National Taiwan University (NTU) yesterday said that it would introduce the nation’s first undergraduate program to train students for careers in international sports competition and management, starting in the fall semester of next year.
NTU Athletics Department lecturer Lu Pi-chin told an administrators’ meeting that unlike current athletics programs in Taiwan, which focus only on talent development, the new program would include courses in sports research, sports organization management, international sports diplomacy, and international sport and event management.
The program would give priority to student athletes in individual sports that are included in the Olympic and Asian Games, such as table tennis, badminton, tennis, gymnastics, taekwondo, archery, sharpshooting, weightlifting, swimming, and track and field, Lu said.
ADMISSIONS
Admissions would be limited to 15 people per year — 10 based on athletic ability, three based on test scores, and two via special application, he said.
There are about 40 high-level student athletes at NTU who could benefit from the program, and the courses would also appeal to students in other departments who are interested in the sports industry, he said.
BENEFITS
NTU Center for General Education director Ding Shih-torng said that the program would address Taiwan’s need for talent in the field of sports diplomacy and bring benefits that extend far beyond the sporting world.
In addition to approving the program’s launch, NTU staff and administrators at the meeting also made recommendations for its curriculum, including the potential for collaboration with the university’s medical school and college of engineering.
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