalism and the increasing intensity of competition have made a scientific approach to sport vital to monitoring and improving performance. British expertise in sport and exercise science is reflected in the growing number of postgraduate qualifications that offer the chance to study new and exciting developments, as well as providing great career opportunities.
Today's unprecedented sporting boom confirms that sport has now gained a much wider recognition and status. As sports stories move from the back to the front pages of newspapers and commercial interest continues to grow, sport's rapid rate of expansion has spawned a huge volume of academic and scientific research. This continuing inquiry supports sports and exercise by developing and spreading knowledge to benefit everyone, from professional athletes to Sunday league footballers.
As an area of professional expertise, British sport and exercise science is now held in extremely high esteem worldwide. "We are amongst the leaders in world sports and exercise science," claims Professor Les Burwitz, Head of Exercise and Sports Science at Manchester Metropolitan University. "Part of the evidence for this can be seen at sports conferences worldwide. People are amazed at what we do. They look at our accreditation procedures and development schemes and try and foster these ideas in their own country." It is this extensive knowledge base that has seen the proliferation of postgraduate courses in the last five years, with sports and exercise science fast becoming one of the most popular developing subjects.
A Developing Field
The application of scientific principles is studied by examining four branches of science - biomechanics, physiology, psychology and interdisciplinary approaches - although this knowledge is applied differently to each of the sports and exercise disciplines. Sports science largely offers expert scientific backup for top sport training and performance, while exercise science has a central role in physical programmes aimed at improving general health. The qualified sport and exercise scientist can expect to have a broad technical, physiological and psychological knowledge, and stands to benefit from current developments within the field offering a professional status that is recognised worldwide.
Professor Burwitz explains: "One of the most exciting developments happening at the moment is the BASES (British Association of Sports and Exercise Science) accreditation scheme, which offers clients from sport and exercise groups confidence that the services they receive will be both safe and effective." Accreditation is the Gold Standard in service delivery, and is recognised as the benchmark for expertise in the sports and exercise domain. It is a standard that is recognised and supported by UK Sport, The British Olympic Association, the National Coaching Foundation, and UK Athletics.
Accreditation will undoubtedly open up many new career opportunities, although, as Professor Burwitz says, there are many other routes to choose. "I would say that about 40% of our students end up working in the sports and leisure area, another 40% use their qualification as a science degree and work in areas such as financial services, banking, civil services and pharmaceuticals. The remaining 20% go into teaching or research. If you're interested in sport in any shape or form, today's courses offer fantastic opportunities. Why study biology or chemistry, when you can use sports and exercise science to great effect, developing the academic rigour and solid foundations for an exciting career."
Stuart Biddle, Professor of Sports and Exercise Psychology from Loughborough University, echoes such sentiments, pointing to the new career versatility possessed by sports and exercise scientists. "Twenty years ago, people weren't employing sports psychologists," he said. "But because sport now plays such an important role in society, the need for specialists is much greater." The careers offered usually fall into three categories: "You could work in a sports science-related field in a professional or hospital rehabilitation centre. Or you could select a career in a more generalised exercise field."
"Much of our students' fitness knowledge is now firmly embedded in community programmes, working with local authority leisure services. Alternatively, you might choose to be a researcher for complementary medicine, for example; or because you are computer literate and able to manage information, you could end up in a totally unrelated career in marketing or computer science."
America currently leads the sport and exercise field, but it is clear that the UK is steadily gaining ground. New academic challenges in the subject mirror British scientific progress, with an important change in the last five years being the omission of practical sports. This change was prompted by student demand for more laboratory-based hands-on work, and indicates the level of academic discipline and desire for new knowledge possessed by today's aspiring sport and exercise science professionals.
For more information about sport and exercise science and accreditation, contact:
Jeremy Cooper, BASES Development Officer on
0113 2891020, or e-mail: jcooper@bases.u-net.com
Author: Jeremy Cooper, BASES
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