Introduction and Review of Literature It is the month of December or May in any given year. The final lineup for the game or match has been created and the competition begins. As teams face off, focus on the task at hand is where the athlete’s attention is centered. As the game or match draws to a close, one is victorious and accomplishes the master goal of winning a national championship. What occurs the following day, after the competition is over and the crowd’s roars dim? After facing this question personally, my interest lies on further exploration of this career termination process and how others are coping with it. As the famous saying states, “All good things must come to an end”, this holds true with collegiate athletics. Founded by President Theodore Roosevelt, the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) is the governing body of college athletics and is host to 1,281 institutions within three divisions: Division I, Division II, and Division III (NCAA, 2013). High school players dream of playing their favorite sport in college. Although this may be a dream, the dream cannot last eternally. The NCAA limits the amount of player eligibility to four years (unless granted further years of play – i.e.: medical redshirt). While for many, four years would seem like a substantial amount of time, what happens after those for years? According to a study completed by the NCAA (2013), the odds of being drafted from college football to the National Football League is 1.6%, and from college baseball to Major League Baseball is 9.4%. For those who do not go on to play professional sports, which have no eligibility remaining, what happens to them? Much research has been conducted on the mental health status of current... ... middle of paper ... ... D., Statler, T., & Cote, J. (2009). ISSP position stand: Career development and transitions of athletes. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 7, 395-412. Stephan, Y., Bilard, J., Ninot, G., & Delignieres, D. (2003). Repercussions of transition out of elite sport on subjective well-being: A one-year study. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 15 (4), 1-18. Stier, J. (2007). Game, name and fame – Afterwards, will I still be the same?: A social psychological study of career, role exit and identity. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 42 (99), 99-111. Wippert, P. & Wippert, J. (2010). The effects of involuntary athletic career termination on psychological distress. Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, 4, 133-149. Wylleman, P., Lavallee, D., Alfermann, D. (1999). Career transitions in competitive sports. FEPSAC Monograph Series #1, 3-39.
Blood pressure rising and testosterone dropping are good symptoms (that is, to someone who is a sports enthusiast); nail biting, heart pounding, and barn burning games are bread and butter to sports enthusiasts such as me. Rivalry, unity, and relaxation help me bond with other individuals who share a common interest as I do. Within the article “Are Sports Fans Happier?”, author Sid Kirchheimer gives his bias reasoning over sports and its social, health, and psychological effects on sports enthusiasts, which elaborates and aligns concisely to why I passionately enjoy lacrosse and soccer. Fundamentally speaking, sports initially bequeath an array of positive benefits besides good health and mental stability; sports allow individuals to indulge
Growing up in America sport is a vital part of everyday life. From childhood to adulthood some aspect of sport pertains to virtually everyone. As a child one is looking to find a hobby so they play sports. As a parent fathers look forward to coaching their child’s little league team. And as tens and young adults sports are an opportunity to become a “somebody” and do something amazing. The general perception in high school and college is that athletes have it all. If you’re good at sports then you don’t have to worry about schoolwork or popularity and essentially you have but not a care in the world; you are invincible. Although it is great to see some succeed and become professional athletes many others do not have the same fate. The fate of these athletes, which happens to be the majority, is what drives my opinion on college sport.
There are thousands of high school football players across the nation, and a handful of them have what it takes to play at the college level. Those that do have the raw talent normally get reached by college football recruiters and coaches. The NCAA, the National College Athletic Association, has many rules and regulations especially surrounding the rules and conduct of recruiting student athletes. Men's football takes the most notice, as well as basketball, of all collegiate sports in the U.S. today (Smith, 2015). According to Langelett (2003), the NCAA limits each school to 85 football scholarships. With a limited number of scholarships available, schools spend a considerable amount of time and money on recruiting players.
The best way to understand an individual is to understand the contexts and variables that had the greatest influence on that individual’s development (Myers & Sweeny, 2004). Therefore, the hallmark feature of the Indivisible Self model is the interaction between its components (i.e., local, institutional, global, and chronometrical contextual variables), which is highly correlative with Bronfenbrenner’s Social Ecology Model. While Bronfenbrenner’s framework and the Indivisible Self were not specifically developed for athletes, both can be directly applied to an athlete’s life, influences, and development. One of the many similarities between the Wheel of Wellness, Indivisible Self, and Bronfenbrenner’s models is they all advocate the importance of relationships and social support. In addition, research has indicated that social support or perceived social support is a beneficial coping mechanism for athletes or anyone else who is facing an aversive situation (Ford & Gordon, 1999; Myers et al., 2000). Therefore, Ford and Gordon (1999) examined social support as a coping mechanism for athletes who suffered a serious sport-related injury.
Potuto, Josephine (Jo) R., and James O'Hanlon. "National Study Of Student-Athletes Regarding Their Experiences As College Students." College Student Journal 41.4 (2007): 947-966. Humanities International Complete. Web. 21 Nov. 2011.
Playing a sport in college is equivalent to working a full-time job (Thomas). There are rules that allow major-college football coaches to only demand twenty hours of the players time each week (Wieberg). However, studies show that those athletes are doubling those hours per week during the season (Wieberg). Other sports are putting in the equivalent of a full time work week (Wieberg). Some NCAA officials are concerned with the amount of time spent stating that beyond forty hours is inhumane (Wieberg). Most of the athletes compete and do whatever it takes to succeed, so they enjoy spending countless hours on sports (Wieberg). Many athletes even have struggles in the classroom because they do not have enough time to study. Student-athletes at top Division I schools think of themselves as athletes more than students (Wieberg). Less than one percent of college athletes actually make it professionally (Wieberg). That means these kids should focus more on their education than on athletics. In reality, these official...
