July 14, 2014

Helping professional athletes kick academic goals

UOW has launched a new course that will help sports stars balance academic aspirations with sporting dreams.

Australian professional basketball player Oscar Forman, who is currently studying at UOW while captaining the Wollongong Hawks, helped launched the Sport and Movement Science major, which is being offered as part of UOW's International Bachelor of Science degree, on 15 July.  

Associate Dean (International)
 of UOW’s Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, Associate Professor Marc in het Panhuis, said the new course would offer talented sportspeople extreme flexibility, stop-start degree options, one-on-one mentoring from senior academic staff and scholarship opportunities as well as free membership to UOW’s Recreation and Aquatic Centre.

“The International Bachelor of Science degree has nine majors and is distinctive in its design and operation. It is a unique degree program combining a strong grounding in science with business, social science and technology components as well as strong links with our international educational partners.

“This degree will set talented athletes up for further career prospects in athlete or sport management in professional, community and private organisations with an interest in sport and movement. In addition, it will provide a stepping stone to a career in secondary, tertiary teaching or research.”

Professor in het Panhuis said students could also start the course while at high school and receive advanced credit for subjects, fast tracking their degree.

“The keyword for this course is flexibility – it enables students to pursue sporting and academic aspirations. We will work with athletes to facilitate both these ambitions. The program has the enthusiastic support from a variety of professional and community sporting organisations.”

Media contact: Victoria DiMise, Marketing & Communications Coordinator in the Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health at UOW, +61 2 4221 5853 or vdimise@uow.edu.au.