The four-year degree will equip students with the necessary skills to meet the needs of elite athletes, as well as the health and fitness requirements of the general population. The programme combines areas such as performance testing, nutrition, exercise therapy for recovery, analytical techniques used for screening performance-enhancing drugs, and biomechanics.
Dr Don Faller, Head of the Department of Life and Physical Sciences at AIT, said: “Sports science is a vibrant area that combines the magic of the playing field and running track with the excitement of analytical science. Students will discover how sporting performance can be enhanced though nutrition, through training programmes and an analysis of biomechanics. In order to give our students the very best educational experience, we are investing in a state-of-the-art sports science laboratory which will contain the latest performance analysis instrumentation.”
“The sport industry is a growing source of employment,” Dr Faller continued. “More than 38,000 people are employed in the sports sector and sport-related spending contributes €1,830 million to the Irish economy. There is also a growing awareness of the importance of physical activity as a contributor to public health. This again creates opportunities for graduates, in addition to developments in the elite performance area,” he said.
The degree also includes modules on sports psychology and coaching. Students will be facilitated in acquiring coaching qualifications in their chosen sporting activity by liaising with the relevant national governing body with training sessions being timetabled accordingly.
Students will undertake a four-month work placement in their third year, which will provide them with experience of the working environment in the sports science and exercise physiology field.
It is expected that graduates will be eligible to pursue employment in areas such as the testing and monitoring of elite performers, coaching education, sport and exercise consultancy, health promotion, research and in sports journalism.
AIT has invested millions of euro in its indoor and outdoor sporting facilities. The sporting infrastructure on campus includes an IAAF-approved athletics track and a FIFA 2-star astro-turf pitch, while the new indoor sports arena will be completed in 2012. The indoor facilities will include an athletics track, a multi-sport arena (suitable for futsal, basketball, etc.), as well as comprehensive support facilities for elite athlete training.
A new fully equipped sports science laboratory at AIT will feature treadmills, exercise bikes designed for resistance training, ergometers, Douglas bags and gas analysis systems, blood chemistry analyzers, a force dynamometer for vertical jumping and gait analysis and sphygmomanometers.
Application to the degree must be made through the CAO’s change of mind facility and for September 2011 is restricted to applicants applying with Leaving Certificate results. Applicants must hold a minimum of Grade C3 at higher level in two subjects, plus a minimum of Grade D3 at ordinary level in four other subjects. Two of these six subjects must be Mathematics and a language (English or Irish).
Applicants will also be required to obtain Garda clearance through the Garda Central Vetting Unit (TGVCU).
Further information about the degree is available online at www.ait.ie
For further information contact:
Brian Lynch
Communications and Marketing Manager
Athlone Institute of Technology
Tel 090 644 2595
Mobile 087 122 0361
Email brianlynch@ait.ie
