Life after Sport for African-American Male Collegiate Athletes
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Authors
Alexander, Joshua
Issue Date
2018
Type
Dissertation
Language
en
Keywords
"Sports Retirement", "Athletic Identity", "Ethnic Identity Development", "Racism in Sports", " Collegiate Basketball Players", " Qualitative Research"
Alternative Title
Abstract
This is a qualitative study that aimed to analyze the experiences of African-American male collegiate athletes (basketball players) transition to life after sport. The sports retirement body of literature has previously focused on various components of terminating sports careers, including high school, college, and professional ranks. Other research has examined specific groups of people that are aligned by race, geographical location, and other socio-economic factors. This study highlights the narrative accounts of former Division I and II collegiate student athletes, specifically African-American males. Participants for this study included seven self-identified African-American males who ranged in age from 25 to 43. These participants attended a Division I or II university and played basketball while at their respective universities. To investigate these individual transition experiences, a semi-structured interview was administered to all seven participants. Conventional content analysis was utilized to examine the narrative accounts provided. From these accounts, 17 categories of content emerged. Several categories included identity rooted in sport, racism and athletes, importance of support throughout athletic journey, perceptions of collegiate student- athletes, and pressures of success. When comparing these African-American male experiences to other groups, this group was observed to have a unique experience, due to ethnic identity development and racism that many experience daily. This compounded with negative perceptions that athletes encounter based on their athletic identity creates a more challenging experience than others may endure. Findings in this study are consistent with previous research that explains the role of athletic identity, importance of support, and lack of balanced collegiate experience due to focus on athletics. Consistent with the sports retirement literature, ending one's sports career was view as a form of loss that was most challenging to accept and overcome when it occurred abruptly, or the individual was not prepared for such a transition. Research findings illuminate a unique experience for a group of individuals that may be overlooked in many instances. Clinical implications and areas to extend this current research were addressed in this study.