Dr. Scott Pierce

Associate Professor

Office

SFCM Student Fitness Center & Mccormick Hall 250

Office Phone

(309) 438-2655office
phone

swpierc@ilstu.eduemail

About
Education
Awards & Honors
Selected Research

Current Courses

KNR 306.001 Psychology Of Sport

KNR 495.001 Ethics and Practicum in Sport Psychology

KNR 499.013 Independent Research For The Master's Thesis

KNR 498.001 Professional Practice In Exercise Science

KNR 416.001 Psychological Interventions in Sport

KNR 408.001 Psychosocial Athlete Development

Research Interests & Areas

An overall focus on athlete psychological development and personal development through sport.

His research examines how psychological skills are developed to enhance sport performance, and explores how, why, and under what conditions life skills are developed in sport and transferred to other life domains.

His community engaged work focuses on the development and implementation of educational programs to support the development of athletes and coaches.

Ph D Kinesiology

Michigan State University

East Lansing, Michigan

MS Sport Studies

Miami University

Oxford, Ohio

BA Psychology

University of Otago

Dunedin, New Zealand

Other

University of Otago

Dunedin, New Zealand

Research Initiative Award

Illinois State University

2020

2017 Reviewer of the Year

Journal of Sport Psychology in Action

2017

Grants and Contracts

Coach Education and Positive Youth Development through Sport: Theory, Research, and Practice

Fernando Santos, Scott Pierce, Martin Camire, Stewart Vella, Dany MacDonald, Tarkington Newman, Michel Milistedt, Leisha Strachan, Scott Rathwell.

Portuguese Athletics Federation. January 1 2022 - December 31 2024

Design and creation of a leadership educational program for high school student-athletes

Scott Pierce, Jedediah Blanton.

Michigan High School Athletic Association. August 1 2022 - July 31 2023

Coaching Social Justice Life Skills Through Sport

Tarkington Newman, Karen Collins, Robert Barcelona, Scott Pierce, Fernando Santos.

University of New Hampshire Regional (RSI) Strategic Investment Funding. August 1 2021 - July 31 2022

Parents Perceptions of their Child’s Life Skill Development and Transfer from Youth Sport

Scott Pierce.

College of Applied Science and Technology - URG. June 1 2020 - June 30 2020

High School Student-Athlete Life Skill Development and Transfer

Scott Pierce, Anthony Amorose.

Illinois Association for Health, Physical Education, Recration and Dance. August 1 2019 - December 31 2021

Resilience for the Rocky Road: Supporting First Year Student-Athletes in their Transition to College

Eric Martin, Scott Pierce, Kelly Rossetto.

National Collegiate Athletic Association. February 1 2019 - October 31 2020

Designing and Validating the Coaching Life Skills in Sport Questionnaire

Scott Pierce, Anthony Amorose, Martin Camire, Corliss Bean.

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) - Partnership Engage Grants.. August 1 2018 - December 31 2019

Examination of Student-Athletes’ Developmental Transition from Youth Sport to College Sport

Scott Pierce.

College of Applied Science and Technology - URG. June 1 2018 - June 30 2019

Faculty-Led Study Abroad Program Development Grant

Scott Pierce, Clinton Warren.

Illinois State University. May 1 2018 - June 30 2019

High School Student-Athletes’ Perspectives and Experiences of Leadership as a Life Skill

Scott Pierce, Karl Erickson, Mustafa Sarkar.

Association for Applied Sport Psychology. June 1 2017 - June 30 2018

High School Student-Athletes’ Perspectives and Experiences of Leadership as a Life Skill

Scott Pierce.

College of Applied Science and Technology - URG. June 1 2017 - June 30 2018

Faculty Start-Up Support

Scott Pierce.

Office of Research and Graduate Studies. January 1 2016 - June 30 2016

Teacher-Coach Perceptions of Life Skills Transfer from High School Sport to the Classroom

Scott Pierce.

College of Applied Science and Technology - URG. June 1 2016 - June 30 2017

Teacher-Coach Perceptions of Life Skills Transfer from High School Sport to the Classroom

Scott Pierce.

Illinois Association for Health, Physical Education, Recration and Dance. June 1 2016 - June 30 2017

Abstract

Content Analysis of State High School Association Mission Statements

Jedediah Blanton, Rachel Williams, Jeff Graham, Scott Pierce.

Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 43, S56, (2021)

Testing the Effects of Message Framing on PA Motivation: Does Stage of Change Matter?

Derek Hevel, Anthony Amorose, Kristen Lagally, Anna Miles, Scott Pierce.

Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise, 50 (5S), 315, (2018)

Book, Chapter

Chapter 4: Physical Education and Sport, the natural setting for values and life skills.

