Coaching and Physical Education Programs

The exercise science program's coaching classes blend theoretical learning strategies with practical, on-the-field development of coaching skills. Your professors know the score: they are the coaches on BVU's basketball, volleyball, baseball, softball, wrestling, soccer, football, track & field and cross-country teams. They'll show you first-hand how to run warm-ups, do drills, and encourage players on the field.

Coursework in physical education is centered on the National Association of Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) student and teacher standards. The program shows you how to maximize student participation to help all learners reach their potentials in a safe environment. It teaches you how to make your classes fun as you encourage your students to balance cooperation and competition. Through education field experiences, you'll gain hands-on experience in area schools. Through the course Adapted Physical Education, you'll work with students with special needs at the Storm Lake organization Faith Hope and Charity. You'll learn how to measure your students' progress and provide them with meaningful feedback. You'll also learn time management - how to maximize active learning time and minimize transitions between activities, using facilities to their full advantage. 

At 72 credit hours, the physical education and coaching major offers a high level of preparation for both teaching physical education and coaching primary, middle and secondary school teams, requiring coursework in coaching individual sports, pedagogy and movement sciences. Upon graduation from the program, you will be licensed to teach K-8 and 5-12 physical education and to coach at all grade levels.

A minor exclusively in coaching is 24 credit hours. A coaching authorization allowing you to coach K-12 sports in the state of Iowa requires 10 credits of classes covering coaching and first aid skills. Though many states do not require a coaching authorization, states that do have requirements comparable to those of Iowa. The coaching endorsement is a State of Iowa licensure specifically for education majors and teachers; it covers the same background and meets the same requirements as the coaching authorization.

Human Performance

While athletic training deals with injury management and rehabilitation, human performance works with athletes and other individuals to help improve health and athletic performance through conditioning, strength training and nutrition. The major is excellent preparation for continued study and research after graduation in fields like sports psychology, cardiac rehabilitation, nutrition, anatomy, exercise physiology and motor therapy. It also offers preparation for a career that could eventually lead to coaching in a secondary setting. "There's not a real career path towards coaching, but if there was one, this would be the start of it," says James Day, athletic trainer and instructor of exercise science.

The required coursework for human performance further helps you develop the knowledge and proficiencies needed to pass tests for two certifications through the American Academy of Sports Medicine: Certified Personal Trainer (ACSM-CPT) and Health and Fitness Specialist (ACSM - HFS). The human performance program recommends that you earn the CPT qualification your junior year so that you can, if you desire, work as a personal trainer over the summer prior to your senior year. The HFS certification qualifies you to work with populations with special health requirements such as people with diabetes or other illnesses. It requires a bachelors or associate degree and therefore can be earned upon graduation from BVU.

Sport Management

A multi-disciplinary endeavor, sport management draws courses from communication studies, business and exercise science. General course work involves hands-on experience with event management through work with BVU's sporting and entertainment events. Like many large gatherings, they require intensive preparation: setting up sound equipment, preparing the field, planning for security, soliciting sponsors, promoting charity drives and more. Through the program, students can prepare for a variety of positions within the sport industry, including careers in intercollegiate sports, professional sport teams, health and fitness clubs, sports marketing and management firms, facility and event management, and work with community agencies such as the YMCA. Event planning is more than sports, however. You'll develop skills that can be applied to events such as concerts, weddings and conventions.

The program has three tracks - sport study, communication and media studies, and business.  Sport study focuses on specific sports, while the communication and media studies track offers training for employment opportunities in public relations, sports information, athletic management and administration. The business track emphasizes courses in finance, accounting, and business law.

Health Education Minor

Closely aligned with the health (K-8) and health (5-12) endorsements, the health education minor helps qualify you to teach elementary, middle, and high school health courses and develops skills to help you better promote healthy living through your physical education curriculum.