Division 12: Sport Psychology

Welcome to Division 12: Sport Psychology

The Sport Psychology Division (Division 12) of the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP) was established in 1994, at the 23rd International Congress of Applied Psychology (ICAP) in Madrid, Spain. The initiative was taken by Glyn C. Roberts who served as first President.

Division 12 is an interdisciplinary organization that brings together applied psychologists, exercise and sport researchers, educators, and students among others interested in the field of applied Sport Psychology.

President: Montse Ruiz

President-Elect: Xavier Sanchez

Past President: Elisabeth Rosnet

The main purpose of Division 12 is contributing to the development and advancement of international Sport Psychology through the IAAP. Other purposes of Division 12 include:

• promoting and discussing research and research applications, teaching, and practice within the area of Sport and Exercise Psychology. Research interest of Division members are related to Health and Exercise Psychology and Performance Enhancement/Interventions
• facilitating the contact and work between the members of other divisions
• serving as a network that provides the opportunity for individuals with a common interest to share information related to theory development, research, and the application to individuals, teams or organizations

To facilitate the dissemination of knowledge and improve working relations between members IAAP organizes a General Meeting that takes place every four years in connection with each International Congress of Applied Psychology ICAP. The Congress serves as a review of advances in applied psychology and unites several thousand psychologists from all over the world. Past ICAP congresses have been held in Madrid, Spain (1994), San Francisco, USA (1998), Singapore, (2002), and Athens, Greece (2006). Division 12 has also profiled IAAP at several sport psychology meetings, among them we had an information stand at the 2003 FEPSAC meeting in Copenhagen, and at the ISSP world congress in Sydney in 2005.

A Newsletter is published four times a year to inform members about important developments and events in applied sport psychology and within the Association.

Former presidents of Division 12 have been: Glyn C. Roberts (1994-1998), Gloria Balagué (1998-2002), Marit Sørensen (2002-2006), Yuri L. Hanin (2006-2010), Howard Hall (2010-2014), Joan Duda (2014-2018).

Projects

Basically, the projects of Division 12 are concerned with three topics. The following is a brief description of the projects stated in the Message of the President, Yuri Hanin included in the January issue of the 2007 Newsletter:

• Inter-divisional cooperation in research & application. Usually under an umbrella of sport psychology different aspects are studied: social psychological, organizational, educational, personality, assessment, performance enhancement aspects. Our division members can benefit from launching joint projects on mutually attractive topics. For instance, Emotions and Optimal Performance in Different Settings, Dynamics of Motivation, Career Transitions, Cross-Cultural Aspects in Sport Psychology. An outlet of these efforts could be presented at the 2010 Melbourne Congress.
• Improving the links with the regional Sport Psychology societies and organizations. Division members who are regularly participating in the meetings of International Society o Sport Psychology (ISSP), European Federation of Sport Psychology (FEPSAC), Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology (AAASP), North American Society for Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA) and other national SP organizations could play an important role in the further development of our international links with leading researchers and practitioners in different countries. These efforts can help the Division to plan invited symposia, workshops, and panel discussions representing the best practices from different regions of the world in the program of the Melbourne Congress.
• The IAAP Visibility project. Our division can play an important role in supporting a call from the IAAP President Mike Knowles for promotion and better visibility of applied psychology. Specifically, competitive sport, and especially elite and professional sport, has by its nature already high visibility in the media and interest of public at large in what sport psychologists working with elite performers are doing. Recently, in Europe (FEPSAC - Paul Wyllemann) and USA (AAASP - Jack Lesyk) two interesting promotional projects related to the Athens Olympics were initiated and I believe these experiences could be useful in the development of a more proactive approach to professional work with the media. Moreover, colleagues from other divisions may benefit by joining our Division’s efforts for enhancing their own visibility.

Education

The European Master’s Studies in Sport and Exercise Psychology (EMSSEP) were launched in 1996 within an initiative of the European Federation of Sport Psychology (FEPSAC). EMSSEP is an interdisciplinary collaborative education program which is integrated into national Master’s degree programs at the network universities. EMSSEP studies include common distance reading material and an intensive two-week course held in one European university gathering students and scholars from around Europe.

The Distance Learning Material which includes 18 topics can be downloaded here: Advanced Knowledge in Sport Psychology 2022

Note: If you would like to share information about education, for example Masters programs in Sport and Exercise Psychology, please be in contact with the President of the Division

Workshops & Meetings

June 5-7, 2025, Trikala, Greece: Annual workshop of the European Network of Young Specialists in Sport Psychology (ENYSSP).

October 15-18, 2025 Montréal, Canada: 40th Annual Conference of the Association of Applied Sport Psychology (AASP)

Online course. Golf Psychology Coaching Certificate. Visit: www.golfpsychologycoaching.com

Resources