The “New” Student-Athlete

An Exploratory Examination of Scholarship eSports Players

Authors

  • Claire C. Schaeperkoetter University of Kansas
  • Jonathan Mays University of Kansas
  • Sean Thomas Hyland University of Kansas
  • Zach Wilkerson University of Kansas
  • Brent Oja University of Northern Colorado
  • Kyle Krueger University of Kansas
  • Ronald Christian Baker University
  • Jordan R. Bass University of Kansas

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1123/jis.2016-0011

Keywords:

student-athletes, identity, eSports

Abstract

The growth and popularity of eSports cannot be understated. The domain has become so mainstream that colleges and universities are rapidly beginning to launch eSports programs within their athletics departments. In this study, the authors interviewed 33 student-athletes receiving scholarships for participating in eSports at one institution. In all, the identity and social capital of athletes in this “new” athletic arena were explored and compared with previous studies examining “traditional” athletes. The implications of the similarities and differences are discussed and ideas for future research into this emerging field are presented.

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Author Biographies

  • Claire C. Schaeperkoetter, University of Kansas
    Schaeperkoetter, Mays, Krueger, Wilkerson, and Bass are with the Health, Sport, and Exercise Sciences Department, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. Oja is with Sport and Exercise Science, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado. Hyland is with Kansas Athletics, Inc, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. Christian is with Sport Management, Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas.
  • Jonathan Mays, University of Kansas
    Schaeperkoetter, Mays, Krueger, Wilkerson, and Bass are with the Health, Sport, and Exercise Sciences Department, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. Oja is with Sport and Exercise Science, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado. Hyland is with Kansas Athletics, Inc, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. Christian is with Sport Management, Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas.
  • Sean Thomas Hyland, University of Kansas
    Schaeperkoetter, Mays, Krueger, Wilkerson, and Bass are with the Health, Sport, and Exercise Sciences Department, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. Oja is with Sport and Exercise Science, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado. Hyland is with Kansas Athletics, Inc, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. Christian is with Sport Management, Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas.
  • Zach Wilkerson, University of Kansas
    Schaeperkoetter, Mays, Krueger, Wilkerson, and Bass are with the Health, Sport, and Exercise Sciences Department, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. Oja is with Sport and Exercise Science, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado. Hyland is with Kansas Athletics, Inc, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. Christian is with Sport Management, Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas.
  • Brent Oja, University of Northern Colorado
    Schaeperkoetter, Mays, Krueger, Wilkerson, and Bass are with the Health, Sport, and Exercise Sciences Department, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. Oja is with Sport and Exercise Science, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado. Hyland is with Kansas Athletics, Inc, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. Christian is with Sport Management, Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas.
  • Kyle Krueger, University of Kansas
    Schaeperkoetter, Mays, Krueger, Wilkerson, and Bass are with the Health, Sport, and Exercise Sciences Department, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. Oja is with Sport and Exercise Science, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado. Hyland is with Kansas Athletics, Inc, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. Christian is with Sport Management, Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas.
  • Ronald Christian, Baker University
    Schaeperkoetter, Mays, Krueger, Wilkerson, and Bass are with the Health, Sport, and Exercise Sciences Department, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. Oja is with Sport and Exercise Science, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado. Hyland is with Kansas Athletics, Inc, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. Christian is with Sport Management, Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas.
  • Jordan R. Bass, University of Kansas
    Schaeperkoetter, Mays, Krueger, Wilkerson, and Bass are with the Health, Sport, and Exercise Sciences Department, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. Oja is with Sport and Exercise Science, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado. Hyland is with Kansas Athletics, Inc, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. Christian is with Sport Management, Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas.

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Published

2017-06-01

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 1 (2017): Journal of Intercollegiate Sport

Section

Peer-Reviewed Article

License

Copyright (c) 2017 Claire C. Schaeperkoetter, Jonathan Mays, Sean Thomas Hyland, Zach Wilkerson, Brent Oja, Kyle Krueger, Ronald Christian, Jordan R. Bass

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Copyright is held by the authors. 

How to Cite

Schaeperkoetter, C. C., Mays, J., Hyland, S. T., Wilkerson, Z., Oja, B., Krueger, K., Christian, R., & Bass, J. R. (2017). The “New” Student-Athlete: An Exploratory Examination of Scholarship eSports Players. Journal of Intercollegiate Sport, 10(1), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1123/jis.2016-0011