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Faculty in Physical Education Teacher Education and Athletic Coaching Education are using an innovative, hands-on technology called Beep Ball to “practice” how to teach baseball to individuals with visual impairment.  

Beep Ball is a baseball-like game that uses a large beeping softball. Non-visually impaired players wear blinding goggles to neutralize their sight, but the differences don’t stop there. In this game, only first and third bases are used, which are blue and stand five-feet tall. Each team’s pitcher pitches to their own batter. Electronics inside each base create a buzzing sound when a player makes a hit, which tells the batter where to run. The batter scores if they reach the base before the ball is fielded.

Healthcare innovators from across West Virginia gathered in June 2017 in an attempt to prevent and reverse West Virginia’s soaring rates of chronic disease. Sam Zizzi, Pat Fehl Endowed Professor of Sport and Exercise Psychology with CPASS, offered insight and research at the Try This for Healthcare Professionals Conference at West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, West Virginia.

The conference offered practical strategies for engaging patients and communities in movement, food and stress management. Topics included reversing diabetes, approaches to childhood obesity and dietary approaches for opioid dependence.

CPASS Physical Education Teacher Education students and faculty collaborated with the WVU Student Family Resources to host the sixth Annual Kids Safety and Fitness Expo, May 23, 2017, at the Student Recreation Center fields. The free, family-centered event featured bike safety lessons, an obstacle course, sports, games, the annual tug-of-war competition, hands-on demonstrations and health information for parents.

More than 200 children and families from the community came out to celebrate, move and explore. CPASS, PETE and Lifetime Activities faculty and students provided event assistance.

CPASS undergraduate student Cody Heffelfinger knew he wanted a future in sports so he chose the WVU sport management program to be on the business side of the industry.   

After listening to Dr. Gary Lhotsky talk about his hands-on experiences during the Intro to Sport Management class, Heffelfinger was convinced about what to do next. “The class helped me realize that I need to get out and see for myself how the industry is run,” he explained.  

Luciana Braga, assistant professor of Sport Pedagogy at California State University Chico, is establishing a research foothold in physical activity promotion among children and adolescents.  

Braga, CPASS Coaching and Teaching Studies, Ph.D. (2014), recently received the 2017 early career research grant from SHAPE America. “This is a competitive grant. The award means recognition of the potential of my scholarly work. This is my first externally funded research project as a principal investigator. I am excited to take on this new challenge. I wrote this proposal with Kevin Patton, my colleague in the PETE program at Chico State,” said Braga.