Building the Best: Training and Development of Today’s Student-Athletes.

Introduction

Everyone is clear on what an athlete does: they train hard, compete, and build successful careers in sports. But what about someone who is still in school? The exact road from being a college student to becoming a full-time athlete is still unclear to some people.

Perhaps you’re a prospective student-athlete who wants to know what to expect further down the road. Perhaps you want to know the nitty-gritty details that few people talk about, such as pay, compensation, student-athlete training, recruitment, and managing your time between sports and academics. Or you want to find out more information about student-athlete well-being, now that mental health is such a common topic. If this is the case, this article is for you. In the following paragraphs, you will read important information on many aspects of the life of a student-athlete, which will hopefully make you feel more prepared for the journey ahead.

Student-athlete definition

Athletics is a popular hobby among college students. Perhaps you already know some students who are crushing it in a sport. or perhaps you are one yourself. But what does it mean to be a student-athlete? How would we define one?

Essentially, a student-athlete is someone who takes part in competitive sports alongside their college education. They can do that as part of an intercollegiate athletic program offered by the school, and they devote their time both to their degree and athletic goals. But are there any student athlete benefits, one might ask? Are the stress, tiredness, and business really worth the journey of being an athlete? You can find the answer to this question in the paragraphs below.

Student-athletes by the numbers & percentages

For those interested in more concrete stats about student-athletes, here are some numbers from recent research:

• Over 7.9 million students participated in high school sports in the United States in 2018-2019.
• High school athletes have a 91% graduation rate, compared to 72% for non-athletes.
• Approximately 95% of U.S. high school athletes are White or African American (65% White and 30% African American).
• High school athletes are more likely to be involved in volunteer work compared to non-athletes.
• There are over 5,610 student athletes currently employed in the United States.
• 9% of all student athletes are women, while 58.1% are men.
• Among sports with the most student-athletes in 2021-22, those with the largest increases from the previous year were in football (up 6,377, 9%), men's soccer (up 2,792, 11%), men's indoor track and field (up 2,136, 8%), women's soccer (up 2,030, 7%), women's indoor track and field (up 1,562, 6%), and women's volleyball (up 1,107, 6%).

Student-athlete graduation rates

“Are student athletes more likely to graduate?” is a common concern for parents and families. Without a doubt, a student athletes’ life is tough, but there is a lot of information to be optimistic about. Take, for example, the growing graduation rates which have continuously improved in the last 20 years. The increase in student athletes' support, and mental health knowledge has led more and more student-athletes to obtain their college degrees while getting immersed in their athletic careers. According to latest Graduation Success Rate data, division I student-athletes continue to graduate at high rates, reaching an impressive 90% rate in 2022. Student athlete graduation rates from the last 20 years show that the conditions to become a student-athlete are getting better every year: there are more financial resources, more available support, and more education on managing college and sports. All these factors allow for a healthy student athlete development and successful completion of one’s educational and sports goals.

Dave Schnase, NCAA vice president of academic and membership affairs said that “Student-athletes have demonstrated an incredible commitment to academic success while pursuing their sport at the Division I level. Member schools should be proud for creating meaningful, enriching and educational experiences that help our student-athletes graduate and set a course for long-term success."

This positive change might also indicate a new trend in student athletes and mental health. Now that student athletes are better supported during their college years, they feel more capable of navigating these often stressful and challenging times in their lives.

Student-athletes do better in school

There are many student-athlete stereotypes going around in the world these days. Some of them are found in questions such as “are student athletes smarter?” or “are student athletes more stressed?” If, as a prospective athlete, you doubt that you can live up to these expectations, let’s debunk them first.

Firstly, let’s not assume that someone who gets a student athletes’ sportsmanship is automatically better. It might be that they have a really strong skill in their sports; for example, they’re naturally flexible or have a good genetic predisposition towards a sport. However, this isn’t an advantage for them to do better in school. One key aspect of being a student athlete is balance: so those who succeed at organizing their time well will tend to do better in sports, school, or both. Being able to succeed in both these dimensions can lead to a lot of student athlete empowerment. It can make you feel unstoppable, confident, and driven. But in many cases, the success of student athletes who do well both in their sports and college comes from being highly organized and having good time management skills. It might also be down to natural intelligence (or emotional intelligence), personal resilience, or having a really strong support network. Studies also state that people who are naturally high in conscientiousness — a personality trait that manifests in organization, persistence, and motivation in goal-directed behavior — are more likely to do better in school and at work.

