At UNB, kinesiology students help support athletes’ health and wellbeing
Author: Hilary Creamer Robinson
Posted on Feb 8, 2024
Category: UNB Fredericton
University of New Brunswick (UNB) kinesiology students who participate in the Integrated Support Team (IST) Practicum play a critical role in supporting the university’s top athletes at home and on the road – often while sitting courtside.
“We travel with the teams, we get to sit courtside with them and that is something special that I don’t think you can get anywhere else,” said fourth-year IST student Brittany Darling-Jewett, who said the practicum helps ground the theory of classroom learning in real-world practice.
“I find it really helpful to retain the knowledge we learn in class and actually use our degree while we’re still in our degree,” she said.
By effortlessly blending disciplines like therapy and strength training, the practicum provides a novel, holistic and integrated approach to UNB REDS athletes’ conditioning, performance and wellbeing throughout the athletic season.
It also offers students a chance to progress as they would in the field.
Ken Morrison, strength and conditioning coach for the UNB REDS and IST Pathway instructor, says IST Pathway students begin as volunteers. Once they enter the practicum, they deliver game day therapy and gradually build to a leadership position where they provide student-athletes with one-on-one coaching.
For students like Darling-Jewett, it’s been a fulfilling and rewarding experience. “I just sort of fell in love with it. It’s my favourite part of my degree,” she said.
The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is home to transformative teaching in more than 100 innovative and interdisciplinary programs. For the last four weeks, we’ve been sharing stories that showcase how some of these programs help students define their purpose and shape their future by gaining the skills the world needs now.
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