MA/MSc with a SPECIALIZATION in COACHING

The Coaching Specialization master's degree is a unique program of study that can be taken in two ways:

  • Professional master’s degree (MA) where study is focused on the course work, a specific sport practicum, and a graduate paper or project.
  • Two-year MA or MSc with a thesis included in the degree along with the course work and practicum.

The target group of students for this program consists of academically qualified individuals who have had elite competitive and/or coaching experience in a sport and wish to improve their knowledge of the science and practice of coaching and gain credentials (certification) as a qualified coach. Since the term “elite” does vary from sport to sport, the classifications advanced by national or provincial organization for their sport will be used.  Specific focus is on five broad categories of individuals:

  • Athletes who have competed at a varsity intercollegiate, provincial, or national team level and wish to remain within the sport in a coaching capacity. 
  • High school coaches interested in gaining further experience with a master coach and increasing their knowledge of the academic bases of sport excellence.
  • Undergraduate students who wish to make coaching a career orientation (i.e. operating a soccer, swimming, or track and field program in a town or city).
  • Undergraduate students who want enhance their job prospects in the educational setting by using their ability to coach their chosen sport(s) as an adjunct to their teaching qualifications. 
  • Members of the community who wish to coach, on a voluntary but certified basis, within their community, town, city, or province.

Term of Study

Normally, the term of study in the Coaching Specialization Program shall be 2 years. The two years shall consist of 5 one term graduate level courses spread over the fall and winter semesters of the two years, two years of a sport specific practicum, and a graduate paper based on an area of interest in the specific sport or a thesis in a specific Kinesiology discipline.  In the professional stream, it may be possible for students to complete the degree requirements within 18 months if, in the judgment of the student’s Advisory Committee, the student has sufficient previous coaching experience to waive a portion of one year of the required two-year Coaching Practicum. In this alternative, the course work and first practicum experience could be completed in the first year and the second coaching practicum experience and final project would be completed during the second year.

Curriculum of the Program

The program shall be undertaken through either a thesis or a non-thesis or course based route.  The specific curriculum shall consist of

  • Five one-term courses
  • Coaching practicum (Kinesiology 9612)
  • Graduate paper/project (non-thesis) or a thesis in a specific Kinesiology discipline

The Five-Course Requirement

One of the five one-term required courses is mandatory; Kinesiology 9630 (The Art and Science of Coaching). The other four one-term courses shall be electives selected by the student in consultation with his/her Advisory Committee from the graduate curriculum in Kinesiology and/or other graduate academic units on campus. 

The Coaching Practicum

Guidelines for Coaching Specialization Practicum

  • One of the major prerequisites for this Coaching Specialization Program is the acceptance of the student candidate by a coach of an intercollegiate team from our athletic department who agrees to become his/her Coaching Mentor.
  • Candidates shall be required to enroll in Kinesiology 9612 (Coaching Practicum) for either one and a half or two years depending upon his/her previous coaching experience. 
    • An Advisory Committee (comprised of the Coaching Program Coordinator, the Mentor Coach, and a member of the Kinesiology Graduate Program) shall evaluate the candidate’s sport coaching background and sport experience.  
  • If the candidate’s coaching background and sport experience are judged by the Advisory Committee to be minimal (for example, the candidate played an intercollegiate sport but has little actual coaching experience in that sport), an initial practical coaching internship may be required that might be carried out in a local high school or community program under the guidance of a “master” coach (i.e., a person identified by the Advisory Committee as an experienced, competent coach).  The second year coaching practicum shall be with the Western Intercollegiate Mentor Coach who will provide full access and coaching opportunities in his/her sports program for the student. 
  • If the candidate’s coaching background and sport experience are judged by the Advisory Committee to be of a high enough level, a one and a half to two year practicum can be carried out with the intercollegiate team under the direct supervision of the Mentor Coach (this typically involves two in-season and one or two summer or offseason coaching involvements).

Academic Success Mentoring Program

An additional requirement of the Coaching Practicum will be the students’ involvement in the Academic Success Program provided through the Intercollegiate Athletic office. The coaching graduate student will be trained and scheduled into this program to act as a mentor to a group of student-athletes (primarily all incoming first year student- athletes). Students will be trained on how to act as a mentor and be present to assist student-athletes during regularly scheduled study hall sessions. The student-athletes would be from all intercollegiate male and female athletic teams at Western. There would be at least six educational sessions conducted by the Learning Skills Counsellors from the Student Development Centre early in the fall semester. The coaching graduate mentors would be expected to attend these sessions and then provide some time (~2h) each week during a study hall session to assist the student-athletes achieve a successful balance between athletics and academics . This will be a great opportunity for graduate students to utilize their athletic and academic background and real life experience to assist new student- athletes to effectively combine their sport, academic, and social lives in a competitive university setting.

Graduate Paper/Project

A graduate paper or project based in the sport of choice shall be completed by the student with the topic chosen by the student in consultation with his/her Advisory Committee. The paper/project shall be presented by the student in a formal written and oral setting. This paper is usually done after the course work has been completed and the practicum is nearing completion.

Thesis

A graduate thesis under the direction of a discipline specific thesis advisor takes the place of the graduate paper. The thesis experience typically takes two years for completion.

Certification

As part of the process involved in taking the Coaching Specialization master's degree (either stream), the student/coach would also have the possibility of gaining national certification from the Coaching Association of Canada (CAC) and the specific National Sport Organization NSO) at a level to be determined by these national bodies (typically in the certified or advance category of the Competition stream).

More Information

Bob La Rose
Coaching Program Coordinator
rlarose@uwo.ca
(519) 661-2113

Western provides the best student experience among Canada's leading research-intensive universities.