Scott Pierce, Emily Jones, Andrew Eberline.

(2024), Coaching Values and Life Skills through Physical Education and Sports: A Practical Toolkit, Routledge

Resilience as a Life Skill: Supporting Resilience Application Across Contexts

Scott Pierce, Lilla Kisvari.

(2024), The Journey into College and Career: Cultivating Resilience Among Challenges, Kendall Hunt Publishing

The Challenges, Advances, and Opportunities with the Study and Promotion of Life Skills Transfer

Scott Pierce, Melvin Sangalang, Jenn Jacobs.

(2024), 47-58, Positive Youth Development Through Sport (3rd Ed.), Routledge

The Quantitative Assessment of Positive Youth Development Through Sport

Karl Erickson, Matthew Vierimaa, Scott Pierce.

(2024), 73-85, Positive Youth Development Through Sport (3rd Ed.), Routledge

Conceptualizing Life Skills Transfer within the Positive Youth Development Paradigm

Scott Pierce, Chelsi Scott.

(2019), Coach Education for the Next Decade: The Need for a Positive Youth Development Paradigm, Escola Superior De Educacao

Competence Motivation Theory

Anthony Amorose, Scott Pierce.

(2018), Dictionary of Sport Psychology, Elsevier

Better People Make Better Athletes: Promoting a Positive Youth Development Approach with Young Athletes

Scott Pierce.

(2017), 129-138, Sport Psychology for Youth Athletes, Routledge

Children

Scott Pierce, Emily Wright, Melissa A Chase.

Routledge Handbook of Applied Sport Psychology, Routledge

The Covid-19 Pandemic: Key Stakeholder Perspectives and Future Directions for Development in Youth Soccer

Alysha Matthews, Meredith Wekesser, Karl Erickson, Scott Pierce, Adam Kelly.

Talent Identification and Development in Youth Soccer: A Guide for Researchers and Practitioners

Journal Article

Examining the Relationship Between Perceived Coaching Approaches for Life Skills Development and Life Skills Outcomes for High School Athletes

Scott Pierce, Liam O'Neil, Martin Camiré, Corliss Bean, Scott Rathwell.

International Sport Coaching Journal, AOP, 1-12, (2024)

Social Justice Promotion in Youth Sport: Insights from Current High School Coaches.

Tarkington Newman, Fernando Santos, Karen Collins, Scott Pierce, Jill Kochanek, Virginia Lee, Levone Lee, .

Sports Coaching Review, 1 ((aop)), 1-28, (2024)

An Autoethnographic Account and Interpretation of Sport Related Life Skills and Personal Development

Daniel Gould, Scott Pierce, Emily Wright.

International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, (2023)

Former Scholastic Athletes’ Perceptions of Sport-Based Personal Development: A 50-year Retrospective Case Study.

Daniel Gould, Scott Pierce, Emily Wright.

Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, (1-24), (2023)

Positive Youth Development as a Guiding Framework in Sport Research: Is it Time to Plan for a Transition?

Martin Camiré, Fernando Santos, Tarkington Newman, Stewart Vella, Dany MacDonald, Michel Milistetd, Scott Pierce, Leisha Strachan.

Psychology of Sport & Exercise, (69), 102505, (2023)

Student-Athletes’ Perceptions of Relationship Quality and Life Skills Development

Kylee Ault, Jedediah Blanton, Scott Pierce.

Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 1-22, (2023)

The Measurement of College Athletes’ Knowledge and Behavior on Pre- and Post-Workout Nutrition Utilizing a Text Message Intervention

Hannah Young, Julie Schumacher, Scott Pierce, Jennifer Barnes.

Journal of American College Health, 1-6, (2023)

Coach Education and Coach Development within a Contemporary Social Justice Society: Implications for Future Research and Potential Pitfalls

Tarkington Newman, Fernando Santos, Scott Pierce, Karen Collins, Virginia Mercier.

Quest, 74 (3), 234-250, (2022)

Performance psychology and Positive Youth Development: A Call to Integrate for the Benefit of all Athletes

Scott Pierce, Karl Erickson.

Performance Enhancement & Health, 10 (3), 100231, (2022)

Scholars’ Perspectives of Positive Youth Development Focused Coach Education for High School Sports

Tarkington Newman, Fernando Santos, Scott Pierce, Karen Collins, Robert Barcelona.

Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 1-15, (2022)

Social Skill Transfer from a Sport-Based Positive Youth Development Program to the School Setting: Transferring Self Control to School

Scott Pierce, Travis Scheadler, Dawn Anderson-Butcher, Anthony Amorose, Rebecca Wade-Mdivanian.

