Sport Psychology
A 19-credit minor at the intersection of psychology and athletic performance — sport psychology, coaching, learning and motivation, neuroscience, health psychology, and kinesiology.
About the Minor
ACU’s Sport Psychology Minor is built for students at the intersection of psychology and athletic performance — future sport-psychology practitioners, coaches who want the mental side of sport in their toolkit, athletic-performance staff, and graduate-bound students preparing for sport-psychology research programs. The 19-credit minor combines Introduction to Sport Psychology (PSY 310), Principles of Coaching (PSY 313), Psychology of Learning and Motivation (PSY 380), Introduction to Neuroscience (PSY 390), Health Psychology (PSY 405), and Kinesiology (BIO 476). Seven credits of prerequisite work (BIO 100 or 181, plus PSY 202) may overlap with other major requirements.
The minor’s distinction is its interdisciplinary depth. Where the Athletic Coaching Minor focuses on the practical work of coaching with one sport-psychology course included, and the Counseling Minor focuses on clinical mental-health work, Sport Psychology sits between them — bringing serious psychology coursework to bear specifically on athletic performance, motivation, learning, and the body.
Pairs especially naturally with Psychology, Exercise Physiology, Athletic Coaching, Secondary Education (PE concentration), and any major where mental preparation and athletic performance both matter.
What You'll Learn
Apply Sport Psychology
Work through the psychological principles of athletic performance — motivation, focus, performance under pressure, team dynamics.
Apply Principles of Coaching
Study how coaches actually use psychology to build athletes and teams — the practical companion to sport-psychology theory.
Engage Learning and Motivation
Examine how skill acquisition and motivation actually work — central to coaching and to high-performance training alike.
Build Neuroscience Literacy
Study brain-behavior relationships through PSY 390, including the lab work that brings neuroscience into hands-on engagement.
Study Health Psychology
Examine the psychology of health behavior — wellness, exercise adherence, injury recovery, and the broader behavioral side of athletic performance.
Understand Kinesiology
Build the biomechanical and movement-science foundation that physical-performance contexts assume.
Sport Psychology Through a Biblical Worldview
A Biblical Worldview takes athletes seriously as whole persons — body, mind, and spirit — and takes sport seriously as a context where formation, performance, and meaning come together.
Athletes as Whole Persons
Every athlete — the elite competitor, the late bloomer, the athlete working through pressure or injury — is an image-bearer of God in physical, mental, and emotional self. Sport psychology that takes that conviction seriously treats athletes as people, not as performance units to optimize.
Grounds your sport-psychology work in respect for the athletes you'll serve.Body, Mind, and Performance
Sport is one of the few places where body, mind, and identity converge so visibly. A Biblical Worldview takes that whole-person view seriously — meaning sport psychology shouldn't isolate the mental from the physical, the personal from the relational. The minor's combination of psychology, neuroscience, and kinesiology reflects that conviction.
Equips you to work with athletes as whole people, not just minds attached to bodies.Performance With Integrity
High-performance athletics creates real ethical pressures — burnout, identity tied to results, performance enhancement, treatment of teammates and opponents. A Biblical Worldview takes those questions seriously as part of sport psychology, not as side issues."
Prepares you to help athletes succeed without losing themselves in pursuit of success.Where This Minor Takes You
Sport Psychology opens doors in athletic coaching, performance support, wellness, and graduate sport-psychology and applied-psychology programs.
Sport Psychology Graduate School
Build the foundation for graduate work in sport psychology, sport and exercise psychology, or applied psychology with sport emphasis.
Athletic Performance Support
Step into mental-performance coaching, athletic-performance support staff, or wellness-program roles at high school, club, or college levels.
Coaching With a Mental Performance Edge
Combine the minor with coaching certifications and the Athletic Coaching Minor for the strongest mental-side coaching preparation available at the undergraduate level.
Christian Sport Ministry
Bring sport psychology into Christian sport ministry, athlete mentorship, and church-based athletic-outreach programs.
Athletic Counseling and Behavioral Health
Build foundation for graduate work in clinical sport psychology, behavioral health, or athletic counseling.
Wellness and Health Behavior Roles
Apply Health Psychology and Learning/Motivation preparation to corporate wellness, health coaching, and behavior-change programs.
Why Students Choose This Minor
The Sport Psychology Minor at ACU stands out for combining psychology depth with neuroscience and kinesiology — most sport-psychology minors stay in psychology alone.
Five Psychology Courses
PSY 310 Sport Psych, PSY 313 Coaching, PSY 380 Learning and Motivation, PSY 390 Neuroscience, PSY 405 Health Psych — actual depth in the psychology side.
Neuroscience Lab Built In
PSY 390 Introduction to Neuroscience includes an integrated lab — uncommon at the minor level.
Kinesiology Required
BIO 476 Kinesiology brings the biomechanical foundation into the minor — the physical companion to all the psychology work.
Strong Pre-Graduate Preparation
Coursework foundation for graduate sport psychology, applied psychology, and behavioral-health programs.
Same Faculty as ACU's Psychology and MFT Programs
Department of Natural and Psychological Sciences faculty teach across the undergrad sport-psychology minor and the graduate MFT and Psychology degrees.
Getting Started
The Sport Psychology Minor has prerequisite work — BIO 100 or 181 (4 cr) plus PSY 202 (3 cr) — that may overlap with your major. Plan for the chain early.
Talk With Your Academic Advisor
Map the 19 minor credits plus the 7 prerequisite credits into your degree plan. Confirm which prereqs overlap with your major.
Take PSY 202 Early
PSY 202 General Psychology is the prerequisite for PSY 310 and PSY 390. Schedule it freshman or sophomore year.
View PSY 202 →Complete BIO 100 or BIO 181
BIO 100 (Survey) or BIO 181 (General Biology I) is the prerequisite for BIO 476 Kinesiology. Either satisfies the requirement.
Sequence the Upper-Division Courses
PSY 310, 313, 380, 390, 405, and BIO 476 can be taken in nearly any order once prereqs are complete. Spread them across junior and senior year.
Explore More Options
Ready to Work With the Mental Side of Sport?
The Sport Psychology Minor gives you psychology, coaching, neuroscience, and kinesiology depth — the combination athletic-performance work and graduate sport-psychology programs actually require. Apply or reach out today.
