Sport Development and Coaching

Sport development and coaching is a degree that addresses two interrelated aspects of the sports profession: developing sport as a social and community activity that engages broad participation, and coaching athletes to perform at their best. Sport development focuses on how sporting participation is promoted, organised, and made accessible across communities, working with schools, clubs, governing bodies, and local authorities. Coaching focuses on the evidence-based development of athletic performance, drawing on exercise science, psychology, and pedagogical theory.

At the University of Stirling, this four-year full-time programme provides a rigorous academic grounding in both disciplines, developing your understanding of sport development practice and the science of coaching. You will study the social and policy dimensions of sport alongside the physiological, psychological, and tactical dimensions of coaching, building a comprehensive understanding of how sport is developed and delivered. The programme includes a year abroad, giving you the opportunity to engage with sport development and coaching in a different national context.

Graduates of sport development and coaching programmes work as sports development officers, coaches, performance analysts, sport educators, and managers in national governing bodies, local authorities, professional sports clubs, fitness organisations, and charitable sector sports projects. The combination of community sport development knowledge and coaching science is valued across the full breadth of the sports sector, from grassroots participation to elite performance support. Many graduates go on to postgraduate study or professional coaching qualifications to develop more specialised expertise.