Sport Social Work Journal, 1, 78-95, (2022)

Administrators' perceptions of the meaning and challenges of “education-based” high school sport

Jedediah E Blanton, Scott Pierce, Kylee J Ault.

Journal for the Study of Sports and Athletes in Education, 1-25, (2021)

Development and initial validation of the coaching life skills in sport questionnaire

Scott Pierce, Martin Camiré, Stéphanie Turgeon, Sara Kramers, Scott Rathwell, Corliss Bean, Camille Sabourin.

Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 53, (2021)

Student-athletes’ dual commitment to school and sport: Compatible or conflicting?

Liam O'Neil, Anthony Amorose, Scott Pierce.

Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 52, (2021)

High school student-athletes' perceptions and experiences of leadership as a life skill

Scott Pierce, Karl Erickson, Mustafa Sarkar.

Psychology of Sport and Exerise, 51, (2020)

Resilience for the Rocky Road: Lessons Learned from an Educational Program for First Year Collegiate Student-Athletes

Scott Pierce, Eric Martin, Kelly Rossetto, Liam O'Neil.

Journal of Sport Psychology in Action, (2020)

Youth Sport and COVID-19: Contextual, Methodological, and Practical Considerations

Kelly Adam, Karl Erickson, Scott Pierce, Jennifer Turnnidge.

Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 2, 140, (2020)

Teacher-Coaches’ Perceptions of Life Skills Transfer from High School Sport to the Classroom

Scott Pierce, Karl Erickson, Radu Dinu.

Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 31 (4), 451-473, (2019)

Testing the effects of messaging on physical activity motivation in active and non-active adults

Derek Hevel, Anthony Amorose, Kristen Lagally, Anna Miles, Scott Pierce.

Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 43, 333-342, (2019)

An Online Program for High School Student-Athlete Leadership Development: Community-Engagement, Collaboration, and Course Creation

Scott Pierce, Jedediah Blanton, Daniel Gould.

Case Studies in Sport and Exercise Psychology, 2 (1), 23-29, (2018)

Coaching Behaviors that Enhance Confidence in Athletes and Teams

Samuel Forlenza, Scott Pierce, Robin S Vealey, John Mackersie.

International Coaching Science Journal, 5 (3), 205-212, (2018)

Definition and Heuristic Model of Life Skills Transfer

Scott Pierce, Daniel Gould, Martin Camire.

International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 10 (1), 186-211, (2017)

How an Elite Coach’s Philosophy Drives his Coaching to Facilitate Psychological Development of Young Athletes: A Case Study of J Robinson.

Daniel Gould, Scott Pierce, Ian Cowburn, Andrew Driska.

International Journal of Sport Coaching, 4 (1), 13-37, (2017)

Tall Poppy Syndrome: Perceptions and experiences of elite New Zealand athletes

Scott Pierce, Ken Hodge, Megan Taylor, Angela Button.

International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 15 (4), 351-369, (2017)

Understanding psychological changes in adolescent wrestlers participating in an intensive training camp: a mixed-methods investigation.

Andrew Driska, Daniel Gould, Scott Pierce, Ian Cowburn.

International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 48 (3), 303-330, (2017)

Examining Expert Coaches’ Views of Optimizing Parent Roles in 10-and-Under Tennis.

Daniel Gould, Scott Pierce, E Missy Wright, Larry Lauer, Jenny Nalepa.

Sport, Exercise & Performance Psychology, 5 (2), 89-106, (2016)

Strategies for Coaching for Life Skills Transfer

Scott Pierce, Kelsey Kendellen, Martin Camire, Daniel Gould.

Journal of Sport Psychology in Action, 9 (1), 11-20, (2016)

Understanding the Process of Psychological Development in Young Athletes Attending an Intensive Wrestling Camp

Scott Pierce, Daniel Gould, Ian H J Cowburn, Andrew Driska.

Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise & Health, 8 (4), 332-351, (2016)

Promoting Mental Health in Youth Sport: The Roles and Responsibilities of Policy Makers, Coaches and Coach Developers

Fernando Santos, Tarkington Newman, Stewart Vella, Martin Camiré, Scott Rathwell, Leisha Strachan, Dany MacDonald, Scott Pierce, Marta Ferreira, Michel Milistetd.

International Sport Coaching Journal

Student-Athletes’ Dual Commitment to School and Sport: Compatible or Conflicting?

O'Neil Liam, Anthony Amorose, Scott Pierce.

Psychology of Sport and Exercise

Supporting Collegiate Students in the United States Through Athletic and Career Transitions

Scott Pierce, Melvin Sangalang, Lilla Kisvari, Lindsey Kellar, Eric Martin.

