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Not Ready for the 2000 Olympics?............................ Related item ............................ ............................ |
Sure, some Smith students already know about it. Through the college's department of exercise and sport studies (ESS) you can learn how to white-water canoe, how to execute a perfect return shot in tennis, or how to keep a field hockey swing out of your golf swing. But what many still may not know about is the smorgasbord of credit courses in sport skills available to any student. From scuba to yoga to physical conditioning, "We teach the lion's share of performance skill classes," says ESS professor Jim Johnson. He notes that in the 1994-95 academic year, ESS taught 1,237 students in more than 100 courses. It's a good way to learn a sport on a recreational level if you're not up for the competitive level of a varsity team. "In ESS, our mission is to teach," says Don Siegel, professor and director of the ESS graduate program. "We teach students to become better at performance skills. It becomes a lifetime pursuit actually." "We don't want people to ever think they can't do an exercise program or (recreational) activity," insists Johnson. "The important thing is to teach students how to incorporate sports activities into their lives." Not to be confused with the Smith athletic department, ESS is a separate academic department, with a faculty that teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in exercise science as well as classes in whitewater canoeing, scuba diving, fencing, kayaking, yoga, self-defense and outdoor skills, to name a few. Its master's program is unique among liberal arts women's colleges in that it is dedicated solely to teaching the science and art of coaching. Offered to 10 to 15 candidates a year, the program focuses on preparing women for careers as coaches of intercollegiate teams. The two-year master's program blends theory courses in exercise and sport science with hands-on experience as assistant coaches in four sports. Marilyn Bradley graduated from the master's program in exercise and sport studies at Smith in 1988. She says, "ESS has some very high ideals. People at Smith take women in sports very seriously. The courses cover biomechanics of sports movement, the physiology of exercise, good training routines and sports psychology." The effect of having more women coaches on the playing fields can only be a positive one, adds Siegel. "Girls need role models in athletes. The whole idea (of the ESS graduate program) is to bring in as many female role models as coaches as possible. As a young girl, how can you aspire to be something in your life if you don't see anyone else doing it?" Says Bradley, "It's unique to focus on women as role models in sports.
Of course, Smith is the place to do it."
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