Matt Bowers
Dr. Matt Bowers is an Associate Professor of Instruction in Sport Management at the University of Texas at Austin. He studies youth development in and through sports and has published research studies related to the impact of sport participation on creativity and the value of sandlot/unstructured sports for children. His work has been featured in Sports Illustrated, Wired, The Atlantic, and Wall Street Journal, SXSW, and the Aspen Institute’s Sport for All, Play For Life: A Playbook to Get Every Kid in the Game. He has been an advisory board member and one of the co-lead researchers for the Aspen Institute’s Healthy Sport Index project, an advisory board member for the Aspen Institute’s Reimagining School Sports project, and a member of the Science Board for the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition. He also currently serves as an advisor for SXSW.
Austin FC U: An Immersive Course Co-Development Between Austin FC and UT-Austin Sport Management
Cohort: 2022
Fellow: Matt Bowers
As the campus community enters a new post-pandemic era, it is clear that one of the most urgent needs
following 2+ years of remote and hybrid learning is to create poignant, relevant contexts for pursuing
immersive experiential learning. As universities reckon with the challenge of continuing to evolve their value
propositions to meet student demand for more industry-relevant experiences, there is an opportunity to
innovate how we design and deliver unique pedagogical experiences that connect more deeply with their