Roughly about 1% of collegiate athletes are successfully drafted into a professional league, while the average professional career lasts only about three years. As a result, approximately 99% of all collegiate athletes will face foreclosure of their athletic identity when graduating from college. As modification of higher education becomes more and more of a focal point for our country, sport psychologists have begun to focus their attention on athletes and their pursuit of exceptional athletic performance in elite sports and the extent to which this pursuit affects personal development. According to Lavallee (2005), previous research has found that collegiate athletes are more likely to have lower levels of career maturity and delayed career development than their non-athletic counterparts. In addition, researchers also found that collegiate athletes were less able to develop mature career and educational plans than other fellow college students. Therefore, this suggests that the education made available to collegiate athletes to develop career knowledge is lacking or incomplete; indicating that future research should be more focused on the personal development of athletes. In a study by Beamon (2012), the phenomenon of athletic identity and identity foreclosure following the retirement from sports was examined. Athletic identity can be defined as a social role or an occupational self-image incorporated of the social, behavioral, cognitive, and affective, obligations associated with athletic identification. Due to the entertainment nature of our culture, elite athletes are socially reinforced for their physical abilities and success. Unfortunately due to this, a majority of athletes conceptualize their identity and “self... ... middle of paper ... ...ntial stressors when competing. According to Nicholls & Polman (2007), the capability to cope with stress plays a significant part in how well an athlete performs during and out of competition. In line with this research, the self-efficacy construct has been found to impact how an individual appraises a situation and the corresponding way in which they cope. Self-efficacy can be defined as an individual’s beliefs about their ability to attain a certain outcome which is further expressed in their views about their capacity to execute a specific behavior or task. Since stress is a consistent and defining variable in sports and life outside of sports, it is crucial that athletes develop ways to successfully cope with stress and effectively implement these methods in order to avoid negative effects in competition and in life (Nicholls, Polman, Levy, & Borkoles, 2010).
College athletes have a goal that they pursue. The jump to the professional sports leagues is an accomplishment that most college athletes wanted to achieve. But most college athletes go to college and forego completing their senior year and don’t get a degree. In basketball most athletes are one and done. This means they go to college for only one year then enter the NBA draft. For the NFL players have to be out of high school for three years and necessarily don’t have to go to college.
It is becoming more and more a trend for high school and underclassmen basketball players to forgo their college eligibility to enter the NBA draft. Most professional sports have restrictions to limit mentally and physically immature players from throwing away their college education to be unsuccessful in the professional ranks. In the National Football League, NCAA football players are not allowed to declare for the pro draft unless they have been in the school’s program for at least three years. In professional baseball and hockey, although they do draft players straight from high school, they have a minor league system set up. These minor leagues allow players the time to develop and still play against an excellent level of competition. This helps their growth process so that when they get into the real big leagues, they are somewhat ready to play and be a factor.
Throughout the country young men and women are losing their priority for an education. To attend a university should be a highly cherished privilege, and it should be an even greater honor to play athletics for the university. Therefore, the writer supports the decision that the “student” comes before “athlete” in student-athlete. Playing for pay should be considered a job for “professionals”. In the rulebook, the NCAA views college athletes as armatures. This statement sums it up best. When athletes go to college, not all of them go in with the mindset that athletics is going to be their future job....
The average division 1 football player devotes 43.3 hours per week to their sport giving them 3.3 hours more than a typical American work week. With those statistics, I think it’s safe to say that being a collegiate athlete requires more than a full time job. Trying to keep up with homework and attendance in class poses many challenges especially when the NCAA requires students to miss class for championship games, televised games, or other events that bring in revenue for the school. ...
College athletes comprise the unique part of the college community but their problems often remain underestimated since their success in their sports overshadows difficulties, which they may and do confront in terms of their integration into the college community. In this regard, the social background of college athletes is one of the major challenges for their successful integration because they are from low-income families mainly and a large part of college athletes represents minorities, such as African Americans. As a result, the social background of college athletes is substantially different from that of the majority of college students, who are predominantly white and middle-class. At this point, it is possible to refer to the book Backboard and Blackboards by Patricia A. Adler and Peter Adler, where the author explore issues that college students confront at college. The authors reveal numerous difficulties and challenges college athletes may confront at college and suggest their explanation of those difficulties. However, the book makes obvious the gap that persists between college athletes and the rest of the college community because of the different social background of college athletes, their different interests and priorities, which make them not only different from other students but also contribute to certain marginalization of college students within their college communities.