However, one thing seems to be clear: student athletes seem to do better in school than their nonathletic peers. It might be that the student athlete experience is a lot more demanding, making people work harder and therefore become more resilient. But there is an opposite side of this coin, where high involvement in athletics can deter academic commitments. This usually happens in athletes who have poor time management skills or who aren’t aware of how to balance these two aspects of their lives.

If you are a student athlete who plans on improving your academic performance, try to implement a few changes into your life, such as:

• Follow a student athlete planner. Have a diary where you note all appointments, training schedules, and classes. Once you have everything written down, it will be a lot easier to plan your days around the most important commitments.
• Note your most important responsibilities as a student athlete. What are your priorities right now? What demands your attention the most? Where should you channel all your energy? Knowing your priorities comes even before organizing your daily schedule.

Contrary to the common assumption that student athletes are overworked, there are many young athletes who are actually thriving while balancing sports and schools. If you want to be one of them, make sure that you get your priorities right and have a good time management system.

Student-athletes future for employment

According to a  Gallup-Purdue University study of college graduates, student athletes are even more likely than nonathletic studies to successfully secure employment after graduation. The survey collected responses from athletes who graduated between 1970 and 2014. Nearly two-thirds of former athletes (65 percent) reported being employed full-time, compared to 63 percent of nonathletes. Of those who were fully employed, 42 percent of former athletes reported being engaged in the workplace, compared to 38 percent of nonathletes. Female athletes were the most likely to be engaged at work, with 48 percent reporting high levels of engagement, compared to 41 percent of nonathlete female students.

There are many top firms recruiting student athletes. For example, student-athletes work in areas such as education and sciences, arts, health, business, engineering, and creative arts. There is also the option to work as a scholar student-athlete. Given the wide experience of being a student athletes, many gain tangible skills such as time management, coachability and goal orientation. Since there is a positive relationship between being a student athlete and academic performance, companies are offering them employment because they trust the athlete to also perform well in the workplace.

Because of this, some student athlete recruiting firms take previous academic performance as a key criterion in the selection process. However, student athlete advancement in a later career will depend on a lot more factors, such as the work environment, support resources, and passion for the job.

Athlete scholarships

Successful student athletes have several characteristics: besides their grit, ambition, and drive, they also secure the best training programs and have access to athlete scholarships. Supporting student athletes should be the main goal of any school offering athletic programs, and this is often manifested in financial benefits.

As a student-athlete, you should be eligible to receive a scholarship from your institution, which you can use to partly cover your expenses such as tuition, books, fees, room, and board, and possibly even living costs. The ultimate amount which you can receive from your scholarship depends on your school and your athletic abilities. Some colleges also take into account the student-athlete’s academic performance, but you should not take this as a general rule, and instead check with your institution.

Also, keep in mind that you do not necessarily need a scholarship in order to become a student-athlete. Even if you don’t qualify for one when you enter college, you can still look for other ways to finance your career in athletics. For example, you can obtain a scholarship based on your academic performance, financial need, or personal characteristics such as being an international student. If you need more information about your own eligibility for a scholarship, try doing some research into student-athletes scholarship options. Or ask your academic institution to help you with more specific information.

Student-athletes should be paid

“Should student athletes be paid”? This is a question in the minds of many people, so let’s explore the arguments behind it. Some argue student-athletes are "paid" through full scholarships, something most college students can only dream about — and that's partially true. According to the NCAA, over 150,000 Division I and Division II student-athletes receive $2.9 billion in scholarships each year (Division III schools don't offer athletic scholarships).

