Current student athletes take on wellness
Introduction
I read a research article that was done by the Journal of Sport Behavior ; Mobile Vol. 43, Iss. 1, (Mar 2020): 3-27. This study claims to be “the first study to explore the perceptions of current student-athletes regarding their wellness as they approach the impending transition from school and sport”. They interviewed 29 athletes from one NCAA Division One school in small groups. I wanted to share my thoughts and apply my experiences on their findings.
We did a podcast discussing these quotes. You can listen here.
24:18 Before I get into the results, I need to mention some research flaws to take into consideration with their findings. 29 athletes is not nearly enough to speak on behalf of every athlete. They only did a sample from one school. They also mentioned that:
“First, several participants referenced current employment, which is atypical for many D-I student-athletes. The institution at which this study took place boasts larger proportions of students working part-time or full-time while in school. Additionally, this athletic program had only recently converted to D-I at the time of data collection, with many students not receiving athletic scholarships. Second, all participants in this sample were members of the SAAC, and may be qualitatively different (e.g., more involved; higher achieving) and not necessarily reflective of the student-athlete population”.
Background information from their literature reviews
“In a sample of college student-athletes, 53% noted lack of adequate time to complete academic work, and 65% reported that their grades would have been higher if they had not participated in athletics (Potuto & Hanlon, 2007)”
This is something that I talk about a lot in my interviews. I usually ask if the person I’m interviewing would have chosen another career path if they weren’t a student athlete. A lot of student athletes choose their major based off what fits their schedule best. In college, at least the schools I went to, you’re expected to spend about 3 hours per credit hour per week on each class. That means, if you are a full time student at 15 hours, you are expected to be spending 45 hours per week on school. On top of that, you have athletic duties, which takes up plenty of time, especially taking into account travel time for games. It’s difficult to spend adequate time doing academic work when you have a full time job doing sports. Full time sports and full time athletics at the same time leaves barely any room to breathe. This is how student athletes get so good at time management. Especially if the athlete is on academic scholarship, they need to keep their grades up.
“A mere 10% of student-athletes with significant depression or anxiety symptoms utilized mental health services compared to 30% of college students as a whole (Lipson & Eisenberg, 2014)”
2:30 I’m not sure if this is a time issue or a pride issue. It could be both. Athletes need more resources. I think it would be a great idea to have required counseling sessions or some sort of resource for college athletes down the road based off this research.
“Student-athletes tend to cluster socially with fellow student-athletes, and may struggle with social isolation when outside of their athletic social circle (Harris et al., 2003)”
9:15 This is an important quote because I would recommend finding friends that are not on your team. You spend so much time with your teammates and it’s important to be friends with them, but also it might be healthy to branch out. Personally, I made friends that were in other sports, in a fraternity or sorority, or not in any club or sport at all and I felt like it made me well rounded in my extracurricular activities. It’s always a great idea to make more friends!
“Due to their commitment to sport, the athlete identity may predominate, with other salient identities remaining underdeveloped (Adler & Adler, 1987)”
13:58 Identifying with sports is hard. Everyone has an identity outside of their sport. It may take time to find out what you are good at and what you like to do outside of sport. I love talking about what retired athletes did after their sport ended in their free time in my interviews because they get excited talking about their hobbies they’ve picked up.
Research results
They tried to do focus groups of student athletes in groups of ten but they couldn’t get everyones schedules to align. Typical group project issue with student athletes. They ended up doing an average of groups of 3 for research.
“Ambivalent and negative reactions (emotions). The vast majority of participants (n=25) expressed either ambivalent or negative emotions when probed about their eventual transition from school and sport. As one senior female track and field athlete noted:
It's bittersweet cuz, I have been running forever and like once I'm done, I'll be like finally its over.. .So it's like that side.. .being like, okay I'm done now, and not be stressed out all the time. But that's.. .such a big part of my life I feel like it is going from like 100% to zero, and now I'm doing nothing with my life.”
26:42 The feeling of being like “finally it’s over” but also dreading that moment is completely relatable, at least for me. This goes in hand with the identifying with sports. It’s like you have to be 100% the athlete or not at all.
“Educational planning (control). Somewhat surprisingly, all 29 student-athletes in this sample were able to articulate various ways in which they approached educational planning in college.”
32:44To me this was not surprising because all athletes need to have academic plans in order to be eligible to play. They are all aware that they need to find a job after college because that is what college is for. Something that I was very grateful for as a student athlete was the resource of tutoring and study hall hours.
“Co-curricular planning (control). The majority of student-athletes (n=26) discussed their intentional involvement in academic and professionally-related activities outside of the classroom as a means of informing their planning for life after school and sport. “
36:56 I found this to be a part of the flaw in research. They asked this to a group of athletes that volunteered their time to do research so they’re most likely volunteering to do more things. This is also a group of leaders on each athletic team in SAAC so it’s a very different result than if they did research on all athletes.
