Dr. Steve Wachs is already an accomplished teacher, podcaster, sports psychologist, and researcher, but now that he has a doctoral degree from the United States Sports Academy, the institution’s latest Student of the Month hopes to expand his reach with more speaking engagement and presentation opportunities.
Wachs recently successfully defended his dissertation, which researched the impact of social media on young athletes. For the mentorship portion of his Academy doctoral program, Wachs started a podcast that revolves around basketball in the Southern California area and includes discussions of sport psychology, coaching, and parenting. In addition, Wachs has also presented at conferences like the Association of Applied Sport Psychology-West Region and he hopes to be able to use his Academy education to find similar opportunities.
“The Academy’s distance learning program really made sense for me,” said Wachs, who also teaches sport psychology and AP psychology at Campbell Hall School in California. “I have so much going on professionally that it made sense to do a program like this that would allow me to move at my own pace.
“I really enjoyed all of my courses, in general, even the ones that didn’t directly relate to what I’m interested in. The sports law class with Dr. William Kruse was great – it was like a 180-degree shift in what I normally do, but it was a very valuable experience. The sports management courses and anything that touched on strategic planning were also crucial. And because I’m already interested in sports psychology, those classes with Dr. Roch King were fantastic.”
