Gender inequalities continue to shape athletes' experiences within amateur sport, yet limited research has examined these disparities in the dual-career context of Gaelic games. This study explored gendered differences in the academic and athletic lives of elite Gaelic games student-athletes at third-level education in Ireland. Four focus groups (N = 14; 7 men, 7 women) were conducted to investigate support structures and access to resources across academic and sporting domains. Reflexive thematic analysis (RTA) identified three interrelated themes: unequal access to training facilities and resources, competing academic and athletic priorities, and financial inequities in support. Findings reveal that the amateur status of Gaelic games operates unevenly across gender lines, creating systemic barriers that place greater financial, temporal, and psychological burdens on women athletes. This study extends existing dual-career research by introducing the concept of gendered amateurism, demonstrating how structural and cultural norms reproduce inequality within an ostensibly shared amateur framework.
Graduating from college and retiring from sport can be particularly challenging even in the best of times, and the COVID-19 pandemic heightened transitional stressors for many athletes. Despite research on elite athletes' general coping during this time, few studies have extensively examined retired collegiate athletes during the pandemic. Our study examined how 184 retired collegiate athletes (154 women) coped and received support in August/September 2020, four months after graduation and retirement. Using reflexive thematic analysis within a constructionist framework, we identified four key themes: (a) The pandemic affected me, (b) I could not have done it alone, (c) New routines, acceptance, and balance, and (d) Finding a new focus. These themes align with existing literature on retired athletes but emphasize the crucial roles of coaches and athletic departments in supporting athletes during challenging life transitions, such as retirement from sport. Our findings suggest that sport systems must enhance support structures to help athletes successfully navigate their post-sport lives.
This study concentrated on the technical fouls that were called against conferences whose members were historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) for the sport of Division II men's college basketball. The extant literature on referee bias and HBCU sports was unpacked in the literature review. Publicly available data was quantitatively analyzed. Findings revealed that the HBCU conferences of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) and the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) were called for more technical fouls per game than any other conference. This was at a statistically significant level. No conferences that house mostly predominantly White institution (PWI) teams were called for technical fouls per game average at a statistically significant level. The discussion section centered on why Division II referees called more technical fouls against HBCU teams relative to PWI teams. Implications for HBCUs and Critical Race Theory (CRT) were also illuminated in the study discussion.
The objective of this study is to examine the identity that the Indonesian DBL corporate has created for youth development through sports and entertainment. The research method used is a qualitative approach, which is appropriate for this corporate identity study because we collect and analyze publicly available corporate-controlled communications. The website was chosen because it allows the organization to communicate with its stakeholders, produce richer information, and save money. From March to June 2021, we examined four DBL Indonesia websites: DBL Indonesia Corporate, Jawa Pos Corporate, DBL Academy, and DBL Store. The findings indicate that the Indonesian DBL corporate is establishing a new positive identity as, first and foremost, a sports corporate that produces and sustains the student-athlete concept. Second, there will be an increase in national and international basketball cooperation.
In this study, we explored mental health and well-being among Canadian post-secondary student-athletes, identified risk and protective factors, and examined the impact of athletic participation on these outcomes. A multivariable mixed-effects logistic regression model was fit to examine factors that impact flourishing mental health using cross-sectional data from 10,207 full-time students at 16 Canadian institutions. Fourteen of 27 explanatory variables were retained in the final model. Varsity (OR = 2.03, 95% CI: 1.52, 2.70, p < 0.001) and recreational (OR = 1.61, 95% CI: 1.35, 1.92, p < 0.001) sport participation were associated with significantly increased odds of flourishing. Sport participants reported lower levels of distress, lifetime diagnoses of mental illness, loneliness, and suicide risk, as well as greater flourishing, sense of belonging, and social support. Social factors and institutional perceptions were also associated with flourishing mental health.
