Kinesiology adds to its undergrad options

The Department of Kinesiology has added two new sport performance and coaching-focused undergraduate degree opportunities for its students via a Bachelor of Science in physical education and coaching science degree, and the Bachelor of Science in sport performance science.

Patrick Rider, the Department of Kinesiology’s director of applied sport science, looks at soccer data on computer screens in his office.

The sport performance science program equips students with expertise in exercise and sport science and develops their technical and data analysis skillset. Students will prepare for professional positions working with human performance populations, including but not limited to military and sport.

Program coordinator is Patrick Rider, who was featured in his role with the ECU women’s soccer team and other sport performance science aspects in 2024.

The physical education and coaching science program offers two concentrations: physical education (teaching licensure) and coaching science (non-licensure). The physical education concentration provides candidates with the methods, content and experiential learning necessary to teach health and physical education in school settings. The coaching science concentration provides students with the content and methods necessary to coach and /or instruct sport and games in school and recreational settings.

A minimum cumulative 2.7 GPA, documented scores for Praxis I Series (PPST, CBT or documented scores on SAT/ACT), successful completion of the KINE majors’ fitness test, and successful completion of the computer competency requirement are required to declare a major in the PE concentration. Jeff Pizzutilla is program coordinator.

In coaching science, a minimum cumulative 2.0 GPA and successful completion of the KINE majors’ fitness test are required to declare a major in the coaching science concentration. Program coordinator is David Dawson.