Degree Offered
- Bachelor of Science
Nature of the Program
This major prepares you to work with high-performance athletes in the athletic or tactical contexts, or with recreational participants in community or club leagues. As a profession, coaching has evolved well beyond merely teaching skills and strategy to athletes. Today, coaches need to evaluate and monitor athlete performance from the perspective of both a sport scientist and a sport pedagogist. The Coaching and Performance Science major is designed to prepare future coaches who will specialize in “on-field” coaching versus “off-field” coaching (e.g., strength and conditioning, athlete performance and recovery). Students will complete an area of emphasis in one of the following areas: Coaching and Leadership or Strength and Conditioning.
The Coaching and Leadership area focuses on the development of domain-specific and underlying scientific content knowledge as well as the essential interpersonal and intrapersonal skills necessary for quality teaching and leadership within the sport context. The program challenges students to focus on their personal and professional foundation and ongoing development through the integration of applied sport science and hands-on application in coaching.
The Strength and Conditioning area of emphasis concentrates on the science of training, designing training prescriptions, athlete monitoring and performance assessment, and better overall steering of the training/recovery process. Students participate in a variety of hands-on learning opportunities in an applied sport science laboratory and/or with WVU athletic teams.
Admissions for 2025-2026
All students are directly admitted into the Coaching and Performance Science program who meet the University requirements.
Students admitted from other majors within WVU must be in good academic standing (2.0 GPA).
Students transferring from another institution must be in good academic standing (2.0 GPA).
Major Code: 5510
Degree Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| University Requirements | 65 | |
| Career and Professional Development Sequence | 0 | |
| Coaching and Performance Science Major Requirements | 55 | |
| Total Hours | 120 | |
University Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| General Education Foundations (GEF) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 (31-37 Credits) | ||
| Outstanding GEF Requirements 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8 | 30 | |
| CAHS 191 | First-Year Seminar | 2 |
| General Electives | 33 | |
| Total Hours | 65 | |
Professional and Career Development Sequence
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Course Sequence | ||
| First-Year Seminar | ||
| Career Exploration in Applied Human Sciences | ||
| Select one of the following: | ||
| Capstone Strength and Conditioning | ||
| Capstone Experience in AHS | ||
| Total Hours | 0 | |
Coaching and Performance Science Major Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| ACE 149 | Introduction to Applied Anatomy | 3 |
| PET 175 | Motor Development | 2 |
| ACE 215 | Sport for the Exceptional Athlete (GEF 7) | 3 |
| PET 244 | Motor Learning and Performance | 2 |
| ACE 256 | Principles and Problems of Coaching | 3 |
| SEP 272 | Introduction to Sport and Performance Psychology (GEF 4) | 3 |
| ACE 307 | Applied Sport Physiology | 3 |
| CAHS 300 | Career Exploration in Applied Human Sciences | 3 |
| ACE 310 | Coaching Pedagogy | 3 |
| ACE 327 | Applied Biomechanics | 3 |
| ACE 410 | Training Theories for Coaches | 3 |
| ACE 430 | Coaching Education Administration | 3 |
| ACE 469 | Basic Strength and Conditioning for Coaches | 3 |
| ACE 488 | Practicum Coaching Exceptional Athletes | 3 |
| Complete one of the following Areas of Emphasis (AoE) | 15 | |
Coaching & Leadership | ||
Strength and Conditioning | ||
| Total Hours | 55 | |
Suggested Plan of Study
| First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| ENGL 101 (GEF 1) | 3 | ACE 256 | 3 |
| SEP 272 (GEF 4) | 3 | ACE 307 | 3 |
| ACE 149 | 3 | PET 244 | 2 |
| PET 175 | 2 | GEF 2 | 3 |
| CAHS 191 | 2 | GEF 3 | 3 |
| General Elective | 2 | General Elective | 1 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Second Year | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| ACE 310 | 3 | ACE 215 (GEF 7) | 3 |
| ACE 327 | 3 | ACE 469 | 3 |
| CAHS 300 | 3 | Complete one of the following AoE courses: | 3 |
| GEF 2 | 3 | ||
| General Elective | 3 | ||
| General Electives | 6 | ||
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Third Year | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| Complete one of the following AoE courses: | 3 | ACE 488 | 3 |
| Complete one of the following AoE courses: | 3 | ||
| Complete one of the following AoE courses: | 3 | ||
| General Electives | 6 | ||
| GEF 5 | 3 | ||
| GEF 8 | 3 | ||
| General Electives | 6 | ||
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Fourth Year | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| ENGL 102 (GEF 1) | 3 | ACE 410 | 3 |
| ACE 430 | 3 | Complete one of the following AoE courses: | 3 |
| GEF 8 | 3 | ||
| General Electives | 6 | ||
| GEF 6 | 3 | ||
| GEF 8 | 3 | ||
| General Elective | 3 | ||
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Total credit hours: 120 | |||
Areas of Emphasis Offered:
Coaching and Leadership Area of Emphasis
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| ACE 265 | Diversity and Sport | 3 |
| SM 350 | Leadership Theory and Application in Sport | 3 |
| SEP 385 | Performance Psychology of Teams and Groups | 3 |
| CDFS 412 | Adolescent Development | 3 |
| or CDFS 410 | The Science of Positive Youth Development | |
| CAHS 489 | Capstone Experience in AHS | 3 |
| Total Hours | 15 | |
Strength and Conditioning Area of Emphasis
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| HN&F 200 | Nutrition/Activity/Health | 3 |
| ACE 457 | Introduction to Sport Technology and Sport Science | 3 |
| ACE 473 | Strength and Conditioning Coaching Techniques | 3 |
| ACE 487 | Sport Specific Strength/Conditioning | 3 |
| ACE 475 | Capstone Strength and Conditioning | 3 |
| Total Hours | 15 | |
Major Learning Outcomes
Coaching and Performance Science
The goal of the program is for students to graduate with the essential skills and knowledge to work with athletes in a variety of contexts across their lifetime.
By the completion of the program, graduates:
- will integrate disciplinary knowledge, skills, and dispositions and apply them to professional issues in coaching and performance science.
- will reflect on their professional readiness and think critically about the continued refinement of the disciplinary knowledge, skills, and dispositions learned across the curriculum in coaching and performance science.
- will model professional and ethical behaviors that are consistent with industry standards and the related recommendations for best practice learned across coaching and performance science.
- will demonstrate the ability to evaluate and integrate best practices for assessing athlete needs and designing, implementing, and evaluating practice plans.