Student Athlete Transition

Lavalle (2005) evaluated the effectiveness of a life development intervention for retired professional athletes who experienced career transition adjustment issues. Lavalle (2005) recruited 71 participants, all of which were retired professional male soccer players who played in England or Scotland. Lavalle (2005) placed participants in either the intervention group (n = 32) or the control group (n = 39). Participants in both groups completed the British Athletes Lifestyle Assessment Needs in Career and Education (BALANCE; Lavallee, & Wylleman, 1999) scale and the Transition Coping Questionnaire (TCQ; Schlossberg, 1993), three weeks after career termination (Lavalle, 2005). In addition, the TCQ was completed again within four months of career termination (Lavalle, 2005).

Again, professional, elite, collegiate, and high school sports are immensely popular in the United States. However, the aforementioned information highlighted some of the difficulties that may accompany an athlete’s retirement from sport. Moreover, research established that one of the major difficulties experienced by retired athletes is the loss of athletic identity (Hurley, 2014, Taylor, Ogilvie, & Lavalle, 2005). Therefore, a comprehensive review detailing the role of athletic identity will be conducted here.

This project was conducted with 6 mentees and 6 mentors over a 9-month long period. The start of the research project was not jumping straight in with sports coaching, but relationship building. The mentors had weekly meetings with their mentees to hear about their lives and just talk to them informally so the mentee would feel comfortable around their mentor before they moved to the next step in the project: using narratives. The mentors slowly starting incorporating sports stories into their meetings as a method of preparing the mentees for the physical activity portion of the project, which is the sports. By the end of this process the mentor and mentee had played a game-of-the-day, whether that be table tennis or badminton or any other sport, sat down to discuss the game, and relate the game to real-life situations to show how sports can be used for life skills development and goal setting. They also showed how sports can be used for good sportsmanship

In order to comprise the ATM, the author completed a comprehensive literature review examining transition out of sport. The literature review began in November of 2015. Specific key words and topics included: athlete, injury, unanticipated retirement, forced retirement, career counseling, career planning, wellness models, models of wellness, wheel of wellness, career-ending injury, athletic identity/loss, transition out of sport, athlete wellness models, holistic wellness models, role of social support, models of career planning, theories of career planning, wellness models for athletes, transitional programs for athletes, Bronfenbrenner’s social ecology model, group therapy for athletes, support groups for athletes, and mentorship/accountability

High school sports are a good pass time for high school kids, it keeps some out of trouble or gets kids out of the house. On the other hand high school sports have gotten very serious, instead of just having fun. It’s turned into if you don’t win then what’s the point, it not for the fun. It’s been drilled into everyone heads that they have to be a really good player and their only way they’re getting into college is through sports. Everyone dream is to play for a division I team, which that’s not a bad goal to have but in reality not every athlete can go division I. High school athletes have this mentality that they have to win all the time or be the best they put a lot of pressure on themselves. Not in all cases but, if someone wants to

Participation in sports has steadily increased throughout the decades. As more and more major professional sports franchises continue to eclipse the one billion mark in value, the fame and wealth that can be obtained by reaching the profession ranks becomes irresistible to many students who have a passion for athletics. For some of these students, reaching the professional ranks is way to pull their family out of the lower class, and into the higher echelon of the upper class. For others, simply competing against the best in the world is a dream come true. The National Federation of State High School Association (NFHS), as reported a twenty-six year increase in the participation of high school athletics (NFHA, 2015). As the general popularity of athletics increases, so does the level of participation in high school athletics. The odds of making the professional ranks, however, are slim to none, as only 6% of high school student-athletes go on to play at the collegiate level (NCAA, 2015). Therefore, states, communities, educators, and parents continue to stress academics before athletics. In fact, when we address athletes in school, we address them as student-athletes.

Recent studies have demonstrated the powerful impact of transformational learning on feelings of cynicism among college students (Duarte, 2010). Transformational learning within the student-athlete population has not been empirically studied, although the potential benefits are enormous as student-athletes have been found to experience feelings of cynicism throughout their collegiate careers, despite initial feelings of optimism (Adler & Adler, 1985). The commercialized nature of intercollegiate athletics today presents a unique environment in which to implement effective student-athlete focused career development interventions. Student-athletes face developmental difficulties unique to the student-athlete experience within a socially, athletically, and academically micromanaged context (Duarte, 2010). Transformational learning can exist as a byproduct of emancipatory learning, which can help student-athletes navigate the demands of conflicting roles, reflect critically, and negotiate profound transitions. Transformational learning has the potential to enhance student-athlete specific career development initiatives. The barriers of transformational learning among the student-athlete population will be examined within a social, developmental, and psychological context. The Five-Step Career Planning Strategy considers all aspects of an athlete’s life, which may help student-athletes balance their conflicting roles, while encouraging perspective transformation (Stambulova,

