Sports psychology course for coaches and trainers

The Act comes from a scene anyone who has been to a youth league game recognises: the shouting, the shoving, the argument with the referee. The Legislature decided to attack it from the side of whoever leads, and provided that all exercise and sport professionals take a sports psychology course. The amount is concrete and small: two contact hours a year. What is worth knowing is who is covered — the list is wider than one assumes, and includes the gym’s personal trainer and the PE teacher — who may teach the course, and what exemption exists.

Article 2(a) defines the “professionals involved in the field of exercise and sport” and includes, “without limitation, personal trainers, physical fitness professionals, recreational leaders, sports coaches, sports technicians and officials, as well as physical education teachers, among others.” Two things in that sentence matter. One: a private gym’s personal trainer and the PE teacher are named by name, they are not edge cases. Two: “without limitation” and “among others” make the list a floor, not a ceiling, so other figures in the field may fall inside even if not written. There is a way out: Article 4 exempts whoever certifies that, at the time the Act was approved — 27 December 2018 — they had already taken a sports psychology course at a university institution as part of its exercise science programmes.

• Be a professional involved in the field of exercise and sport, per the Article 2(a) definition, which includes personal trainers, physical fitness professionals, recreational leaders, sports coaches, sports technicians and officials and physical education teachers, among others.Verified against the official source
• Complete a minimum of two (2) contact hours per year of sports psychology within the continuing-education courses.Verified against the official source
• That the course be offered by a psychology professional duly licensed by the Puerto Rico Board of Examiners of Psychologists, with competencies and experience in sports psychology.Verified against the official source

• To claim the exemption: certification of having taken, at the time the Act was approved, a sports psychology course at a university institution as part of its exercise science programmes.

1. 1

   Step 1: Check whether you are on the list, which is wide

   Article 2(a) names seven kinds of professional and leaves the door open: “personal trainers, physical fitness professionals, recreational leaders, sports coaches, sports technicians and officials, as well as physical education teachers, among others.” A private gym’s personal trainer is in; the referee and the technical official too; the public-system PE teacher even has their own route, in Article 7. And since the definition says “without limitation” and “among others,” the enumeration is a minimum.

2. 2

   Step 2: How many hours, and from whom

   Article 4 sets both in one sentence, and it is worth reading whole because the provider’s standing is a requirement, not a detail: the professionals “must complete among their continuing-education courses a sports psychology course, duly offered by a psychology professional duly licensed by the Puerto Rico Board of Examiners of Psychologists, holding competencies and experience in sports psychology. These professionals must complete a minimum of two (2) contact hours per year.” That is: two contact hours annually, within the continuing education you already take, delivered by a psychologist licensed by the Board of Examiners with experience in the area. A workshop given by someone without that licence does not meet what the article asks.

3. 3

   Step 3: The exemption, and its cut-off date

   It is the question everyone who studied exercise science asks. Article 4 answers it: “In the case of those professionals who certify that, at the time this Act was approved, they have taken a Sports Psychology course at a university institution as part of its exercise science programmes, they shall be exempt from meeting this requirement.” Note the time anchor: “at the time this Act was approved,” that is 27 December 2018. And the form: it must be certified, having taken it is not enough on its own. The Act does not say to whom it is certified or with what document, and we do not invent that.

4. 4

   Step 4: Who has to build the programme

   The Act does not leave you hunting for the course in the void: it charges someone with creating it. Article 3: “The Department of Recreation and Sports, in collaboration with the University of Puerto Rico’s Centre for the Application and Study of Sports Psychology and post-secondary Educational Institutions accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) … must design an annual continuing-education programme for all professionals involved in the field of exercise and sport.” And Article 5 directs DRD to establish the collaborative agreement with those same bodies “so they deliver the sports psychology courses and/or workshops to the professionals this Act provides for.” If you are looking for where to take it, that is the circuit the Act names.

5. 5

   Step 5: If you are a public-system PE teacher

   You have your own route and it is worth claiming it there. Article 7: “The Department of Education shall enter an agreement with the Puerto Rican Institute for the Development of Sport and Recreation of the Department of Recreation and Sports so it offers public-system physical education teachers the two (2) hours of the Sports Psychology course.” That is, the Act puts the Department of Education on getting IPDDER to give the course to its teachers. The Act sets no deadline for that agreement and does not say what happens if it is not made.

6. 6

   Step 6: What the Act orders DRD to notify

   There is a notice duty that sometimes gets overlooked. Article 6: “The Secretary of the Department of Recreation and Sports, by written communication, must notify the professionals involved in the field of exercise of the importance of taking courses in Sports Psychology.” It is a written communication, not a general notice. And Article 8 set a one-off report: DRD had to report on the agreements established, recording that the professionals take the courses compulsorily, with a copy to the Senate’s Youth, Recreation and Sports Committee and the House’s Recreation and Sports Committee, “ninety (90) days after the approval of this measure.” That term ran in 2019: it was a one-time report, not a recurring obligation, and we cannot confirm from this source whether it was filed.

7. 7

   Step 7: What the Act does not carry

   Worth saying so nobody plans around what is not there. Act 278-2018 sets no fine, creates no sanction, conditions no licence or accreditation on compliance, creates no complaint or forum, orders no regulation and sets the professional no deadline to take their first two hours. What it does set is a written obligation, a content, an annual minimum and a requirement about who may deliver it. Article 9 provides the Act took effect immediately upon approval.

The course must be given by a psychology professional licensed by the Puerto Rico Board of Examiners of Psychologists with competencies and experience in sports psychology. The circuit the Act names for delivering it is the Department of Recreation and Sports together with the University of Puerto Rico’s Centre for the Application and Study of Sports Psychology and the post-secondary institutions accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. If you are a public-system PE teacher, the Act puts the Department of Education on entering an agreement with DRD’s IPDDER to give you the two hours. The Act publishes no form, office, address, telephone or course calendar, and we do not invent them.

• Believing it covers only team coaches: Article 2(a) also names personal trainers, physical fitness professionals, recreational leaders, technicians and officials, and PE teachers.
• Thinking the Article 2(a) list is closed: it says “without limitation” and “among others.”
• Counting any workshop: Article 4 requires it be offered by a psychologist licensed by the Board of Examiners with experience in sports psychology.
• Assuming it is two hours once: the minimum is two contact hours per year.
• Believing the exemption covers a course taken later: Article 4 anchors it to the moment the Act was approved, 27 December 2018.
• Taking it for granted that having taken the university course is enough: the exemption requires certifying it.
• Expecting a fine or licence suspension for not complying: the Act creates neither.
• If you are a public-system PE teacher, not claiming the Article 7 route through the Department of Education and IPDDER.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Recreación y Deportes (DRD)

  DRD

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov