5 Reasons A Sports Psychology Course Could Be The Right Choice For You

The benefits of completing Portobello Institute’s BSc (Hons) Sports Psychology, Coaching and PE degree are wide-ranging and fast acting.

Our students enjoy the opportunity to study a sports-specific degree while developing a skill set that can be applied more broadly. The interactive nature of classes and engagement levels with lecturers set our students up to be effective graduates in employment and future education opportunities.

Here are five reasons why a sports psychology course could be the right choice for you:

1) You’re Passionate about Sports

For most young people who are obsessed with sports, a career as an elite athlete is their dream. But most people in this category find out early that they’re not going to become an elite athlete in their preferred sport. As such, the next best option is to carve out a career in sports off the field.

Many of Portobello Institute’s students and lecturers played sport at a high level before transitioning into sports therapy, psychology, coaching or performance analysis.

Each of them has found their career choices to be fulfilling and some are even rejecting opportunities to play their sports professionally abroad so that they can continue in their new profession.

Sports psychologists work at every level of sports. Whether it’s with an amateur team or an elite professional individual, you can engage with athletes on the field, in the locker room or at organized events.

2) Opportunities Are Growing

Since sports psychologists work at every level of sport and since sport continues to grow globally, there are more and more opportunities to gain meaningful employment. Graduates can form their own private practices, join sporting organizations or join professional teams to work as full-time psychologists.

After Covid-19 and an Olympics where Simone Biles withdrew to protect her mental health, there will be a greater need for psychologists in every sport moving forward.

3) The Value of the Discussion

Emma McLoughlin is a qualified psychologist who has worked in sports and in healthcare as a psychologist. She now lectures at Portobello Institute and finds the engagement between students to be the fulcrum of the course.

“I love the discussions and the psychology side of things. Yes, there’s right answers but everyone knows it’s based on your perception, and I love that discussion, the deep thinking and the critical thinking.

Encouraging that in students to not just take everything at face value.

The mental health side of things really enables you to see how people form different perceptions and how they’re so deep rooted. Changing behaviour is a big massive thing and it’s not as simple as go in give a talk and everyone is confident and you leave.

Human beings are quite complex.”

4) Versatility of the Degree

Portobello Institute’s BSc (Hons) Sports Psychology, Coaching and PE degree opens opportunities in different areas of future education and employment. By combining psychology with coaching and PE, the degree is giving our graduates a broad skill set that will enable them to apply for more roles with more teams.

Some of our students have combined this degree with personal training and nutrition qualifications to open their own clinics/complexes where they can provide the widest possible range of professional support to athletes.

5) Efficient Route to Post Graduate Level

Since the BSc (Hons) Sports Psychology, Coaching and PE degree is so broad and can be completed in just three years, graduates have opportunities to accelerate their education onto the master’s and PhD level.

This course emphasises research skills to support those who wish to pursue a combined career in applied practice and academia.

Portobello Institute values the one in everyone and understands that education is only a part of your life. We don’t want to take up all of your time and create stress for you. You should go to college to improve your life outside of college and after college.

If you'd like to read more about the sports degrees and qualifications we carry, you can visit the department page here.

If you are interested in any of our sports courses or have any questions you can book a consultation call with our expert sports advisor Sharde Sebastian here, email sharde.sebastian@portobelloinstitute.com or call 01 892 0029.