Meet the 2026 NSCA Career Awards recipients and learn about their leadership, service, and contributions, which will be honored at the NSCA National Conference.

In the last several decades in the United States, university athletic departments and professional sport teams began hiring sport scientists to support team operations. Many variations in sport science–related job titles and a variety of duties are apparent across the industry internationally. Therefore, the aims of this article were to (a) define sport scientist roles because they may be positioned in U.S. sport organizations, (b) demonstrate potential levels of application, (c) demonstrate how a sport science program helps establish a standard of care for the athlete, and (d) highlight overseas practices that establish professional competency for those in sport scientist roles. This discussion may be used to optimize organizational structures, enhance organizational dynamics within sport organizations, leagues, and systems, and used to develop, refine, or support certification and training programs in the United States. In addition to the discussion in this article, several job descriptions are provided as Supplemental Digital Content, http://links.lww. com/SCJ/A347. These resources may help decision makers construct job descriptions for their organizations.

The NSCA is a nonprofit association dedicated to advancing strength, conditioning, & related sport science professions.

This is the NSCA’s Coaching Podcast, where strength and conditioning coaches share their experience, lessons learned, and advice about how to thrive in a highly competitive profession.

Located at the NSCA Headquarters in Colorado Springs, the NSCA Performance Team is comprised of Registered Strength and Conditioning Coaches (RSCC), Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialists (CSCS), NSCA-Certified Personal Trainers (NSCA-CPT), and Tactical Strength and Conditioning Facilitators (TSAC-F) dedicated to helping you achieve your goals.

This is the NSCA’s Coaching Podcast, where strength and conditioning coaches share their experience, lessons learned, and advice about how to thrive in a highly competitive profession.

The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) is proud to announce the recipients of the organization’s 2021 Coach of the Year Awards: Professional Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year: Paul Goodman, MS, CSCS, RSCC*E College Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year: Brian Thompson, PhD, CSCS,*D, RSCC*E Assistant College Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year: Andrew Stocks, MS, CSCS, NSCA-CPT

This is the NSCA’s Coaching Podcast, where strength and conditioning coaches share their experience, lessons learned, and advice about how to thrive in a highly competitive profession.

Successful performance in sport is a multifactorial process that includes a blend of technical, tactical, physiological, biomechanical, and psychological features interacting together to result in the desired performance outcome. The strength and conditioning (S&C) program, depending on the sport, can support performance by influencing the physiological and biomechanical components through direct and indirect avenues of impact. Performance planning to achieve identified objectives is typically a long-term process, ranging from a year in seasonal professional team sports to a four-year Olympic cycle. It is critical to develop and implement key strategic processes to ensure that the S&C program effectively supports performance at major competitions. Furthermore, it is essential to have clarity for the role of S&C within the overall sports training program. Having a clear approach to deconstructing and understanding performance from a human performance perspective, showing how and where the impact on performance can be made, and objectively demonstrating the contribution to performance variables is vital. The current article uses the author’s experience of working across a range of Olympic and professional sports to articulate a process for strategic planning and managing S&C support from a technical perspective. Examples from various sports have been used to illustrate critical strategic processes.