This post discusses the challenges student-athletes face during the transition from sports to life after college, highlighting issues of identity loss, depression, and social disconnection. It advocates for supportive conversations about vocational paths and emphasizes the importance of understanding these unique challenges to help student-athletes navigate their new realities effectively.
The first post in series on vocation and student-athletes.
In the third semester of my graduate studies, I realized it was not for me, and I needed to call home to discuss dropping out. It was the first time ever that I had not wanted to attend school; in fact, I had been looking forward to the focused coursework. I had always planned to go to graduate school, but what I couldn’t account for were my feelings of being lost and disconnected. I finished my bachelor’s in May and started graduate school in July, so there was little time to process my undergraduate experience. There was even less time to process the loss of my athletic career, something that had been a driving force in my life for a solid decade. I played three sports a year from the seventh grade until I graduated from college. My identity as an athlete was deeply ingrained in my mind—it was how I identified with the outside world and how the world acknowledged me. When I graduated, that part of me seemingly stopped, but I had no way to understand what was happening.
The September 2024 NetVUE Webinar explored the the integration of vocation and athletics in liberal arts education. Three speakers shared strategies for engaging student-athletes in vocational exploration beyond academics, highlighting personal development, athletic identity, and community connections.
As liberal arts institutions continue to work to educate the whole person, connecting vocational inquiry to sports can engage students in exploring vocation in creative ways. NetVUE’s September 2024 Webinar focused on vocational elements of personal development within the context of college athletics, opening up opportunities to explore meaning and purpose in both curricular and co-curricular contexts. NetVUE hosted a webinar on September 19, featuring three speakers who discussed experiences and strategies of how we can take vocation beyond the classroom in our work with student-athletes.
Stephanie Ahlfeldt (left), Angela Morenz (center), and Marcus Wagner (right).
Stephanie Ahlfeldt is an associate provost and professor of communication studies at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. She has taught a variety of courses in communication and theatre. Currently, she is committed to high-impact learning practices, including community engagement, undergraduate research, and student-athlete initiatives. She explored how to connect sports to broader life experiences.
Angie Morenz of Blackburn College in Carlinville, Illinois, is chair and professor of physical education and sport management. She has served as commissioner of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Her research focuses on NCAA Division III student-athletes, athletic identity, and retirement from college athletics. She shared the student-athlete vocation arc and fostering connections on campus.
Finally, Marcus Wagner of University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota, discussed fostering relationship and identity in student-athletes in the context of university mission. As the associate director of intercollegiate athletics for mission, he assists in the department’s “Greatness through Virtue” strategic plan.
Whether our students are athletes or not, we help them daily to prepare for “going pro” in whatever careers they choose. And even beyond career planning, these young NCAA athletes also teach us and our students how to tell our own stories and build our own resilience.
It’s that time of year when March Madness seems to be on everyone’s mind, undeniably the best time of the year. Whether you work at or attended one of the schools represented in the 68-team men’s and women’s tournament field or are a fan of the underdog, you can hope to see another one of the great runs of recent history by teams like Saint Peter’s University, Florida Atlantic University, or Loyola University Chicago. This year, little-known Oakland University put itself on the map—in the metro area of Detroit and not in California—by eliminating the University of Kentucky from the tournament as No. 14 seed. And No. 11 North Caroline State upset Marquette and Duke, teams more favored and higher seeded, to return to their first Final Four since 1983.
There could be countless reasons why so many tune in at noon on that first Thursday and follow the tournament through to the Final Four, join groups of friends and co-workers in filling out brackets, and take time to learn about the lesser-known schools and mascots. However, for me, it’s the thought that anything can happen in two 20-minute halves of a basketball game. The tournament displays the players’ resilience, hours of preparation, and love for basketball and for the schools involved. Although controversies around name, image, and likeness (NIL), sports betting, and lucrative media contracts mean that the competition may not be as pure as it once was, I admire the celebration of talent and accomplishment in men’s and women’s basketball for these three weeks.
