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How to gain employment in sports science and strength and conditioning – by Dr Justin Keogh, Bond University

Careers and University, Exercise Physiology / Science, Sports Science, The Health Industry

Bond University’s Master of Sports Science program offers an innovative, accelerated program that involves two semesters of internship in high-performance sport. It has been offered since 2015 and as a result of the outstanding learning opportunities provided by the internship, it has helped students gain employment in high performance sport and into applied PhD programs associated with high-performance sport teams.  The program will enable its students to apply and further develop their knowledge and practical experience in sports science across all levels of national and international sport. 

The Master of Sports Science program can be completed in one year & four months, comprising of four semesters: two semesters of coursework and two semesters of full-time internship in high performance sport. During the first two semesters, the students complete the majority of the coursework while also obtaining strength and conditioning and sport science experience working with Bond University tier 1 sub-elite sports including swimming, triathlon, netball, rugby and AFL as well as local high school high performance sport programs.  

The coursework component is delivered primarily at the world-class Bond Institute of Health & Sport, where students will gain exceptional, high-quality practical experience in the high performance gym, health science laboratories and sports science research laboratories. Students also have access to specialised technology used in research to deliver a wide range of athlete testing and performance analysis. These facilities provide sports science testing and training services to a variety of elite and sub-elite athletes, providing an exceptional learning experience. 

“I definitely recommend that other university students from the States come and study at Bond, especially for a master’s program because it is accelerated. There are three semesters a year so you finish it quickly.” Joshua Morrison  

In the last two semesters of the Masters course, students complete a full-time internship in high performance sport, whereby they become an integral part of the sports science team and conduct a research project. Students have conducted their internships at organisations including the Australian Institute of Sport, Gold Coast Suns AFL, Brisbane Women’s Lions AFL, Cricket Australia, Australian Under 20 Rugby, Queensland Reds Super Rugby and Waikato Chiefs Super Rugby.   

In these internships, students are given high-level responsibility in different sports science areas including strength conditioning, performance analysis involving GPS or Sportscode, injury prevention and rehabilitation as well as biomechanical and physiological assessments. An example of this high-level responsibility has been demonstrated by a number of students developing from scratch the GPS or Sportscode data collection, analysis and reporting processes for their club. Within the area of strength conditioning, a number of students have also been instrumental in delivering the strength and conditioning program for Australian athletes competing at the 2016 London Olympics and Paralympics.  

 

As a result of these internships, all of the graduates have quickly gained employment, mostly in high performance sport science or strength and conditioning positions. Graduate highlights of the Master of Sports Science program and their current employers include Miss Kayla Dodson (Canadian Institute of Sport), Miss Shiqi Thng (Queensland Academy of Sport and PhD student, Bond University), Mr Joshua Morrison (Oakland Athletics Major League Baseball) and Mr Corey Wedding (North Queensland Cowboys NRL and PhD student, James Cook University). 

Dr Justin Keogh 
Associate Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine
Bond University  

Successful graduates of the Master of Sports Science program may be eligible to progress to further postgraduate research, leading to potential career options in research organisations and academia.  Applications are taken for course commencement in May. 

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