The International Sports Physiotherapy Competencies and Standards 2025: The SportsComp Project on Higher Education to Improve Competency in Sports Physiotherapy
Sports Physiotherapy is a specialised area of practice requiring specific competencies and standards to be met. The initial Sports Physiotherapy Competencies and Standards at the international level were first developed in 2005. With the sports physiotherapy landscape evolving, ensuring the currency and an update of the 2005 competencies was important. Through the SportsComp project (Higher Education to Improve Competency in Sports Physiotherapy) funded by an Erasmus+ grant, a consortium of five partners, including the International Sports and Exercise Physiotherapy Assocation, updated these competencies and standards. Using a three-phase process that incorporated perspectives from experienced sports physiotherapists including a Delphi study, a qualitative study of focus groups and interviews of stakeholders, and a consensus meeting of expert sports physiotherapy researchers and educators, the International Sports Physiotherapy Competencies and Standards (2025) ("the Competencies") were finalized. The final competencies are at a Master's level, and are contemporary and relevant to the current context of the practice of sports physiotherapy. The knowledge and behaviors to be demonstrated and standards to be achieved are able to be implemented in sports physiotherapy career pathways internationally. An overview of the key changes in the Competencies is presented and the full list of the Competencies are included as Supplementary Material. # Level of Evidence 5.
Authors
- Elke Lathouwers (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0117-8356)
- Eleni KAPRELI
- Νικόλαος Στριμπάκος (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1287-1028)
- Bruno Tassignon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3216-4045)
- Sanna Sihvonen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8002-3517)
- Emilie Dick
- Laura Lepasalu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-2273-9856)
- Jo Verschueren (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4971-3971)
- Carlo Ramponi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1570-708X)
- Luciana De Michelis Mendonça (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4495-1807)
- Maria Constantinou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0826-0950)
- Aristi Tsokani
- Mati Arend
- Armi Hirvonen
- Sanna Paasu-Hynynen
Institutions
- Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (BR)
- Vrije Universiteit Brussel (BE)
- University of Thessaly (GR)
- JAMK University of Applied Sciences (FI)
- Orthopaedic Center (US)
- University of Tartu (EE)
- Southern Cross University (AU)
- Hasselt University (BE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy
- Published
- 2026-05-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.26603/001c.159762
- Primary Topic
- Occupational Therapy Practice and Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00