Kinesiology students present research at state conference

Two senior Kinesiology students presented with Dr. Graeme Connolly at the annual Georgia Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance conference at the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center on Nov. 6-8.

Jordan Bickett and Roderick Bolden Jr. spoke on “Effective Coaching Practices of State Championship Winning Team Sport Coaches,” a presentation which arose out of the 2016 Center for Undergraduate Research Summer Scholars Program. They delivered practical, real-world research applications to a group of high school coaches from across the state of Georgia.

“The contributing contributions of these three senior culminated in the opportunity for their work to be presented at their first professional conference,” Connolly said. “The presentation was very well-received and gave us the opportunity to network with like-minded individuals and provided some additional contacts for our research moving forward.”

The presentation outlines recent qualitative research findings from a study on successful high school team sport coaches in the state of Georgia. These insights from State Championship winning softball, soccer and golf coaches can be considered best practices for coaches in a variety of contexts, particularly those working in youth and middle/high school setting.

Kinesiology student Collin Oliver, who was unable to attend the conference, also contributed to the research and design of the presentation.