Lindsey Wilson University Sport Performance Students Take Their Major on the Road

Students speak at University of Kentucky class, national symposium on 'Transforming the Postsecondary Experience.'

by Duane Bonifer

COLUMBIA, Ky. (10/19/2026) — \Members of the Lindsey Wilson University sport performance program took to the road last week to spread the message about the new academic major.

Sport performance and sports management professor Courtney Carter and Assistant Vice President for Student Success and Academic Growth Eric Carter were joined by three Lindsey Wilson students at two recent appearances where they discussed the new academic program.

Grounded in theories of integrative learning, embodied pedagogy, ethical reasoning, intercultural competence and teamwork, sport performance provides students an academic framework in which they critically reflect on their practice, training, rehabilitation and competition experiences.

Lindsey Wilson is the first college or university in Kentucky to offer a bachelor of arts degree in sport performance and the second school in the country to offer the major.

The Carters were joined on Oct. 12 by Lindsey Wilson football freshmen Anderson Brock of Hendersonville, Tennessee, Bradshaw Klym of Franklin, Tennessee, and Grant Shatzer of La Grange, Kentucky, to speak to a University of Kentucky undergraduate class, "Leading Ethical Sports Organizations." The class is part of the university's sport leadership and management major.

Then Brock and Klym joined the Carters at the "Symposium on Transforming the Postsecondary Experience," held by the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Higher Education on Oct. 14-15 in Indianapolis. The Lindsey Wilson group presented "From Practice to Credit Hour: Rethinking Sport as Academic Learning."

The presentation was essentially an outline of Lindsey Wilson's groundbreaking sport performance program.

Sport performance is designed to document, assess and strengthen learning that occurs through collegiate sport participation, giving student-athletes an academic framework for understanding what they learn through practice, training, competition, rehabilitation and team membership.

'An unparalleled experience'

"The students were so impressive," said Courtney Carter, who is director of LWU's sport performance major. "The staff were very impressed by them."

Brock and Klym -- who were the only two undergraduate students to attend the 500-person conference -- gave examples of the transferable skills they have learned as members of the Blue Raider football program.

"I was really proud of the students for thinking about how they can leverage football in their academic journeys," said Courtney Carter.

Brock, who has a double major in business administration, said the experience "provided us with an unparalleled experience in terms of professional development."

"It was a great opportunity to explain to people how we combine athletic participation with what happens in the classroom and how that helps prepare us for our careers," he said.

Klym said he did not expect the welcoming reception that he and Anderson received from attendees at the convention.

"I didn't really think people would care about what we had to say, but when we started talking everyone gave us their undivided attention and wanted to know more," he said. "I got a lot out of it, and we explained to them how Coach Carter has taught us that everything we're learning as an athlete can be translated into our careers."

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