Perceived Benefits of Participating in an Undergraduate Strength and Conditioning Internship

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Internships are considered high-impact practices in higher education. However, to date, such programs to prepare kinesiology students for careers as strength and conditioning (S&C) coaches have rarely been studied for impact. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively assess interns’ perceived benefits of interning as S&C coaches. Five interns completed an average of 36 hours of coaching over a 12-week S&C program for a university rugby team. Interns rated themselves on key areas and wrote a self-reflection on how the internship contributed to their professional development. Key themes to emerge were skill development, especially in the areas of monitoring and providing feedback to athletes; learning how to work as a team of coaches; and being more aware and critical of their own knowledge skills and abilities and how much more professional development they will need throughout their career.
Original languageAmerican English
JournalInternational Journal of Kinesiology in Higher Education
DOIs
StatePublished - May 14 2020

Keywords

  • Coaching
  • internship
  • resistance training
  • self-reflection
  • strength and conditioning

Disciplines

  • Kinesiology
  • Psychology
  • Higher Education
  • Medical Education

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