The Athletic Reckoning: A Study of Former College Athletes’ Identity, Realization, and Career Preparation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17161/jis.v18i3.23401Keywords:
athletic identity, career preparedness, college athletes, athletic reckoningAbstract
Athletic identity, as scholars have demonstrated, shapes the perceptions and experiences of college athletes. Likewise, scholars have also shown that career preparation (or the lack thereof) is an important component of athletes’ general preparation for life after sport. This study focuses on former college athletes’ perception of how their athletic identity and commitment to their athletic role shaped their career preparedness. It does so by interviewing former college athletes who have had the requisite time to reflect on their career preparedness, and by considering what the authors call ‘the athletic reckoning.’ This is the juncture at which participants come to the realization that their athletic career is over and, often correspondingly, take on a heightened focus regarding their vocational development. Findings also shed light on the job market experiences of unprepared athletes. The study has implications for both scholars of intercollegiate sport and for practitioners in athletic departments who work with current and former college athletes.
Downloads
References
Adent, H., Horne, E., Martin-Cuellar, A., & Seidler, T. (2024). An investigation into how the intense nature of youth sport participation influences women’s collegiate basketball player’s experiences of burnout. Journal of Amateur Sport, 10(1), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.17161/jas.v10i1.21188
Akkermans, J., Brenninkmeijer, V., Huibers, M., & Blonk, R. W. (2013). Competencies for the contemporary career: Development and preliminary validation of the career competencies questionnaire. Journal of Career Development, 40(3), 245–267. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845312467501
August, R. A. (2020). Understanding career readiness in college student-athletes and identifying associated personal qualities. Journal of Career Development, 47(2), 177–192. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845318793936
Ayers, K., Pazmino-Cevallos, M., & Dobose, C. (2012). The 20-hour rule: student-athletes time commitment to athletics and academics. Vahperd Journal, 33(1), 22–27.
Bjornsen-Ramig, A., Warehime, S., Bigaouette, A., & Dinkel, D. (2020). A qualitative exploration of the impending transition of division I college student-athletes: A wellness perspective. Journal of Sport Behavior, 43(1), 3–27.
Bopp, T., Stellefson, M., Stewart, M., Zhang, L., Apperson, A., & Odio, M. (2024). Wellness in transitions out of college sports participation: Experiences of former NCAA division I student-athletes. Journal for the Study of Sports and Athletes in Education, 18(1), 43–66. https://doi.org/10.1080/19357397.2021.1989273
Brewer, B. W., & Cornelius, A. E. (2001). Norms and factorial invariance of the athletic identity measurement scale. Academic Athletic Journal, 15, 103–113.
Brewer, B. W., & Petitpas, A. J. (2017). Athletic identity foreclosure. Current Opinion in Psychology, 16, 118–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.05.004
Brewer, B. W., Van Raalte, J. L., & Linder, D. E. (1993). Athletic identity: Hercules' muscles or Achilles heel?. International Journal of Sport Psychology 24(2), 237–254.
Brown, C., Glastetter-Fender, C., & Shelton, M. (2000). Psychosocial identity and career control in college student-athletes. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 56(1), 53–62. https://doi.org/10.1006/jvbe.1999.1691
Bryman, A. (2012). Social Research Methods (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.
Burns, G. N., Jasinski, D., Dunn, S. C., & Fletcher, D. (2012). Athlete identity and athlete satisfaction: The nonconformity of exclusivity. Personality and Individual Differences, 52(3), 280–284. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.10.020
Cairó, I., & Cajner, T. (2018). Human capital and unemployment dynamics: Why more educated workers enjoy greater employment stability. The Economic Journal, 128(609), 652–682. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecoj.12441
Chalfin, P., Weight, E., Osborne, B., & Johnson, S. (2015). The value of intercollegiate athletics participation from the perspective of employers who target athletes. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, 8(1), 1–27.
Coakley, J. (2021). Sports in Society: Issues and Controversies (13th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
Colombo, D., Suso-Ribera, C., Fernández-Álvarez, J., Cipresso, P., Garcia-Palacios, A., Riva, G., & Botella, C. (2020). Affect recall bias: Being resilient by distorting reality. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 44, 906–918. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-020-10122-3
Creswell J. W., & Miller D. L. (2000). Determining validity in qualitative inquiry. Theory into Practice, 39(3), 124–130. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip3903_2
Crites, J. O. (1978). Administration and use manual for the Career Maturity Inventory. McGraw-Hill.
Davis, E. A., Brgoch, S. M., Lower-Hoppe, L. M., Lynch, M., Johnston, D. A., Wray, D., McCray, K., & Parietti, M. (2022). Utilization and impact of career services among collegiate athletes. Journal of Athlete Development and Experience, 4(3), 230–247. https://doi.org/10.25035/jade.04.03.03
Feltz, D. L., Schneider, R., Hwang, S., & Skogsberg, N. J. (2013). Predictors of collegiate student-athletes' susceptibility to stereotype threat. Journal of College Student Development, 54(2), 184-201.
