Kristen Dieffenbach, PhD

Kristen Dieffenbach is the director of the Center for Applied Coaching and Sport Sciences at West Virginia University and a professor in the School of Sport Sciences. She is the executive director of the United States Center for Coaching Excellence, a Fellow in the Association of Applied Sport Psychology, and a graduate of the NSSU Coach Developer Academy. She has been a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC) and educational consultant for athletes, coaches, and teams for over 20 years working with developmental through Olympic level athletes, coaches, and organizations. She has coached for over 25 years specializing in coaching junior development, elite, and masters athletes in endurance and ultra-endurance cycling, running and adventure racing disciplines with Peaks Coaching Group. More recently, Kristen has been coaching youth ice hockey and is a part of the USA Hockey Mid Am Coach Development team. The emphasis of her work is as a pracademic, focusing on evidence informed solutions to real world challenges with most of her academic work focused on supporting quality coaching through coaching education and coach development systems. Her research interests focus on coaching and professionalism, ethical and moral decision making in coaching, and supporting athlete to coach transitions.