Meet Scott Davern from USADA’s Anti-Doping Education Team
Growing up in Manchester Township, New Jersey, Scott Davern dreamed of being an Olympian. While his athletic career didn’t take him quite that far, he continued pursuing his passion for sport by earning a Bachelor of Science in health and physical education, along with minors in sport psychology and coaching from Lock Haven University in Pennsylvania.
His passion and qualifications have since led him to Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he became an intern at USADA and now serves as Olympic Education Program Development Coordinator. In this role, Scott supports many of USADA’s education initiatives, including its e-learning curriculum development. He also travels around the country to educate athletes and athlete support personnel about anti-doping rules and the importance of clean sport.
Even though he’s not the one on the field, Scott explains, “Being with USADA gives me the privilege to work with Olympians and other professionals within the Olympic movement, so I guess my childhood dream is coming true in a way. Without clean sport there is no sport.”
When Scott started at USADA more than nine months ago, his first contribution to anti-doping education was a detailed research paper on the most effective educational strategies and how they are being applied by USADA’s education team. Going forward, Scott wants to help USADA continually reach more athletes and make e-learning increasingly effective, while also finding new and better ways to connect with athletes about anti-doping.
“As I write curriculum for the future, I will tailor the tutorials and curriculum to specific audiences and consider the fact that every single person learns differently,” explains Scott. “I try to incorporate the redundancy principle, as well as the theory of multiple intelligences, which states that people learn better when they are presented with the same information in multiple ways. For example, people understand and retain information better when they see it in diagrams, hear the audio, and say the words.”
Scott also believes that his personal experience with sport has allowed him to connect more easily with athletes, especially during education presentations. “I know what it’s like to be on the athlete side of education and it’s not always the most fun thing in the world,” says Scott. “Based on this experience, I can tailor presentations to specific groups and try to engage with them more.”
Read more Spirit of Sport blog posts