Harry, M., & Hammit, S. (2024). “Zero preparation for life after sports”: Former college athletes’ use of TikTok to express transitioning out of sport. Journal of Athlete Development and Experience, 6(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.25035/jade.06.01.01
Harry, M., & Weight, E. (2021). Post-collegiate athlete transitions and the influence of a coach. Journal for the Study of Sports and Athletes in Education, 15(3), 219–244. https://doi.org/10.1080/19357397.2021.1916338
Hextrum, K. (2020). Individualizing conflict: How ideology enables college athletes’ educational compromises. Studies in Higher Education, 45(4), 755–767. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2018.1554639
Hirschi, A., Herrmann, A., & Keller, A. C. (2015). Career adaptivity, adaptability, and adapting: A conceptual and empirical investigation. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 87, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2014.11.008
Houle, J. L., & Kluck, A. S. (2015). An examination of the relationship between athletic identity and career maturity in student-athletes. Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, 9(1), 24–40. https://doi.org/10.1123/jcsp.2014-0027
Huml, M. R. (2018). A factor structure examination of athletic identity related to NCAA divisional differences. Journal of College Student Development, 59(3), 376–381. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2018.0035
Ishaq, F., Stensland, P., & Otto, M. (2023). Student first? A case study examining the student-athlete support services at an NCAA division I football bowl subdivision (FBS) institution. Journal of Amateur Sport, 9(1), 102–136. https://doi.org/10.17161/jas.v9i1.18157
Jayakumar, U. M., & Comeaux, E. (2016). The cultural cover-up of college athletics: How organizational culture perpetuates an unrealistic and idealized balancing act. The Journal of Higher Education, 87(4), 488–515. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2016.11777411
Kloetzer, H., & Taylor, E. (2023). “People don’t acknowledge this process enough”: An in-depth investigation into transition from sport programs for college athletes. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, 16(1), 530–556.
Kvale, S., & Brinkmann, S. (2009). InterViews: Learning the craft of qualitative research interviewing (2nd ed.). Sage.
Lally, P. (2007). Identity and athletic retirement: A prospective study. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 8(1), 85–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2006.03.003
Lally, P. S., & Kerr, G. A. (2005). The career planning, athletic identity, and student role identity of intercollegiate student athletes. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 76(3), 275–285. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701367.2005.10599299
Liberman, N., & Trope, Y. (2008). The psychology of transcending the here and now. Science, 322(5905), 1201–1205. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1161958
Kidd, V. D., Southall, R. M., Nagel, M. S., Reynolds II, J. F., Scheyett, A. M., & Anderson, C. K. (2018). Profit-athletes’ athletic role set and post-athletic transitions. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, 11(1), 115–141.
Marciniak, J., Johnston, C. S., Steiner, R. S., & Hirschi, A. (2022). Career preparedness among adolescents: A review of key components and directions for future research. Journal of Career Development, 49(1), 18–40. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845320943951
Manthey, C., & Smith, J. (2023). “You need to allow yourself to grieve that loss and that identity.” College athletes’ transition to life after sport. Journal of Athlete Development and Experience, 5(1), 16–38.
Mathews, A., Berger, B. G., Darby, L. A., Owen, D. R., & Tobar, D. A. (2021). Athletic identity, career maturity, and subjective well-being of NCAA division I and III football players. Journal of Sport Behavior, 44(3), 321–338.
Navarro, K. M. (2015). Best practices in career transition programming for college athletes. In E. Comeaux (Ed.), Introduction to intercollegiate athletics (pp. 375–384). Johns Hopkins University Press.
Navarro, K., & McCormick, H. (2017). Outcomes-based career preparation programs for contemporary student-athletes. Journal of Applied Sport Management, 9(1), 135-158. https://doi.org/10.18666/JASM-2017-V9-I1-7593
Navarro, K. M., Rubin, L. M., & Mamerow, G. (2019). Implementing student-athlete programming: A guide for supporting college athletes. Routledge.
National Collegiate Athletic Association. (2024). NCAA division I manual.
Newton, J., Gill, D. L., & Reifsteck, E. (2020). Athletic identity: Complexity of the “iceberg”. Journal of Athlete Development and Experience, 2(2), 69–82. https://doi.org/10.25035/jade.02.02.01
Parietti, M., Lower, L., & McCray, K. (2016). The career readiness of intercollegiate athletes: Is
there a gender gap? Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, 9(1), 283–302.
Park, S., Lavallee, D., & Tod, D. (2013). Athletes' career transition out of sport: A systematic review. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 6(1), 22–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750984X.2012.687053
Park, J., Park, J., Williams, A., & Morse, A. L. (2017). Exploring the roles of mentoring relationship on female student-athletes’ career development. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, 10(1), 182–203.
