A series on vocation and student-athletes.
According to Malcolm Gladwell, it takes 10,000 hours of intentional work at a particular skill to achieve mastery. For student-athletes, especially those who have practiced their sport since childhood, they often reach this status by the time they reach middle school. For educators who work with collegiate student-athletes, we must recognize that they have spent most of their time and energy building mastery in their sport, and they view the work ethic, dedication, and diligence needed in this context very differently from how they master skills in academic settings.
For example, in a straw poll in one of my classes, students indicated that some of them started playing sports as early as the age of three. When these students reach college, they have experienced most major emotional, intellectual, and physical milestones as an athlete. Their athletic identity developed right alongside their identity as an individual: being a student-athlete is deeply rooted in who they are, not just something they do. If we do not understand the context and depth of this identification and its importance, then it can be challenging for faculty and staff members to work with our student-athletes.
Being an athlete is not just about being on a roster and getting playing time. It is as much about how individuals identify themselves as it is about how the people around them see them. According to Jay Coakley, a leading expert in sport sociology, athletic identity forms in four ways: 1) acquiring knowledge of the sport, 2) interacting with other athletes in the sport, 3) learning how to participate in the sport (as well as what athletes expect from each other), and 4) being recognized and fully accepted as an athlete in the sport culture.
As these four elements suggest, student-athletes can begin to form their athletic identity before they start elementary school. The decisions that a family makes about how it invests in their child’s athletic experience at an early age influence identity formation. How a family spends its discretionary income—on lessons, practices, travel, and games—signals to the children what is important in the family. In the early stages of participating in a sport, children can see (even if they are just learning the game) that the attention they receive is a benefit; they will then begin to internalize how and where family time is focused and see their athletic experiences as adding value to their lives.
As a young athlete continues to play, the socialization that comes from participating in sports also reinforces an athletic identity: building an idea of what it means to be an athlete, making friends on the team, and seeing and interacting with older athletes. These activities become more than social engagement; they build an expectation of performance—not just on the field, but within the team itself. Older, more experienced players set the tone for how younger or less experienced players should act and react on the field and on the bench. Finally, athletic identity forms through recognition, which can take the form of making a roster spot, having photographs posted in news articles or promotions, or being acknowledged by members of their school or local community.
A challenge emerges if an athlete forms their identity in a way that excludes the development of other parts of themselves or does not allow them to explore other interests. The time required for mastering a sport can cause a kind of siloing, with practices, weight training, travel, games, and injury care and prevention taking over the student’s life. These commitments can diminish the time and energy available to explore hobbies or other interests. And if the attention and accolades that young athletes receive are fulfilling enough, such recognition can cause them to defer or avoid exploring other interests: other clubs and organizations, service beyond a team requirement, or music and other arts. If student-athletes feel like all their needs are met by playing on their team, these other interests may seem to threaten the time and energy that they would otherwise dedicate to their sport. This prompts a question: where does that leave vocational exploration? When is the time and place for it?
A fuller understanding of athletic identity could strengthen the vocational work that we as educators do with student-athletes at our institutions. This includes recognizing that the coaching staff is in a prime position to have regular conversations with student-athletes about vocation. Student-athletes accept the thinking of their coaches and look to them for approval and encouragement above anyone else. Developing a working relationship with the coaching staff should be a key focus for other faculty members and staff, in order to build a visible network connecting athletic staff to colleagues in other areas. Such partnerships will result in student-athletes receiving more consistent messages about life beyond their sport. Coaches can provide guidance from their experiences; professors, academic advisors, and supervisors can reinforce what they say.
In my experience, student-athletes’ academic identities have not been rewarded and acknowledged in the same way as their athletic identity. Addressing this problem will require colleagues outside of athletic departments to understand the student-athletes’ world, to learn where they are investing their time and talents, and to develop a more holistic view of their lives (which includes recognizing the ebb and flow of their season or their day). When an academic advisor or work supervisor speaks with a level of interest and understanding about these facets of a student-athlete’s life, it opens deeper dialogue and signals a level of awareness of the student’s experience.
How might we develop this understanding? It could mean attending a team meeting or a practice to see what types of concepts or skills are being taught and how these lessons connect to other areas of learning. I’ve seen faculty members develop relationships with teams, sitting in on pre-, post-, or even mid-game talks. Educators have traveled with teams to away games to see what student-athletes experience—riding on the the bus, sharing meals, and interacting with the players—all of which allows their relationship to the team to grow.
Faculty members can then bring lessons from these experiences into their classrooms. In my own teaching, after I’ve attended a game, I use examples from it to prompt reflection. For example, in Sport Ethics, I describe a behavior witnessed at a game and we discuss it: the players provide context, and I ask the class what they would do in the situation. Students reflect on the scenario from a variety of viewpoints, including that of a parent, an administrator, an official, and a governing body. As students reflect on the scenario, I also ask them to include important terms that we’ve used throughout the semester. Students tend to have strong opinions about these scenarios; their eager engagement allows me to challenge their reasoning and push them beyond just participating in sports.
This kind of activity allows all students (athletes or otherwise) to see how they might manage the same situation from different perspectives—a key element of vocational exploration. And for student-athletes in particular, this kind of discussion helps students understand that they are being seen and valued by a faculty member who was paying attention while they played the game. By demonstrating our authentic understanding of their experiences, we can better work with student-athletes, deepen our relationships with them, a create a foundation that they need to explore their vocations—both within and beyond athletics.
Angie Morenz is professor of physical education and sport management at Blackburn College, where she is a 1997 graduate. In addition, she serves as the director for the Blackburn College Center for Teaching and Learning. Angie is a NetVUE Faculty Fellow and the co-principal investigator on the Purposeful Student-Athlete project.