Playbook vs. Textbook: Examining Academic Transitioning of NCAA Division I-FBS Football Student-Athletes

Transition Blues: The Experience of Female Collegiate Student-Athletes

“…Student-athletes must understand how to balance both academics and athletics, which greatly limits their time for developing relationships outside of their sport (Anderson, 2012). These student-athletes have added pressures of maintaining academic requirements to be eligible for competition and scholarship, practices, physical development, travel, and restrictions from social development available to their peers (Hardin & Pate, 2013). In one study, researchers found that many athletes only developed relationships with their teammates or other athletes that endured similar experiences because of their restrictive schedules, which greatly affected their identity development, and caused harm in the future (Shurts & Shoffner, 2004).…”

Examining the motivations and benefits of student-athletes performing community service.

“…Many first-year student-athletes prioritize athletics over academics (Lally & Kerr, 2005), leading to them ignore a multitude of opportunities to develop academically. As student-athletes become upper-level students, they often regret their lack of commitment toward their academics in their first year (Hardin & Pate, 2013). Universities frequently offer programming to first-year students in an effort to help their transition from high school to college but student-athletes frequently do not take advantage of those programs (Evans, Forney, Guido-DiBrito, Patton, & Renn, 2009).…”

“…An athletic department would benefit from controlling the course selection of its student-athletes to avoid NCAA eligibility issues. On the other hand, this lack of decision-making by student-athletes can negatively impact their academic development (Burns, Jasinski, Dunn, & Fletcher, 2013;Hardin & Pate, 2013;McPherson, 2013).…”

“…This limited time availability not only constrains the activities students are able to participate in, but also limits the time they can expend gathering information describing their university's available activities. Concerns about time availability connects with research on the academic experience of student-athletes (Hardin & Pate, 2013). Student-athletes are flooded with countless athletic obligations, leaving them with an extremely limited window to pursue academic opportunities (Lally & Kerr, 2005).…”

“…This may emphasize disenchantment student-athletes possess regarding how institutions provide support to student-athletes in the early stages of their undergraduate experience. Another study found student-athletes wished they had exerted more effort in "working ahead" on assignments of studying for exams during their sport season of their first year (Hardin & Pate, 2013). Finally, student-athletes who connect with athletes more academically focused and understanding of their learning style were more likely to purposefully engage on their college campus .…”