...nge, and the higher the goal striving. A psychological theory that I personally feel is applicable to sports psychology is Albert Bandura's theory of self-efficacy, Bandura believed that self-efficacy is “the belief in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to manage prospective situations.". His theory is the most commonly used theory, pertaining to self-confidence in sports and motor performance. Bandura’s theory poses self-efficacy as a common cognitive mechanism for mediating people's motivation and behavior, it delves into the sports region of psychology because a lot of the cognitive thought process in sports revolve around some sort of incentive or motive. Self-efficacy is the primary determinant of one’s behavior, it has its influences when proper incentives are offered and the necessary skills for the sport are present.
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
“No one blows through money faster than millionaires with nothing to do.” -Unknown. This is true regarding the experiences of millionaires, but is it true with professional sports players? With athletes not finishing college, they don’t get the opportunities they would if they received full education. Arguably, the most educated player in the MLB is Craig Breslow on the Boston Red Sox. He was accepted into medical school before becoming a professional athlete. He had a major in biophysics and biochemistry, which he earned at Yale University. He was asked the question, “Where would you be if you weren’t a professional athlete?” Breslow replied saying he would be graduating medical school or hopefully have already graduated. Professional athletes should finish college before going pro because it secures their future. It teaches the younger generation maturity and the value of knowledge.
College athletes are not forced into playing the sport that they have devoted their time to during their years in secondary education. They continue to play into the college level for their love of the game. And for this, many college athletes are offered full scholarships. Today’s tuition for many schools are so expensive that without the scholarships that some of the students receive, they would not be able to attend college at all. For these students, college sports offer a great avenue to obtain an education that otherwise would not have been available for them. This allows them opportunity to study something that they can use to build a better life for themselves and their families.
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.
Many still seem to believe a “free” education is more than enough, when in reality, not many players are actually given a free education. While every student has the potential to earn financial aid and academic scholarship money, athletes are also capable of receiving athletic money. A majority of athletes today are either playing without an athletic scholarship or a partial scholarship, in addition to other grants and academic subsidies. To non-athletes, this may seem unfair, but look at the big picture. These athletes are spending much of their time in the gym, on the practice field, and even in the trainer’s room dealing with injuries on a daily basis. It is extremely difficult to manage school, athletics, and life itself at once let alone finding the time to earn money working at the same time. When trying to juggle a packed schedule, it is easy to forget important things or at the very least ones effectiveness is hindered thus weaken the ability to be successful. There is also a great deal of stress and anxiety that comes with the game. In fact, there is a field of psychology specifically designed for athletes and their mental privation. The mental ailments and lack of free time definitely prohibit athletes from being as successful as they can academically. Conversely, non-athletes have much more time available allowing them to study and work at a younger age. Although athletic scholarships certainly assist these athletes in attending schools with inflated tuition fees, it is by no means enough for many collegiate athletes.
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
For decades there has been a debate on student athletes and their drive to succeed in the classroom. From the very beginning of organized college level athletics, the goal to want to succeed in athletics has forced students to put academics to the back burner. In spite of the goal to want to succeed over a hundred years of attempts to check limits of intercollegiate athletic programs on colleges' academic standards still seems to struggle to this day. This brings to surface one of the most asked questions in sports, “What effect does college sports have on academics and economics?” Herbert D. Simons, Derek Van Rheenen, and Martin V. Covington, authors of “Academic Motivation and the Student Athlete” researched the topic on whether athletics and academics benefit each other. Bryan Flynn, the author of “College Sports vs. Academics” poses the question “Should institutions of higher learning continue to involve themselves in athletic programs that often turn out to be virtual arms races for recruiting talented players who bring big money and prestige, but put academics to the back burner?” Although both authors agree that sports have an impact on an athlete’s academics, the focus of their argument differs.
In Edward’s and Hardy’s opinion the main problem that research on the relationship between anxiety and performance has encountered is that researchers have not defined all the specific terminology that is required to understand with this subject. The following operational definitions will be used for the terms anxiety and stress. “Stress is a state that results from the demands that are placed on the individual which require that person to engage in some coping behavior.” Arousal is going to be considered to be a signal to the athlete that he/ she has entered into a stressful situation and is characterized buy physiological signs. Anxiety results from the athlete’s perception that he/ she is not good enough for the particular situation, which will cause stress (Edward and Hardy).
The definition of an athlete is a person who is proficient in sports and other forms of physical exercise, but today’s athlete is much bigger than this definition. Today’s athlete sets trends that are bigger than the sport they play. Today’s athlete is not only proficient in sports, but also public entertainment. Today’s athlete is competing not just for a win, but for an identity as something more than an athlete. No matter the sport, every game, match, or competition athletes compete in is one step to them gaining full citizenship. Being a citizen is much more than being a part of the United States, being a citizen is having a voice in a world that silences you. Being a citizen is having an identity that makes you a human and not just an