However, the average athletic scholarship is roughly $18,000. Only about 1% of student-athletes receive a full scholarship.” Here are also some pros and cons to student athletes getting paid:

1. Student athletes make a lot of money for their schools, and they should earn a percentage of that.
2. Financial instability is a major issue why student athletes struggle with mental health. Therefore, offering compensation in the form of regular pay would automatically contribute to better student athlete mental health.
3. Playing means working. Contrary to the common assumption that sports are not a real job, participating in intercollegiate athletics constitutes a full-time job. A 2017 NCAA survey showed that Division I athletes spend an average of 35 hours per week on their sport during the season. In a sense, universities are hiring student athletes to represent them in competitions and bring in income from them.
4. Athletes put in more effort to cope with their studies. Student athelete’s grades remain high because they put a lot of hard work into them, not because school has gotten easier. Therefore, student-athletes should be compensated for their effort to excel in both academics and sports and position themselves in a competitive market.

Student-athletes getting paid pros and cons

Debating whether student athletes should be paid is tricky. On one side, student athletes are more successful when they are financially supported, which is a major argument in favor of receiving compensation for their work. A relaxed student athlete has more time and mental energy to devote to improving their skills in sports, which means that the college they are representing will have a lot to win, too.

Here are some pros to student athletes getting paid:

1. Colleges and universities profit unfairly from the work and likenesses of college athletes. Therefore, they should positively contribute to student athlete welfare.
2. College athletes are exposing themselves to risk injuries as well as compromising their future careers and earning potential to play for colleges and universities while often receiving a sub-par education. Besides, frequent competing at the elite level can result in student athlete’s burnout. Therefore, receiving pay would partly compensate for all those health and mental health risks.
3. College athletes are often valued at more than $1 million, but they (and their families) frequently struggle with scarce financial resources. For a student athlete to go pro, a scholarship is often insufficient. If they were paid, their families would not have to worry about their financial wellbeing anymore, which would be la ess burnden for all parties.

However, some skeptics are not very convinced that student athletes should be paid. Here are some cons against this:

1. Student athletes (or at least some of them) already receive scholarships, many of which are tailored to their financial situation. For example, an athlete coming from a more precarious background would receive more money than a well-off student athlete.
2. Since not all student athletes go pro, they should focus I equal amount on their education. If they were paid for their sports, they wouldn’t have as much motivation to secure their education as well.
3. Even if student athletes were paid, this would not solve the American amateur sports system. Therefore, investing money into this would only solve a small part of the problem, when in reality the nature of student athlete challenges is much more complex.

Depression and loneliness

Having to perform great at all times is exhausting. It leads student-athletes to feel as if they always have to prove themselves, which is why part of overcoming mental barriers should be addressing symptoms of exhaustion and overwhelm, which can be a sign of depression. This mental health condition can cause feelings of hopelessness, sadness, and low energy, making it difficult for student-athletes to find motivation or enjoyment in their sport.

Depression and loneliness are common among college athletes, especially among those who do not have an active social life or close friendships to share their struggles with. For example, if you are the only student-athlete in your class, you will feel as if no one understands and can relate to what you are going through. As a result of this, you feel isolated and very alone in your struggles. For this reason, parents and coaches of student-athletes should pay attention to those who show symptoms of depression or spend a lot of time on their own. When left untreated, depression can become chronic, and is more difficult to treat and manage.

So far, we’ve talked about the great aspects of being a student athlete: the prospects of being paid, the competitive advantage in future employment, the positive social reinforcement many athletes receive from others. But is there a downside to being an athlete? Could this experience come with a cost? Maybe.

As you can imagine, mental struggles don’t discriminate against your background. They don’t care where you’re from or how successful you are. So if your mind is vulnerable to stress, you will suffer — even if you are the most successful athlete in your university. Therefore, the next parts of this article will address what is often considered the big elephant in the room: mental health in athletics. While it’s hard to tell how many student athletes struggle with mental health with precision, we can use the stats in this are to indicate the need of mental support for this population.

Student-athletes and mental health experiences

Just like there isn’t a universal student athlete experience, there isn’t a single mental health experience that applies to everyone. While some student athletes breeze through college without ever struggling with emotional difficulties, the stressful nature of college athletics can cause some student athletes problems. What differentiates those two categories is their personal resilience, mental health history, genetics, and support systems. While we cannot directly state that being a student athlete does harm your mental health, we cannot realistically predict that being an athlete in college protects you from mental health difficulties.

