1953 The University of Costa Rica created the Physical Education section of its Welfare and Counseling Department to address the needs in the country's physical education field.

1957 Thanks to the efforts of Prof. Rodrigo Leiva, then director of the section, it was approved that mandatory sports courses would begin to be taught regularly as part of the general studies cycle. These courses have remained one of this unit's strongest academic activities until the present.

1968 The Physical Education Section became an administrative department. In 1969, when a new structure for the Faculty of Education was approved, the Physical Education Section became the Department of Physical Education and Sports, adopting the character of academic dependence under the aegis of the School of Sciences and Letters and the Faculty of Education of the University. At that time, the department assumed the training of teachers in physical education. At that time, the department took over the training of physical education educators.

1973-1974 The Department of Physical Education and Sports became part of the Teacher Training School of the Faculty of Education. This further strengthened its work in the training of professionals in the field of physical education, and in offering sports activities to all young people entering the University.

1977, a bachelor's degree program was offered to students in a specialty of the application sector of the “Physical Education Teaching Field of Study”, with the idea that in the future, in cooperation with other faculties and schools of the university, interdisciplinary programs could be offered.

This same year, a Bachelor's degree program in Physical Education was presented to the National Council of Rectors (CONARE), to update professionals in the area, emphasizing sciences applied to physical education, and seek to provide them with the opportunity to prepare them to continue with postgraduate studies at a national and international level. The Department of Physical Education and Sports carried out a great work of social action, research, and teaching, offering four curricula at the high school level and one at the undergraduate level.

1988, at the request of the Faculty of Education, the Council of the Social Sciences Area unanimously approved to propose to the University Council the transformation of the Department of Physical Education and Sports. After the corresponding study by the Academic Evaluation Center, on October 25, 1988, in a note from this Center (CEA-508-88), it was indicated that the department already had the taxonomic model of the rest of the university structure, which placed it as a School. However, the University Council proposed to transfer the request to the Academic Policy Committee to define if the name “School of Human Movement and Recreation” was the most convenient for the new school. Finally, on July 6, 1989, in Session No. 3586, the University Council granted this unit the status of school and named it the School of Physical Education and Sports.

1994 The academic unit continued to grow in its contribution to society in the areas of teaching, research and social action. Thus, for example, in 1994, a graduate program called the Master's in Human Movement Sciences began to be offered, which was initially an emphasis of the faculty's Master's in Education.

1998 But it wasn´t untill this year that formally separated from that program (agreement adopted in session 506 of April 30, 1998 by the Council of the Graduate Studies System of the University of Costa Rica, and CONARE act 17-98 of June 9, 1998). This master's degree (pioneer in the field of human movement in Costa Rica and the Central American region) was created with the general objective of training professionals who contribute to society through research for a better quality of life.

2003 Subsequently the school was again a pioneer in the offer of postgraduate studies, this time starting with the specialization in recreation (the first time in the country) with the creation of the Professional Master's Degree in Recreation. This master's degree was approved at the meeting of the Council of the Graduate Studies System of the University of Costa Rica 617 25-11-2003 and by CONARE minutes 06-04 24-02-2004.Its general objective was to offer the first curriculum in Costa Rica to prepare professionals in the field of recreation.

The school has been attentive to the diverse needs of society, promoting as a response the diversification of its bachelor's degree program. Thus, as published in the University Gazette No. 4 of 2010, on January 13, 2010, the Vice Rector's Office for Teaching, in Resolution VD-R-8419-2010, authorized the agreement of the Assembly of the School of Physical Education and Sports, to change the name of the Bachelor's Degree in Physical Education Teaching with lateral exit to Teaching, to Bachelor's Degree in Human Movement Sciences with lateral exit to Teaching. This bachelor's degree currently has three areas of specialization: pedagogy, health and performance. An important milestone in the academic development promoted by the School of Physical Education and Sports took place in July 2012, when, together with the newly named School of Human Movement Sciences and Quality of Life of the National University (CIEMHCAVI-UNA), they initiated the PhD program in Human Movement Sciences, a pioneer in the Central American region.

On the other hand, among the school's contributions to the national community, the development of various social action projects stands out, both in the area of teaching and cultural extension, including projects of Community University Work (TCU), Summer Schools, Continuing Education, Educational Dissemination, promotion of physical activity and recreation for different age and socioeconomic groups.