Journal of Sport Psychology in Action, AOP, 1-13

Using Social Learning Spaces to Think Beyond and Innovate Conventional Conferencing Formats

Fernando Santos, Martin Camiré, Scott Pierce, Dany MacDonald, Leisha Strachan, Tarkington Newman, Stewart Vella, Michel Milistetd.

Kinesiology Review, 1 ((aop)), 1-9

Other

From Protest to Progress: Athlete Activism in 2016

Andrew Mac Intosh, Scott Pierce, Daniel Taradash, Karl Erickson.

Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality, (2017)

Presentations

Life After Sports: Evaluating a Career Transition Program for Graduating Collegiate Student-Athletes

Melvin Sangalang, Scott Pierce, Lindsey Kellar, Anthony Amorose, Brett Haffner.

Association for Applied Sport Psychology, Montreal, Quebec, October, 2025

Meeting Athletes Where They Are At: Mental Performance Consultants’ Perspectives of Developmentally Appropriate Consulting

Ellie Cain, Scott Pierce, Anthony Amorose.

Association for Applied Sport Psychology, Montreal, Quebec, October, 2025

Life After Sports: A Career Transition Program for Graduating Collegiate Student-Athletes

Melvin Sangalang, Scott Pierce, Lindsay Kellar, Anthony Amorose.

Midwest Sport and Exercise Psychology Symposium, Holland, MI, February 17, 2024

Collegiate Student-Athletes’ Commitment to School and Sport: The Role of Academic and Athletic Identification

Liam O'Neil, Justin Worley, Sarah Schwartz, Scott Pierce, Anthony Amorose.

North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity, Toronto, Ontario, June, 2023

Creating an athlete questionnaire to assess coaching life skills

Scott Pierce, Liam O'Neil, Martin Camire, Corliss Bean, Anthony Amorose, Scott Rathwell, Tarkington Newman.

North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity, Toronto, Ontario, June, 2023

Titan Mindset: Coaches Workshop 2

Scott Pierce.

Illinois Wesleyan University Athletics, Bloomington, IL, November 28, 2022

Titan Mindset: Dealing with Pressure

Scott Pierce, Anna Tristani, Lilla Kisvari.

Illinois Wesleyan University Athletics, Bloomington, IL, November 7, 2022

A Resilience Program for First Year Collegiate Athletes: Program Design, Implementation, Evaluation, and Implications

Scott Pierce, Eric Martin, Samantha Kurkjian, Kelly Rossetto, Liam O'Neil.

Association for Applied Sport Psychology Annual Meeting, Fort Worth, Texas, October 28, 2022

Titan Mindset: Athlete Needs Assessment

Scott Pierce, Anna Tristani, Lilla Kisvari.

Illinois Wesleyan University Athletics, Bloomington, IL, September 26, 2022

Titan Mindset: Coaches Workshop 1

Scott Pierce.

Illinois Wesleyan University Athletics, Bloomington, IL, September 26, 2022

Developing Student-Athlete Leadership

Scott Pierce.

Illinois High School Association Student Advisory Council Retreat, Bloomington, IL, July 31, 2022

Intervention Initiatives and Strategies for Positive Youth Development

Fernando Santos, Scott Pierce, Camire Martin, Dany McDonald, Milistedt Michel, Newman Tarkington, Leisha Strachan, Stewart Vella.

International Seminar in Positive Youth Development Through Sport, Porto, Portugal, July 28, 2022

Life Skills Transfer: Coaching for Long-Term Impact

Scott Pierce.

International Seminar in Positive Youth Development Through Sport, Porto, Portugal, July 28, 2022

The Role of Sports Organizations in Promoting Positive Development through Sport

Fernando Santos, Scott Pierce, Camire Martin, Dany McDonald, Milistedt Michel, Newman Tarkington, Leisha Strachan.

International Seminar in Positive Youth Development Through Sport, Porto, Portugal, July 27, 2022

Examining Relative Age Effect in Collegiate Volleyball

Grace Redman, Scott Pierce, Kaity Weimerskirch.

ISU University Research Symposium, Normal, IL, May, 2022

(Re)imagining youth sport: Stakeholders views of the impact of COVID-19 on the future of youth sport

Scott Pierce, Liam O'Neil, Meredith Wekesser, Alysha Matthews, Emily Wright, Jill Kochanek, Adam Kelly, Jennifer Turnnidge, Karl Erickson.

North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity Annual Conference, Kona, Hawaii, May 27, 2022

Examining the impact of resilience-based programming for first-year collegiate student-athletes

Scott Pierce, Eric Martin, Liam O'Neil, Kelly Rossetto.

North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity Annual Conference, Kona, Hawaii, May 27, 2022

Titan Mindset: Coping with Adversity