It is true that universal problems such as a pandemic (as we all know) or general financial instability can trigger a student athlete’s mental health crisis, and raise stress to unprecedented levels. But except for those situations, the student athlete’s mental health experience tends to vary from person to person, depending on each individual’s unique coping strategies. That’s why it’s also difficult to predict how many student athletes have mental health issues: some athletes never seek help for their struggles, assuming that their emotional difficulties are simply their usual coping strategies for life.

Perfectionism

Without a doubt, having to do your best in a game does come with a degree of pressure. For many athletes, that pressure translates into performance anxiety, which can then lead to mental health issues. Since many athletes are performance-oriented, the possibility of mental health crisis is high, especially in highly demanding colleges. This means that, as an athlete, you have to match some very high expectations that other people or yourself might have from you. The higher those expectations are, the bigger performance anxiety is.

Unfortunately, the latest stats from 2023 regarding student athlete mental health aren’t very optimisitc. According to Psychology Today, college student-athlete suicide is at a record high. In 2022, for example, at least four college athletes died by suicide. The reasons behind this are complex — college staff are too concerned with athlete excellence. In their pursuit of perfection, universities are failing to address student athletes mental well-being and completely ignore to regularly ask the question “how are student athletes affected by mental health in our college?” Some athletes are really good at concealing their emotional struggles. For example, student athletes with depression may appear totally normal, performing, training, and turning up to classes as usual. Since mental health is invisible, it can be hard to tell how many student athletes suffer from mental illness. As a result, the crisis remains unaddressed.

Student-athlete support services

Athletes rarely succeed on their own. In most cases, what best helps them thrive is a supportive network of people such as their families, coaches, teachers, and friends. When it comes to building a support system, student athletes should be supported by their schools and coaches in:

• accessing counselling and therapy services
• strengthening their relationships with the school, coach, and the rest fo the team
• asking for support
• leadership

Support services in colleges should include assessment services that help athletes get qualified for mental health treatment. These assessments should include various questions to ask student athletes about their experience, as well as a diagnosis criterion that would differentiate between a normal response to stress and a risk of mental disorder. Besides, they should include some student athletes’ mental health facts, so that mental health struggles are normalized and accepted in the college athletics environment.

Support services in colleges should also undertake regular assessments and follow up with students who leave school so that they have a clearer perception of how many student athletes quit because of a mental struggle. They should also have a list of questions to ask student athletes about mental health in general: how they’re coping, what tips them into stress, what are their most vulnerable triggers, etc. Understanding the prevalence of certain disorders (e.g. student athletes and depression or student athletes and anxiety) equips colleges with more tools to address a potential mental health crisis.

Training and Development of Student-Athletes

As you’ve seen so far, there is more to being a student-athlete than merely turning up to school and competitions. You have to figure out your scholarship route, balance academics and training, and look after your mental health. The process of becoming a student athlete is a lengthy, but exciting one. Imagine that you are building a person brick by brick, and taking them from being a normal person with a passion for sports to being someone who takes part in real competitions. In the following paragraphs, we are going to take a look at other aspects of the training and development of student athletes.

Student-athlete development

Great athletes are not born overnight. In fact, from the intention to become a good athlete to actually becoming one is a long journey, that takes an intense process of personal, emotional, career, and skills development. Colleges are highly responsible throughout this process. They provide the resources, guidance, staff, and training to student athletes, meaning that they will also take credit for their results and success.

A normal process of student athlete development involves several components, such as:

• Sports training — athletes become better by working with skilled coaches and looking up to supportive staff members.
• Financial well-being: through scholarships and sportsmanships, student athletes can relax about the financial aspect of their lives and focus on their training and education.
• Mental health: a development process should build balanced, resilient, and resourceful student athletes. They should be able to bounce back after failure and be able to get help when they struggle with their mental health.
• Physical well-being. To remain committed to their development process, student athletes need to be in good health.
• Mentorship and career development. With the right guidance from schools, leaders, and career coaches, student athletes can push themselves further in their careers and achieve extraordinary results.

Overall, student athletes perform better when all the aspects of their development process are covered.

