Dr. Roch King
For the 15th consecutive year the United States Sports Academy is continuing its international sports certification program to prepare students in Thailand for careers in sport.
The Academy recently sent Chair of Sports Coaching Dr. Roch King and sports management instructor Jillian Rosandich to Bangkok to teach the post-secondary, non-degree programs to prepare people there for careers in coaching and related athletic professions. King taught advanced sports psychology, while Rosandich taught sports event planning.
The Academy teaches the International Certification in Sports Coaching (ICSC) program in Thailand, which includes a wide range of coaching and related administrative skills, and the International Certification in Sports Management (ICSM), a program that includes management topics such as sports event planning, marketing and public relations, and facilities.
Jillian Rosandich
Each year under the program approximately 100 students are drawn from the Sport Authority of Thailand (SAT) and its affiliated sport organizations around the country to attend the certification programs — typically 50 for each certification. Following the conclusion of the classroom portion of the program in Bangkok, which is provided by Academy instructors, the SAT selects the best students from each program for a special study tour of sport in America.
A Daphne, Ala., resident, King has an extensive background in coaching and teaching, having earned his Ph.D. in psycho-socio interactions in sport from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pa. He has been deeply involved with coach education and development as a faculty member at West Virginia University, Ball State University, and Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania.
Also a resident of Daphne, Ala., Rosandich holds a Master of Sports Science degree in sports management from the Academy and a bachelor’s degree in film and media arts from the University of New Orleans. Rosandich has significant experience in television, film and theater, working as an actor and in production in the United States and Malaysia. She earned the President’s Volunteer Service Award for her work with Habitat for Humanity and Americorps in New Orleans, La., where she taught disaster preparedness.
Sports education cooperation between the Academy and Thailand goes back to the 1980s and the Academy and the SAT have a Memorandum of Understanding to work together in sports education and training through 2020.