However, what this argument does not take into account is that athletes have an abundance of pressure put on them that most non-athletes don’t ever experience. Hence, the saying, “go hard or go home”. A recent study emphasizes this fact as McClatchy notes, ”The researchers monitored mood levels of 465 collegiate athletes over three years and found 6.3 percent of the athletes met the criteria for clinically significant depression and 24 percent were considered ‘clinically relevant’ “ (2016). Studies like these prove that athletes are not blind to the idea of depression, but rather experience this disorder themselves. Anxiety has a huge role in depression. As sportsperson, there is constant effort to become an awe-inspiring player. As the stakes of the game raise, so does the anxiety. Some want a scholarship, some want to show off what they offer to a team that got a scholarship, and some are professionals. Regardless of whether it's grade school sport or a professional sport, failing at personal goals one set is down right depressing. Kearns and Hwang state that, ”While it’s not clear whether the source of challenges to a student-athlete's mental well-being is the same as those non-athletes, collegiate athletes are known to encounter unique stressor that the general population doesn’t have to deal with, such as the demands, relationships with coaches and missed scheduled classes” (2014). Pressure is something everyone experiences. However, athletes experience some of the same pressure that of non-athletes and then some. Being on a sports team is demanding to time and the idea of being “superior”. In athletics, coaches are everything. For example, If a coach likes how a person attributes as a team player, then that person will get a chance to shine. However, if the coach is not very fond of one, then the chances of opportunities are not very
A change from a self-determined engagement in a sport to a much lesser degree of self-determination is a common theme among athletes’ burning out. In other words, as the true passion and love for the game fades away, the perceived costs of sustained engagement begin to outweigh the rewards afforded by the sport. After time passes, the inability to handle the negative appraisals can lead to such harmful outcomes as physical and emotional exhaustion, reduced accomplishment, devaluation, and then complete dropout of the sport (Holmberg and Sheridan,
There is never enough of anything in the life of a college student. there is never enough time to study, or enough food, or enough money, or enough time to sleep. But, if that student becomes a college athlete then all of the “or’s” change to “and’s”. Even though there are many struggles of a college athlete they are not going away. As the youth of America watches their older counterparts excel in many college sports, a dream to become an athlete at the collegiate level is sparked. This dream is fueled through high school sports and then disseminated by high school counselors. Counselors who are quick to remind that sports do not bring home a paycheck. Neverless, this dream of college sports thrives and is present in the mind of every high
(WHO, 2014). Mental health problems within sport is often overlooked compared to the physical sporting benefits and difficulties which be improved or occur due to sports participation. Many researchers often focus upon the physical side of sport as stereotypically sport and the physiology of participants have always been closely linked, but the psychological side of sport not so much until more recent years, which could possibly due to the stigma of mental health being perceived as deeming a person ‘weak’ causing a reduced mount of people to want to speak about their own mental health and wellbeing, making research difficult to conduct. But with the social stigma of mental health gradually reducing many more people, particularly adults are expressing their mental health concerns and issues with more comfort and ease. With this reduce in stigma, a number of staggering statistics has recently been released by the Mental Health Foundation, with nearly half of the adult population within the UK, specifically 43.4%, now reporting to have a diagnosable mental health condition, 1 in 6, 17%, experiencing a common mental health problem such as anxiety and depression and more shockingly, 1 in 5, 20.6%, admitting to considering taking their own
Collegiate athletes are already under an enormous amount of pressure even before enduring career-ending injuries. According to Kissinger (2009), student athletes normally struggle with six unique challenges. Student must be able to balance both athletic and academic responsibilities, along with balancing social activities, maintaining the stresses of relationships with coaches, teammates, friends, and parents. They also have to manage athletic success and/or failures with emotional stability. More importantly they have to balance physical health and injuries with the need to steady compete and with the termination of one’s college athletic career.
Wiese-Bjornstal, D. M., Smith, A. M., & LaMott, E. E. (1995). A model of psychological response to athletic injury and rehabilitation. Athletic training: Sport health care perspectives, 17-30.
As Miller and Wilson revealed, athleticism is not always analogous with success. Willy regarded Biff highly because he observed Biff’s presence and athleticism, and he believed these qualities would result in immediate success. Today many parents associate sports with success and therefore pressure their children to excel in sports. In today’s society it is very rare that fears of discrimination would cause children to not pursue a lucrative career in sports. Both Miller and Wilson knew the impact of sports on family dynamics, and how sports have evolved from a leisure time activity to a full-time commitment. Clearly, many of the qualitative aspects of sports--competition, teamwork and physical dexterity can contribute to being a success in almost any career.
The correlation of playing competitive sports at college level and self esteem are measured. Subjects were given the Barksdale self esteem questionnaire to fill out and levels of self esteem are measured by scores out of one hundred. The subjects are then separated into categories determined by gender and whether they played sports at the college level. The results indicated that the elite athletes have a higher self esteem than non athletes. The survey also revealed that women have a slightly higher self esteem than men. These findings agree with our hypothesis that athletes will have a higher level of self esteem than non athletes will.
Thompson, Christie. "Life of an athlete: balancing sports and academics." Stetson Reporter. N.p., 18 Sept. 2013. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.