Latest News

The National Interscholastic Cycling Association has announced that West Virginia University faculty member Kristen Dieffenbach will serve as a new member of their national board of directors. Dieffenbach, director, Center for Applied Coaching and Sport Sciences in the College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences, was selected following a four-month interview and review process.

As an NICA board member, Dieffenbach contributes her extensive background as a competitive cyclist, 20 plus years of coaching developmental and elite cyclists and working in coach education in the national cycling community with USA Cycling. “The work that I do to develop and support coaching education and development systems across a wide range of organizations will help support NICA’s mission and vision,” she said.

Jose María López-Gullón, a visiting scholar from the University of Murcia, Spain, will spend the next four months collaborating with Gonzalo Bravo, associate professor in the College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences, examining the role of volunteers in amateur sport organizations.

Initially, Bravo and López-Gullón planned to study volunteers within medium-sized sport events, but then they decided to examine volunteers serving in amateur sport organizations. This shift was in part due to the lack of access to sport events due to COVID. Additionally, the decision was influenced by a casual observation López-Gullón encountered during his first month in Morgantown.

A passion for rowing has evolved into a lifelong purpose for coaching for a CPASS master’s student. Marija Medelinskaite, from Kaunas, Lithuania, says that making the next move from a student athlete to exploring coaching career options fell into place for her.

Medelinskaite started rowing at the age of 12 in Lithuania and says that she loved the sport from the beginning. She competed at the collegiate level at the University of Central Florida. “After graduation I did not want to separate from it, and I gave coaching a try with Casitas Rowing in Ventura, California. After only a few opportunities, I found it very rewarding and enjoyable,” she said. “That is when I knew I needed to get my master's degree in coaching.”

CPASS Physical Education and Kinesiology Assistant Professor Samantha Ross is one of seven WVU faculty selected to receive Universal Design of Learning grant. The grants, provided by WVU Teaching and Learning Commons, include a stipend of $3,500 to support design or redesign of courses to meet the principles of UDL.

As a teacher-researcher, Ross says that she is motivated to implement and evaluate evidence-based practices to her classrooms and the preparation of future physical activity professionals. “Applying Universal design for learning principles to the classroom strengthens my direct support of student learning and provides student’s personalized pathways to success. As a third-year faculty, I am still developing as a teacher,” she said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many faculty members of the College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences were asked to teach more often and in different ways. Despite these increased obligations to our students, faculty maintained a high level of productivity in research.

This report describes research productivity in 2020-21 and major initiatives from the last year in research and grant-writing.

The College welcomed three new faculty members to campus this fall: Patrick Hairston, sport management teaching assistant professor; Peter McGahey, coaching and performance science teaching assistant professor; and Brent Oja, sport management assistant professor. They will provide a clear vision, specialized expertise and strong industry connections.

These new faculty will focus on challenging students to enhance their critical thinking skills, develop best practices, engage in research and discover their passion as they prepare for successful careers.

The WVU Alumni Association hosted a webinar entitled WVU Check-In on April 21, featuring an insightful conversation with Ware Distinguished Professor Eloise Elliott and Dr. Pat Fehl Endowed Professor Sam Zizzi. Meridith Balas, director of engagement, WVU Alumni Association, hosted the event.

Elliott and Zizzi updated viewers about their important work with the Center for ActiveWV. They discussed their ongoing efforts to successfully impact the physical activity levels of adults and children through collaboration, research, policy and practice.

On a gray, cold and damp fall afternoon, students from the College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences sport management program and the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences World Languages, Literature and Linguistics department met to play in the Friendship Cup, two friendly soccer matches in a one-day event.

Eberly College professor Lisa Di Bartolomeo, Russian, Slavic and East European Studies coordinator with the WLLL department, contacted Gonzalo Bravo, CPASS associate professor, sport management, to suggest that the programs host an event for the students. “It’s been almost 20 months since the COVID 19 pandemic erupted. Many of the extracurricular activities students have been involved in the past had been temporarily suspended or significantly changed,” Di Bartolomeo said.

A West Virginia University faculty member was part of a national effort to provide recommendations to expand physical activity for school-aged children in moving past the pandemic.

College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences Ware Distinguished Professor Eloise Elliott was one of four principal writers for the national paper entitled Physical Activity Recommendations for Children and Adolescents: More Important Than Ever. The collaborative effort promotes physical activity and sports for children and adolescents, and provides recommendations to enhance physical activity in schools, communities, and homes to improve outcomes.

CPASS welcomes three new faculty members to campus this fall. Patrick Hairston, sport management teaching assistant professor, Peter McGahey, coaching and performance science teaching assistant professor, and Brent Oja, sport management assistant professor, bring a clear vision, specialized expertise and strong industry connections to support student success.

Hairston, McGahey and Oja will focus on challenging students to enhance their critical thinking skills, develop best practices, engage in research and discover their passion as they prepare for viable career options.