Paule, A. L., & Gilson, T. (2010). Current collegiate experiences of big-time, non-revenue, NCAA athletes. Journal of Intercollegiate Sport, 3(2), 333–347. https://doi.org/10.1123/jis.3.2.333
Paule-Koba, A. L., & Farr, N. E. (2013). Examining the experiences of former DI and D-III nonrevenue athletes. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, 6(1), 194–215.
Perrier, M. J., Strachan, S. M., Smith, B., & Latimer-Cheung, A. E. (2014). Narratives of athletic identity after acquiring a permanent physical disability. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 31(2), 106–124. https://doi.org/10.1123/apaq.2012-0076
Petitpas, A., & France, T. (2010). Identity foreclosure in sport. In S. B. Hanrahan & M. Andersen (Eds.), Handbook of Applied Sport Psychology: A comprehensive guide for students and practitioners (pp. 471–480). Routledge.
Rubin, L. M., & Moses, R. A. (2017). Athletic subculture within student-athlete academic centers. Sociology of Sport Journal, 34(4), 317–328. https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.2016-0138
Saldaña, J. (2021). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. Sage Publications.
Seidman, I. (2013). Interviewing as qualitative research: A guide for educational and social science researchers. Teachers College Press.
Smith, A. B., & Hardin, R. (2018). Female student-athletes’ transition out of collegiate
competition. Journal of Amateur Sport, 4(2), 61–86. https://doi.org/10.17161/jas.v4i2.6725
Stambulova, N., Alfermann, D., Statler, T., & Côté, J. (2009). ISSP position stand: Career development and transitions of athletes. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 7(4), 395–412. https://doi.org/10.1080/1612197X.2009.9671916
Sauer, S., Desmond, S., & Heintzelman, M. (2013). Beyond the playing field: The role of athletic participation in early career success. Personnel Review, 42(6), 644-661. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-08-2012-0149
Steele, A. R., van Rens, F. E., & Ashley, R. (2020). A systematic literature review on the academic and athletic identities of student-athletes. Journal of Intercollegiate Sport, 13(1), 69–92. https://doi.org/10.17161/jis.v13i1.13502
Stokowski, S., Paule-Koba, A. L., & Kaunert, C. (2019). Former college athlete’s perceptions of adapting to transition. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, 12(1), 403–426.
Sturm, J. E., Feltz, D. L., & Gilson, T. A (2011). A comparison of athlete and student identity for Division I and Division III athletes. Journal of Sport Behavior, 34(3), 295–306.
Tarver III, W. (2020). Exploring career maturity: A comparison of student-athletes and non-athletes at a division I institution. Journal of Applied Sport Management, 12(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.7290/jasm120101
Tyrance, S. C., Harris, H. L., & Post, P. (2013). Predicting positive career planning attitudes among NCAA division I college student-athletes. Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, 7(1), 22–40. https://doi.org/10.1123/jcsp.7.1.22
Turick, R., Bopp, T., & Swim, N. (2021). “How do I do life?” The challenges of preparing student-athletes for professional roles. Journal for the Study of Sports and Athletes in Education, 15(1), 71–94. https://doi.org/10.1080/19357397.2019.1669367
Van Manen, M. (2007). Phenomenology of practice. Phenomenology & Practice 1(1), 11–30. https://doi.org/10.29173/pandpr19803
Van Raalte, J. L., Andrews, S. R., Cornelius, A. E., Brewer, B. R., & Petitpas, A. J. (2017).
Student-athlete career self-efficacy: Workshop development and evaluation. Journal of
Clinical Sport Psychology, 11(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1123/jcsp.2016-0015
Weight, E. A., Bonfiglio, A., DeFreese, J. D., Kerr, Z., & Osborne, B. (2018). Occupational measures of former NCAA athletes and traditional students. The International Journal of Sport Management, 19(2), 1–26.
Weight, E. A., Cooper, C., & Popp, N. K. (2015). The coach-educator: NCAA division I coach perspectives about an integrated university organizational structure. Journal of Sport Management, 29(5), 510–522. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2014-0006
Weight, E., Navarro, K., Huffman, L., & Smith-Ryan, A. (2014). Quantifying the psychological benefits of intercollegiate athletics participation. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, 7(1), 390–409.
Wertz, F. J. (2011). Five ways of doing qualitative analysis: Phenomenological psychology, grounded theory, discourse analysis, narrative research, and intuitive inquiry. Guilford Press.
Zvosec, C. C., Baer, N., Hughes, M., Oja, B., Kim, M., Dahlin, S., & Howell, S. M. (2023). The career transitions of high-profile student-athletes: Identity, role engulfment, and psychological well-being. Journal of Athlete Development and Experience, 5(1), 4. 62–75. https://doi.org/10.25035/jade.05.01.04
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Edward Horne, Jessica Siegele, Ryan Swanson, Gemma Miller
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright is held by the authors.
