“Sports science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sports and physical activity promotes health from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally incorporates areas of physiology (exercise physiology), psychology (sport psychology), anatomy, biomechanics, biochemistry and biokinetics.” [1] Thanks to the research done by Sports Scientists, we have a better understanding of how our bodies work in different environments, importances of nutrition, how to improve as athletes regardless of skill level, and what type of equipment can improve our game. And many of these findings incorporated STEM and Computer Science skills to collect this information.

Check out the video below from the Nike Explore Team Sport Research Lab, where sports scientists unlock vital athlete insights and analyze performance data.

Within all the areas of Sports Science, Computer Science and STEM are used regularly to design new technologies that allow the scientist to retrieve important data needed to analyze and interpret the players. This data has changed the world of sports in the last few decades. The information allows them to know how most humans react to certain nutrition limitations, weather interactions, stress, and much more! Then they use that information to improve how athletes play the game as well as how to improve on the human body in terms of their health. “The fact that the use of data and media, the design of models, the analysis of systems etc… increasingly requires the support of suitable tools and concepts which are developed and available in Computer Science.” [2]

One example of CS-STEM being used in Sports Science is in the area of gear and equipment used by athletes. Computer Science is used to determine how a body reacts with certain gear in different environments, then engineers use this data to improve gear quality for an athlete. This research eventually makes it way to consumers in terms of shoes, clothing, tracking tools, etc…. Check out this ESPN Sports Science video that shows how these types of tests are done …

U ndergraduate and graduate degrees in Sports Sciences are growing throughout the world thanks to the many opportunities open to students after they graduate. Here is a list of a few jobs available for Sports Scientists:

Performance Analyst

Sports coach

Sports therapist

Strength and Conditioning specialist

Physiotherapist

Exercise Physiologist

Research Scientist

Sports Medical Doctor

Biomechanics

Sports equipment and technology engineer

Software engineer for computer-aided applications in sports

To learn more about the wide range of opportunities available in Sports Science, visit any of the sites below:

Have a Computer Science career that you’re interested in knowing more about or one that you would like to share with us? If so, send us an email at socialmedia@robomatter.com and we may choose it for a future blog!

Work Cited:

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_science

[2] Arnold Baca (2006). “Computer science in sport: an overview of history, present fields and future applications (part I)”. IJCSS Special Edition 2/2006, 25-35.

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