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Tania-CassidyAssociate Professor
DipPE, DipGrad, MPhEd (Otago) PhD (Deakin), DipTchg.
Tel +64 3 479 9070
Email tania.cassidy@otago.ac.nz

Background

Tania Cassidy is an Associate Professor in the area of Sport Pedagogy, particularly sports coaching. Tania views sports coaching as a social and educational enterprise as well as one which is culturally bound. She is interested in coach and athlete development, as well as understanding the development of coaching practices which are ethical, inclusive of all ages, abilities and developmental levels. For the past six years Tania has been a Visiting Professor in the School of Education, College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences, University College Cork, Ireland.

Tania has presented at numerous international conferences and has published in scholarly and professional books and journals. She is the first author of two co-authored texts;

  • Understanding Sports Coaching: The Pedagogical, Social and Cultural Foundations of Sports Practice (2004, 2009, 2106; Routledge),
  • Understanding Strength and Conditioning as Sport Coaching: Bridging the Biophysical, Pedagogical and Sociocultural Foundations of Practice (in press, Routledge)

Tania provides international service by being on the editorial boards of several journals including International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching (UK) and International Sport Coaching Journal (USA). She serves her national and local communities by being a board member of the Otago Academy of Sport and Football South as well as being a member of Hockey New Zealand's Masters Advisory Group and New Zealand Football's Women's sub-committee. As a consequence of Tania's community activism she is the President of the Opoho Bowling Club. Tania is also an active hockey player and lawn bowler.

Teaching

Research

Tania's research interests are informed by both interpretive and critical perspectives and include:

  • Pedagogy of sports coaching and coach education/development
  • Youth development and sports coaching
  • Politics and policies of coach development and education

Potential postgraduate students must be interested in applying an interpretive and/or socially critical lens to above aspects of sports coaching. Please consult the University of Otago scholarships webpage to check eligibility for international and domestic student scholarships.

Postgraduate Students

Current Students

  • Stuart Moffatt (PhD)
  • Emily Scott (PhD)
  • Gary Byrne (University College Cork, Ireland) (PhD)
  • Yoon Jin Kim (PhD)

Graduates

  • Anne-Marie Jackson (PhD) (with Dr Jim Williams; 2008–2011)
  • Laura Purdy (PhD) (with Professor Robyn Jones; 2001–2005)
  • Hussain Haleem (PhD) (committee member; 2001–2005)
  • Gaye McDowell (MPhEd) (with Associate Professor Anne-Marie Jackson 2012–2017)
  • Andrew Hewetson (MPhEd) (2011–2016)
  • Joan Merrilees (MPhEd) (2010–2014)
  • Murray Turner (MPhEd) (2004–2007)
  • Anne-Marie Jackson (MPhEd) (2004–2007)
  • Alex Calwell (MPhEd) (with Dr Paul Potrac; 2003–2004)
  • Neil Anderson (MPhEd) (with Dr Ralph Buck; 2002–2003)
  • Ryan Rosevear (BPhEd Honours ) (2017)
  • Kiera Pennell (BPhEd Honours) (2014)
  • Hamish Rogers (BPhEd Honours) (2011–2012)
  • Jeremy Newton (BPhEd Honours) (2011–2012)
  • Claire Brown (BPhEd Honours) (2010–2011)
  • Hannah Smeaton (BPhEd Honours) (2009–2010)
  • Jane Marshall (BPhEd Honours) (2008–2009)
  • Amie O'Brien (BPhEd Honours) (2006–2007)
  • Clare Goodwin (BPhEd Honours) (2006–2007)

Publications

Cassidy, T. (2023). Exploring the implications of ability in children's sport. In M. Toms & R. Jeanes (Eds.), Routledge handbook of coaching children in sport. (pp. 374-382). New York, NY: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003199359-41

Fuller, J., & Cassidy, T. (2022, November). Mentoring in women's football. Verbal presentation at the 8th IWG World Conference: Women & Sport, [Hybrid].

Cassidy, T. (2022). Sports coaching, education and development: A continually contested terrain. In D. Sturm & R. Kerr (Eds.), Sport in Aotearoa New Zealand: Contested terrain. (pp. 95-106). Abingdon, UK: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003034445-9

Kim, Y. J., Dawson, M. C., & Cassidy, T. (2020). Crafting a one-dimensional identity: Exploring the nexus between totalisation and reinvention in an elite sports environment. Sport, Education & Society, 25(1), 84-97. doi: 10.1080/13573322.2018.1555660

Handcock, P., & Cassidy, T. (2019). The strength and conditioning coach: Breaking free from signature pedagogies. Journal of Sport & Exercise Science, 3(1), (pp. 28-29). doi: 10.36905/jses.2019.01.01

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