Program Overview

EXSC659 - Athlete Development: Strategies, Capabilities and Wellbeing

Year

2023

Credit points

10

Campus offering

No unit offerings are currently available for this unit.

Prerequisites

Nil

Unit Rationale, Description, and Aim

The development of elite sports systems has traditionally focused on the optimal performance of the athlete. Increasingly, however, sport has been faced with the need to consider the development of its 'star performers' from a much more holistic and 'human' perspective. This unit will highlight the importance of an understanding of sport as the context and the athlete as a person to the effectiveness of the sport scientist and administrator.

Learning Outcomes

To successfully complete this unit, students will be able to:

• Discuss careers in sport within the framework of the total human lifespan and from a perspective of respect for the individual and human dignity
• Outline the interactions of athletic, individual, societal, and academic/vocational factors in the developmental transitions through which athletes progress
• Critically discuss the management of elite athletes from an individual human needs perspective
• Develop strategies for a holistic perspective for athlete well-being when developing strategies to achieve optimal performance in the short, medium, and longer term

Graduate Attributes

• GA1: demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity
• GA2: recognise their responsibility to the common good, the environment, and society
• GA3: apply ethical perspectives in informed decision making
• GA4: think critically and reflectively
• GA5: demonstrate values, knowledge, skills, and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession

Content

Topics will include:

• Sport as a career
  • The historical context the evolution of western sports systems, from the cold war to globalisation
  • The sports field as a regulated industrial workplace the role of the player associations, collective bargaining, etc.
  • When the full-time whistle blows the focus on Athlete Career Education (ACE) and the dual career notion
• Expected capabilities
  • Holistic development of the athlete the athlete as a person
  • Preparing the body systems that impact on performance
  • Psychological needs and appropriate support
• The athlete brand
  • The meaning of a personal brand
  • Identifying relevant personal and sport-related brand attributes
  • Meeting employer and market expectations as an athlete
  • The athlete as a person - could this be a source of competitive advantage?

Learning and Teaching Strategy and Rationale

This unit uses an active learning approach to support students in the exploration of knowledge essential to the discipline. Students are provided with choice and variety in how they learn. Students are encouraged to contribute to asynchronous weekly discussions. Active learning opportunities provide students with opportunities to practice and apply their learning in situations similar to their future professions.

Assessment Strategy and Rationale

In order to best enable students to achieve unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes, standards-based assessment is utilised, consistent with University assessment requirements. A range of assessment strategies have been purposefully designed for the assessment of learning outcomes reflecting the principles of authentic assessment design and include:

• Assessment Task 1: a written task, to assess understanding and application of the unit content and communication of argument
• Assessment Task 2: quizzes, to assess knowledge and understanding of the unit
• Assessment Task 3: a business case, to assess critical thinking, and application of unit learnings

Overview of Assessments

Representative Texts and References

• Connor, J. (2009). The athlete as widget: How exploitation explains elite sport. Sport in Society, 12(10).
• Douglas, K., & Carless, D. (2006). The performance environment: A study of the personal, lifestyle and environmental factors that affect sporting performance. London: UK Sport.
• Erikson, E. H. (1980). Identity and the life cycle (Vol. 1): WW Norton & Company.
• Fletcher, D., & Wagstaff, C. R. D. (2009). Organizational psychology in elite sport: Its emergence, application and future. Psychology of Sport & Exercise, 10(4), 427-434.
• Hickey, C., & Kelly, P. (2008). Preparing to not be a footballer: higher education and professional sport. Sport, Education & Society, 13(4), 477-494.
• Horton, R. S., & Mack, D. E. (2000). Athletic identity in marathon runners: functional focus or dysfunctional commitment? Journal of Sport Behavior, 23(2), 101-119.
• Park, S., Lavallee, D., & Tod, D. (2012). Athletes' career transition out of sport: a systematic review. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 6(1), 22-53.
• Price, N., Morrison, N., & Arnold, S. (2010). Life out of the limelight: Understanding the non-sporting pursuits of elite athletes. The International Journal of Sport and Society, 1(3), 69-79.
• Stambulova, N., Alfermann, D., Statler, T., & Côté, J. (2009). ISSP Position stand: Career development and transitions of athletes. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 7(4), 395-412.
• Sturges, J., & Guest, D. (2004). Working to live or living to work? Work/life balance early in the career. Human Resource Management Journal, 14(4), 5-20.