Impact of General Education Courses to Undergraduate Sport Management - Essay Example

The paper “Impact of General Education Courses to Undergraduate Sport Management" is an outstanding example of an essay on sports and recreation. The establishment of sport management is rooted in the framework of North American. Ohio University introduced the master’s degree program in 1966. This course has grown significantly as an academic discipline, but it was surrounded by issues in terms of course offerings. Laird asserts that sport management remains to be a title, but the suitability of the subjects included is questioned (4). The inadequate subjects that mismatch with the course title, results in the emergence of guidelines set by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education.

The guidelines were revised to suit the title of sport management with the aim of preparing students into professional practice. Furthermore, the undergraduate guidelines have discussed the content of the course programs. First, the areas of study should include business management, marketing, economics, accounting finance, and computer science. Second, sports management must study applied areas such as sports sociology, sport psychology, sports history or philosophy, sports law, sports economics, sports administration, and sports marketing, or promotion. Third, field experience mandates students to practice their profession through an internship, or practicum (de Haan).

Sports management is a broad term that does not entirely refer to physical education, but it involves the governing skills in sporting events. This course has been globalized and widens the scope to develop curricula. Since the first course offering of sport management at Ohio University, students and scholars have studied the relevance of this course to the professional field. Moreover, the growing acceptance of the relevance of general education has an impact on the major course offered by sports management. Pedersen et al. affirm that general education is the basic and fundamental unit of the undergraduate program that teaches students the skills and knowledge above their major courses (31). It equips the student with general knowledge about art, history, literature, social, and physical sciences. These subjects are the foundation of sport management.

In addition, the student enables them to acquire skills in writing and speaking, which are the characteristics that graduate students must possess. General education courses also train students to develop their critical thinking, analytical, and leadership skills, which are vital in the program of sport management. Since this course is about globalization and business, the student will deal with the professional career of a manager. A manager is responsible for the aspects of planning, implementation, evaluation, and leading of people in organizing sporting events. Thus, general education is a relevant course in the formation of skills and capabilities of students to deal with the actual practice of managing sports.

Subjects such as history, arts, and social sciences bring awareness and appreciation from students because of learning about the diversity of culture and society. Students will enable to deal with the changing environment since sport management also caters to marketing and promotion. The area of marketing requires an understanding of the external environment that may influence the internal organization of sports. In sum, the general education courses are essentials in transforming students into cultured, knowledgeable, and informed individuals.