Student-athlete training

Consistent training and discipline are the key foundations of athletic performance. Just like any other skill, performance in sports gets better the more someone practices it. If you’re a student athlete who has big goals, expect to invest a lot in your training and preparation. In this respect, you will want to perform better by seeking performance training near you that you can regularly attend. If you’re also aiming to work on your mindset and mental toughness, you could benefit from the support of a sports performance psychologist. Ultimately, athletics sports and performance have two main components: physical training and mental preparation. Both of them combined can yield impressive results for a student-athlete.

Qualitative research on student athletes shows that athletic training makes athletes feel more confident in their skills. They also have an increased sense of belonging and are generally more competitive. Since lack of proper training is one of the most common perceived barriers in student athletes, investing in consistent and quality training can make you feel more empowered and confident in your abilities.

Physical conditioning

Besides their usual training and preparation, student athletes will also need to condition their bodies before important competitions. Conditioning means training the body to get ready for the training season. Doing a sports conditioning program will help the student athlete perform better than other athletes who are at a similar level. An important part of conditioning is periodization, which means dosing the amount of effort put into each training stage so that you avoid overtraining. One of the risk factors in student athletes is injury, so conditioning helps minimize this. Suppose you follow a structured training program, and pay attention to your body’s need for rest and recovery. In that case, you can mitigate the risk of overtraining or injury during the preparation for a competition.

Time Management and Balancing Responsibilities

If you are a student-athlete who wants to succeed but doesn’t already have outstanding time management skills, then you have some work to do. Juggling school and sports don’t happen while your mind is all over the place. For this reason, getting organized is the first thing you must do. But don’t let this sound like yet another responsibility you have to take on your shoulders. Time management will prevent you from feeling overwhelmed and stressed out, so it’s definitely for your overall benefit and peace of mind.

Student-athletes time management

There are many distractions that want to get your attention in college. Naturally, you’re drawn to new activities and experiences, dates, friendships, and travels. But if you’re going to say yes to every single one of them, you’re going to end up with very little time and an overwhelmed mind. And, as you know, students in general are notorious for struggling with time management. But this doesn’t mean you cannot learn this skill from scratch and become more organized — even if you’ve always lived with a mental to-do list and never owned a planner before.

The multitude of distractions is the main reason why student athletes struggle with time management. They try to say yes to more things than they can physically take on, so they end up stressed, overwhelmed, and panicked.

So the most intuitive thing you can do if you have too many tasks on your plate is to cut out those unnecessary distractions and activities. Have you joined any club or society this year that doesn’t really have much value in your life? Can you do without that many friend gatherings and drinking nights?

See what your time drainers are: those activities don’t seem to take up a lot of time, but when added together, they seem to lead to a lot of wasted time.

To begin, make a list of a typical week in your life.

How do you spend most of your time outside classes and training schedules?

In high school, student athletes have to learn to cut out those unnecessary time wasters so they can channel all their energy and time into things that add value to their lives — both in the longer and shorter term.

Once you have identified the biggest time wasters in your life, see what you’re left with. Then take a planner and fit in the most important tasks in the time left outside classes, training, and competitions.

Conclusion

In this article, we have touched many aspect of being a student athlete. As you can see, the road to athletics is not an easy one, especially if you’re an athlete. There are many ups and downs along the road, and you need a lot of support to succeed in your studies and sport. But if there’s one thing we want to leave you with, it’s that the journey cane be a balanced and enjoyable one. You can even have fun along the way!

Summary of the paper

In summary, this article aimed to bring more light into how the life of a typical student athlete looks like. We talked about scholarships, financial aspects, recruitment opportunities, school, mental health, time management, well-being, and ways to get support. The reality is that behind every successful student athlete isn’t just a strong set of skills — it’s also a strong support network, excellent organisational skills, and a lot of determination and ambition.

Call to action for addressing student-athletes

If you are an existing or prospective student athlete, you might already struggle with the challenges of this chapter in your life. While it’s definitely an exciting one, it definitely doesn’t come without stress. However, navigating college and sports should be an empowering experience, and we hope that this information in this article offered you some ideas on how you can do that. If you’re looking for more information on how to look after your mental health, work on your mental barriers, and access resources for support, we can help with that.

[ADD A CALL TO ACTION DEPENDING ON THE PURPOSE OF THE PAPER]

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