Sport psychology in Australia: A profession established

Abstract

The Board of Sport Psychologists was established in the Australian Psychological Society in 1991 with the aim to promote sport psychology as a profession in Australia. It has attempted to achieve this in a number of ways. The Board has supported a four (undergraduate) plus two (specialist coursework masters) plus two (specialist supervised practice) training model, and produced guidelines for course approvals of specialist masters courses. Four course-work masters programs now have students. Career opportunities represent an important issue for board promotion, with only seven sport psychologists currently employed in the sports institutes and few in private practice, although positions in the tertiary sector have increased from 9 to 20 in the last two years. Research in this area appears well established, with more than 50 Australian-based contributions to articles in the four major sport psychology journals since 1987. Rapid increases in research student numbers in the 1990s are likely to build on this publication base. From 1990 to 1994, masters and doctoral students increased from 17 to 66 in the five universities with well-established research programs in sport psychology. The Board has produced an ethics document, and this combined with specialist training will assist in the promotion of appropriate standards of practice in sport psychology. It is proposed that the establishment of the Board has played a major role in enhancing the professional and academic status of sport psychology. There is further potential for development of the discipline and the profession in Australia through the activities of the Board of Sport Psychologists.