The high performance sport industry is a global, multi-billion dollar entity that provides employment opportunities for a range of professions, including sport scientists, coaches and managers. In Australia, there are employment opportunities in professional and semi-professional sporting teams, Australian and state institutes of sport, academies of sport, and other sporting organisations. These opportunities extend to the international market. At the heart of this industry is the conditioning of the athlete, with the aim of optimising individual and team performance for successful outcomes. A professional working in this industry needs to know about testing protocols to assess athlete performance, principles of strength and conditioning, the technologies available for monitoring and training athletes, and the relationships between nutrition, injury and performance. The application of this knowledge and understanding to the planning and delivery of meaningful interventions for athletes to enhance performance and reduce the likelihood of injury and illness is essential for a professional working in the high performance sport environment.

The Bachelor of High Performance Sport degree provides an extensive knowledge and skills base relevant to human performance, from the physiological, psychological, biomechanical, nutritional and skill-based perspectives. This provides not only the skills for professional practice in sports performance and analysis, exercise programming, and the strength and conditioning of athletes, but also the skills for applying exercise prescription principles across the lifespan for healthy lifestyles and in injury and disease. The course aims to produce graduates with strong understanding and skills for the assessment, design and delivery of meaningful programs that enhance athletic performance and reduce the likelihood of injury and illness, using appropriate techniques to analyse and interpret competition and training information, required in high performance sport and related industries. Graduates should also have the capacity to apply their knowledge and skills in an ethical, fair and respectful manner, with problem solving and self-management skills that promote independent learning and thinking, and the pursuit of further learning to maintain relevance in their chosen career and industry.

Examples of the work and settings the course prepares graduates for:

• Government and non-government health, sport and recreation departments
• High performance sport organisations
• Sports institutes and academies
• Corporate fitness
• Strength and conditioning coach
• Sports scientist
• Exercise scientist
• Performance analyst
• Data analyst
• Rehabilitation coach
• Fitness advisor
• Sports coach
• Sports science manager
• Health and fitness consultant
• Physical activity officer