This study aimed to monitor variations in physical activity and fitness levels throughout the first academic year in undergraduate Sports Science students. A prospective longitudinal design included 63 students (46 men, 17 women; 19.7 +/- 1.4 years), assessed at four moments (September, January, February, and June). Sociodemographic data were collected, and instruments included IPAQ, anthropometry, body composition, strength, flexibility, and cardiorespiratory fitness tests. Repeated measures ANOVA with Bonferroni correction was applied. Screen time increased significantly over the year. Physical activity levels showed a non-significant decline. Body composition indicators such as fat mass, BMI, and visceral fat increased, while lean and bone mass remained stable. Cardiorespiratory fitness and lower limb flexibility decreased significantly. These findings suggest worsening fitness and increased adiposity over the duration of the first academic year, highlighting the importance of monitoring such indicators to prevent negative health outcomes.
Internships are a central component of sport management education and represent a primary mechanism through which students engage in experiential learning within intercollegiate athletics. Guided by Experiential Learning Theory, this study examines how internship opportunities vary across NCAA Division I subdivisions and the implications of these differences for sport management curricula. Data from 152 athletic departments (FBS = 66; FCS = 46; No-Football = 40) were analyzed to compare internship structures, compensation models, eligibility criteria, and academic alignment. While paid versus unpaid positions and eligibility requirements were largely consistent across subdivisions, significant differences emerged in the range of functional areas offered. FBS programs provided more internships in creative services and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL), whereas FCS programs emphasized business operations and equipment management. These findings underscore the importance of aligning sport management curricula and advising practices with the experiential contexts students may realistically encounter, ensuring that classroom instruction effectively supports and complements subdivision-specific internship opportunities.
The aim of the research was to gain an understanding of how public-school athletics coaches use social media professionally and to address a gap in the literature. The investigation compared survey responses from an array of demographic groups on the professional use of social media by public-school athletics coaches, and differences between professional and personal social media use. Significant differences in type of social media used, application of professional social media use, and number of sports coached were found between male and female respondents. Similarities between genders were also found in their application of professional social media and overall average rating of professional social media use. Years of experience were also analyzed revealing significant differences in professional social media application and type of platform used. Social media has the potential to help coaches and provide better resources to athletes. Implications, limitations of the research, and future research are also discussed.
Well-being is a broad concept related to an individual's happiness and life satisfaction, effective daily functioning, and meaningful relationships with others. Understanding and enhancing student-athlete well-being has become a key priority for sport organizations associated with universities. Mental toughness and psychological flexibility are intrapersonal resources that positively contribute to well-being, but researchers are yet to investigate how these factors are related to sport-related well-being in student-athletes in the United Kingdom (UK). A total of 104 student-athletes competing in university sport across the UK completed an online survey with measures of sport-related well-being, mental toughness, and psychological flexibility. Results show mental toughness and psychological flexibility to be significantly related to sport-related well-being. Furthermore, mental toughness was a significant predictor of subjective well-being, psychological well-being, social-well-being, and total sport-related well-being. Findings from this study might encourage sport organizations to consider promoting mental toughness and psychological flexibility in student-athletes.
Grounded in social and human capital theory, this quantitative analysis utilized a 45-item questionnaire to investigate five key research questions related to mentorship, educational background, prior athletic experience, and career mobility of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II athletic directors. Findings from participating Division II athletic directors (n = 32) reveal that mentorship is both common and influential, with 84% reporting current or past mentorship relationships and 51% noting that mentors significantly impacted their hiring process. In addition, most respondents had multiple mentors, held a master's degree, and 78% had competing in collegiate athletics. These results suggest that mentorship, particularly through diverse and sustained networks, occupies a critical role in leadership development within NCAA Division II athletics. Implications underscore the value of structured mentorship pathways for aspiring administrators and highlight the need for equitable access to mentoring opportunities.
Collegiate athletes in the United States develop several relationships during their college athletic careers. One such relationship that is scientifically under-researched is the relationship quality between professors and student-athletes. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to understand how quality professor-student-athlete relationships influence academic motivation among American college athletes. This study was conceptualized by utilizing the 3C model of closeness, commitment, and complementarity. Using a qualitative research design, 14 collegiate athletes participated in semi-structured Zoom interviews. Themes that emerged were the professor-student-athlete relationship as a whole and the constructs of closeness, commitment, and complementarity. Subthemes that were also present included perceptions of a caring climate, athletic identity, student effort, professor effort, enjoyment/boredom, stress reduction, seeking help, validation, autonomy, professional development, networking, and relatedness. Overall, student-athletes shared that when professors create environments that are caring, allow for flexibility, and help college athletes access professional networks, students experience increased academic motivation.