Choosing what college to go to is not the normal college process for a student-athlete. Playing softball has been my entire life and I had an option to play at either the University of Notre Dame or Hofstra University. The travel softball team I played for was a feeder team for the University of Notre Dame, which is when a team is trained the way the college coach teaches, thus many players from the travel team end up attending that college. The University of Notre Dame is obviously very well known and it could be special to go there, but too many people were going to Notre Dame on my travel team, so it was not as extraordinary to get a scholarship there. Hofstra University and the University of Notre Dame are very prestigious universities with excellent softball programs and academics, but was it foolish to choose a school based on being different and extraordinary? (I chose to go to Hofstra University, but was it to avoid looking like a fool or was I a fool for not choosing Notre Dame? )

Participating in a college sport is a way of preparing one’s self for a new path to cross after graduating. Opportunities also come that will enable a person to participate in the “real world”. In making the most out of a person’s college athletic career, they must understand the life lessons they get, their level of responsibility, learned skills and the connections they have

When I was in seventh grade my mother, against all odds, convinced my awkward, out-of-shape self to join the football team. In spite of my initial begrudging attitudes, by the season’s conclusion, I had made numerous new friends and enjoyed the experience of playing a sport enough to join track and field that spring. Eagerly, I continued with athletics in high school, training vigorously during the off season. Like a character leveling up before a boss fight, I trained with intensity, lifting weights four times a week, gradually improving on my personal records each time until I was far stronger than I had ever been. I had heard the vague platitudes since I was a kid, but sports truly taught me the meanings of commitment and discipline. As the years passed, the brotherhood formed between my teammates and I became unbreakable. I believed without a doubt that every one of my teammates would give his all for me, and I would do the same for them. Because of athletics, I have become healthy, mentally and physically stronger, and I have friendships I will cherish

First, the counselor inquires about successful moments, difficult scenarios, learned coping strategies, and how the athlete learned from each of those experiences (Stambulova, 2010). The central focus of this step is to evaluate the athlete’s coping mechanisms, which will prepare the athlete for future planning in the next step (Stambulova, 2010). Within the second sub-step, the counselor assists the athlete to set realistic short-term goals and develop a future-oriented action plan (Stambulova, 2010). Specifically, the athlete will set a goal, discuss barriers that may exist, and then discuss how he or she will attain that goal (Stambulova, 2010). If the counselor and athlete believe the goal is attainable, then an action plan will be

This study will be conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the Athletic Transitional Model (ATM), on athletes who have recently transitioned out of sport. The ATM is a career-planning program designed for athletes who are transitioning out of sport and need assistance integrating into civilian society. Fifty former National Collegiate Athletic Association, Division I athletes will be used in this study. The athletes will be randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group. The experimental group will be treated with the ATM and the control group will be treated using a generic form of narrative therapy. Results will be analyzed using a three level ANOVA (pre-, post-, and follow-up). Results will ideally indicate that the ATM reduced negative transitional symptoms in athletes, improved athletes’ occupational

As the Athletic Trainer for a high school, I see student athletes when they are at their very best and very worst. They go from scoring a winning touchdown to having a season ending injury and I have to be the one to tell them they won’t play again. For some athletes this is a minor setback but for others it could mean the end to their future.

The transition out of sport can be problematic for professional, elite, collegiate, and high school athletes. In addition, Warriner and Lavallee (2008) stated that the retirement process is specific to the individual. It is imperative to also evaluate athletes’ transition out of sport on an individual level. Before evaluating the literature, it is important to understand the majority of research that has documented individual perspectives is predominantly qualitative. Most studies utilized small sample sizes with semi-structured interviews. However, some authors utilized various quantitative measures as well, i.e., the Athlete Retirement Questionnaire (AIQ), the Life After Sports Scale (LASS), the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale (AIMS), and the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS). Therefore, validation of the findings will be determined by the level of consistency among the different studies.

At a young age, bonds are made in neighborhoods, skills are identified and teammates are recruited. As the child grows they single in on their favorite sport and build their talent towards perfection. They grow close bonds with their teammates, and they start to build their own identity as an athlete. Athletic Identity is how an athlete identifies with the athlete role. There is a cognitive and a social role of athletic identity. Cognitive structure allows instruction for interpreting information, determining how one might cope with a situation, and inspires behavior to be consistent with their athletic role. Through the social role, athletic identity might be determined by the perceptions of friends and family members (Heird, E. B., & Steinfeldt, J. A.). Most of the time, athletic identity is greatly beneficial towards an athlete, but sometimes it can have a negative effect, for example, when an athlete is forced to take time away from the game (due to injury, school, life events, or end of career consequences). An overly defined athletic identity may not promote a