Matt Johnson

Matt Johnson

Senior Lecturer

School of Sport, Health and Social Sciences

023 8201 5006 ext. 5006 Room no. RM213A

Biography

Matt Johnson attained a joint honours degree in sport science, leisure and recreation from Canterbury Christ Church College and then went on to achieve an MSc in sport and exercise psychology from University College Chichester. Along with this, Matt has excellent industry experience as a sport scientist, coach and coach educator.

Matt is a senior lecturer in sport psychology and coaching, and he has a passion for setting and achieving high standards. He has enjoyed 12 years of lecturing in higher education and is now the course leader for the BSc (Hons) Sport Coaching degree at Solent University. This course has been ranked 12th (out of 65) in the guardian league table (2012) and has been in the top five courses in the UK according to the National Student Survey in 2010, 2011, and 2012. Matt prides himself on delivering high quality teaching and excellent career development opportunities for his students. All this has been achieved alongside a productive career of hands on rugby coaching at an international level and providing sport science support to a wide range of athletes up to and including international and Paralympic standards. In the last year Matt has provided sport science support to a championship football team, a Premiership rugby team, individuals from the GB wheelchair rugby team; and a junior international female basketball player. Matt is also currently undertaking a PhD in attitudes towards training in sport and co-writing an MSc in athletic development and peak performance.

Outside of work, Matt loves to spend time with his wife and children, enjoys exploring the New Forest, and spectating and taking part in lots of outdoor activities and sports. He is also an elected School Governor for Blackfield Primary School.

Taught courses

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MSc Sport Science and Performance Coaching
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MSc Athletic Development and Peak Performance
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BSc (Hons) Sport Performance Coaching
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BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Psychology
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BSc (Hons) Applied Sport Science

Further information

  1. Industry experience

    In his role as a sport scientist (sport psychology) Matt regularly works with individuals and teams from a variety of sports up to and including International and Olympic...

    In his role as a sport scientist (sport psychology) he regularly works with individuals and teams from a variety of sports up to and including International and Olympic level. He has completed coaching qualifications in a broad range of land and water sports and has developed a wealth of experience coaching both participation and high performance sport. In particular he has enjoyed coaching youth and adult rugby of all levels up to and including England Women’s Rugby. In recognition of this he was short listed for the regional Sports Personality ‘Coach of the Year’.

    As a coach educator he believes passionately that to become an excellent coach, the coach must engage in a long developmental journey which includes education, qualification, experience, reflection and mentoring. In line with this, Matt has been instrumental in developing an enviable programme of National Governing Body (NGB) coach education awards, an extensive community coaching programme and a comprehensive coach mentoring programme. He is also chair of the organising committee of the Hampshire Coaching Conference and the Hampshire Young Coaching Conference.

  2. Research interests

    Matt’s research interests centre on defining, understanding and measuring attitude in sports training and competition. Already he has worked...
    Matt’s research interests centre on defining, understanding and measuring attitude in sports training and competition. Already he has worked collaboratively with two professional football teams and athletes from the regional talented athlete scheme to investigate the nature and development of a good attitude. In addition to his personal research interests he has recently supervised undergraduate research on sports vision, mental toughness, mental skills training, leadership and coaching behaviour. Some of these students have been invited to present their research at the national student BASES conference.

  3. Recent publications

    Matt's recent publications include several conferences. For more information, follow the link below...

    Johnson, M. (2013) 'Defining a good attitude for training & competition', FBSE Research & Enterprise Conference, SSU

    Johnson, M. (2013) 'Motivating young performers', Hampshire Young Coaches Conference, SSU

    Johnson, M. (2012) 'A good attitude in football', AFC Bournemouth

    Cooper, J. and Johnson, M. (2012) 'Peripheral vision in sailing', BASES student conference, University of East London

    Johnson, M. (2012) 'Developing the right attitude to excel workshop', GB Wheelchair Rugby Development Squad