The goal of this study was to examine whether social dominance orientation influences dating violence perpetration among college student-athletes, and whether gender moderates this relationship. A total of 325 heterosexual, male and female, Division III college student-athletes answered survey questions about their preference for social hierarchies and their dating violence behaviors within the past year. Quantitative survey data were collected using Qualtrics and analyzed via negative binomial models. Social dominance orientation was significantly associated with increased perpetration of physical violence in male participants. While not statistically significant, we found a potential pattern in which higher social dominance orientation was associated with increased perpetration of all forms of dating violence, and the association was stronger in men. Our findings offer preliminary evidence of social dominance orientation's relevance in dating violence perpetration within collegiate athletic contexts. Future studies may expand on these findings by assessing differences across athletic levels or sport types.
Empirical research demonstrates that teaching full-time and coaching a K-12 sport is stressful, but no research has explored how coaching multiple K-12 sports may be additionally stressful and lead to adverse student-athlete perceptions of coaching quality. As a result, this study leverages state-level survey data from 4,539 high school student-athletes to explore whether having a single-sport or multi-sport coach predicts overall student-athlete perceptions of coaching quality. Controlling for demographics, results suggest having a multi-sport coach produces no effect on high school student-athletes' perception of coaching quality, yet single-sport coached student-athletes may view their coaches more favorably across some coaching characteristics than multi-sport coached student-athletes. Implications for research and practice are addressed.
The transition out of college is a critical developmental period marked by challenges related to identity, employment, and belonging. This period is uniquely complex for most college athletes, as they must navigate college graduation and retirement from college sport. Existing literature highlights how such transitions can negatively impact mental health, body image, and identity. The dual loss of athletic and student roles may amplify identity disruption, delay adaptation, and increase vulnerability to psychosocial challenges. Yet, most literature has examined athletic retirement in isolation, overlooking its intersection with the broader transition out of higher education. Thus, this conceptual paper synthesizes three transition frameworks to better explain the layered and intersecting shifts transitioning college athletes face. The resulting model reframes college sport retirement and college graduation as interdependent, not isolated, transitions. In doing so, we offer a more nuanced understanding of how dual transitions shape athletes' developmental demands and experiences.
Promoting positive mental health among youth calls for school-based initiatives, where youth spend a good proportion of their time. Sport participation can foster connectedness and belonging when there are positive and supportive relationships between athletes and athletics staff. The InSideOut Initiative (ISOI) aims to encourage those supportive relationships and the prioritization of healthy youth development using a systems-level approach to training coaches and athletics directors. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, ISOI program revisions were needed. This paper describes the revisions made to the ISOI conceptual model and how the revised model was used for guiding implementation and evaluation. While using ISOI as an example, strategies are introduced that may be useful for developing and implementing other school-based interventions with similar aims.
This essay advances a conceptual critique of the enduring "feckless athlete" myth, arguing that contemporary sport culture reduces complex human achievement to caricature, metrics, and institutional narratives. Integrating research on deliberate practice with philosophical insights from existential thought, it introduces "Existential Realism in motion," a framework positioning athletic performance as the embodied revelation of human potential under real constraints. Challenging deterministic and commodified models of excellence, the essay contends that greatness cannot be predicted or engineered, but emerges through risk, agency, and lived engagement. Ultimately, it reframes athletic success as an ontological event-irreducible, situational, and disclosed only in the arena of action.
The purpose of this study was to examine differences in goal orientation and self-regulatory skills (SRL) among student-athletes by the type of sport they play, namely individual or team sports, and the influence of athlete type and goal orientation on SRL. NCAA Division I student-athletes completed a survey to measure goal orientation, self-regulated learning skills, and a demographic survey. Findings from this study include that team sports athletes had higher scores of ego orientation compared to individual sport athletes, individual sport athletes demonstrated higher reflection SRL scores, higher ego orientation scores were associated with lower effort SRL scores, and task orientation had a positive relationship with all subscales of the SRL measure. Overall, our results suggest that athlete types may differ in measures of SRL and goal orientation, and they emphasize the importance of task orientation goals on SRL.