“Developing transferable skills (thinking; work). All participants in this sample (n=29) were able to relate the relevance of skills they acquired through athletic involvement to life after school and sport.”
41:34 At this point, I feel like we can all say that being an athlete at some point in your life gives you great life skills. It also gives you great skills for your career and job after college.
“About staying active after sports - Specifically, participants mentioned not having teammates, coaches, competition, and structured time for exercise would make it more challenging to be active after college.”
47:21 The concept of having structure and a team to do tough workouts with is something that is hard to transfer out of. In your team, you go through very tough times and struggles together. That bond, trust and relatable moments give the sport so much value. Finding a workout routine and a way to take care of your body without the accountability of your teammates and coaches anymore can be challenging.
“The majority of participants (n=23) discussed how coaches have fostered their overall holistic development. “
54:25 This tells me the importance of having great coaches. They have an influence on the wellness of athletes. I was lucky enough to have great coaches and they were all great role models in life and in the sport.
Suggested solutions
“It appears that colleges and universities may need to emphasize empowerment and self-sufficiency in support of building confidence to thrive without the structure of organized athletics. One avenue for instilling these traits might entail individual or group counseling.”
1:00:16 Like I mentioned before, I like the suggested solution of requiring counseling for student athletes.
“In addition to celebrating identity as a student-athlete and team member, it is recommended that university personnel (coaches, academic advisors, etc.) facilitate curiosity and excitement about life after sport as well as encourage multifaceted identity development outside of athletics.”
1:08:51 This talks about participating in events and activities with non-athletes. I like this idea because it is suggesting creating an excitement to do other things besides school and sport related things. This recommendation is a great idea for coaches to find ways to challenge their student athletes to come to practice with a fun fact or a new skill or something.
“For example, the Career Self-Exploration for Student-Athletes workshop has demonstrated effectiveness in increasing student-athlete career self-efficacy and preparedness (Van Raalte, Andrews, Cornelius, Brewer, & Petitpas, 2017)”
1:22:27 I have never heard of this program before but it looks like a great resource. You can check out their site here.
“Career services liaisons are encouraged to collaborate with coaches and athletic staff to organize and hold career services and recruiting events during times most likely to work with a student-athlete's busy schedule, such as providing food during dinner time (Lenz & Shy, 2003; Mannheimer, 2017).”
I remember having to go to events that were for student athletes and thinking that I just wanted to go home because it was during a busy day. I feel like if these were offered more often than once a year it might work. That way the student athletes have multiple opportunities to network.
“Team alumni can provide valuable employer connections, and may be able to mentor current student-athletes on applying to graduate school, interviewing for jobs, and navigating the transition from school and sport since they have experienced it first-hand”
1:27:45 I love the idea of having alumni mentor current students. I am currently a mentor for a student athlete at the University of Tulsa and I love sharing my experience and knowledge. When I was at Oregon, my grad program held events where alumni would come back and be open for questions. I loved that opportunity to network and learn from the people who accomplished what I want to accomplish. I had a few alumni at the University of Tulsa be around while I was there but I feel like it would have been more beneficial to have them more involved with sports and the school. I hope more alumni mentorship programs happen for student athletes.
“These findings either indicate that the current efforts of the athletic support staff have been successful in preparing student-athletes for post-collegiate life, or there is a disconnect between student-athletes' perceptions of their preparedness to transition to post-collegiate life and the resources they will need during their actual transition. In contrast, the primary area of wellness lacking for this sample of athletes concerned their overall emotional reaction to closing this chapter of their lives, as the majority of participants expressed ambivalent or even pessimistic feelings related to their impending transition from sport. “
1:31:38 It feels like they’ve come to terms with the fact that they need to have a career after sports but they are not nearly as passionate about it as their sport. I can relate with this because it’s always in the back of an athlete’s mind that the competing days will be over and they need to find something to be productive with after sports. It’s a tough thing to handle because you need to discover your passions, get good at it, and also become an elite athlete at the same time.
This research article was interesting because it was a group of career-oriented individuals who are also leaders on their teams. I would be interested to see results of a study like this done with a wider variety of student athletes from different NCAA Division One schools. I also would like to see a follow up with these athletes done after they have been done with their sport for a year. This research was a unique perspective of wellness as it was current student athletes anticipating the end of their competitive sports career.
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Reference:
Bjornsen-Ramig, A., Bigaouette, A., Warehime, S., & Dinkel, D. (2020). A qualitative exploration of the impending transition experiences of division I college student-athletes: A wellness perspective. Journal of Sport Behavior, 43(1), 3-27. Retrieved from https://cbcl.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/qualitative-exploration-impending-transition/docview/2469266700/se-2?accountid=47365