This study was developed to explore the intercultural interactions among college student-athletes at a Division IA university. The primary research question of this study was: How do individual cultural identities contribute to the experience of diversity and inclusion on a sports team? This study was designed to examine how athletes feel included in their teams and whether they can express--or feel the need to suppress--their other social identities in order to fit into the collegiate athletic realm. The following academic areas were relevant to the study: identity development and negotiation, intercultural interaction and contact, athletics, and multicultural education. The data and discussion suggested that the strong sense of team identity may downplay other identities on a team, and student-athletes may negotiate their other identities to fit into the team. Although teams are perceived to be welcoming, there is an underlying need for further multicultural training for the population. This study helped to bridge the gap in research about college sports and intercultural interaction.

Sverige finns det Riksidrottsgymnasier och Nationella idrottsutbildningar som erbjuder ett utbildningsprogram med specialidrott för att elitidrottande ungdomar ska kunna kombinera idrott och studier. Ungdomarna ska få möjlighet att utvecklas både inom sin idrott och inom sin utbildning och på så sätt bli ”vinnare i långa loppet” med både en idrottskarriär och sedan även en yrkeskarriär som de lagt grunden till med studier under idrottsåren. För att ungdomar ska lyckas med elitidrott och studier är det viktigt att se till helheten. Tidigare forskning inom ”dubbla karriärer” tar utgångspunkt från det holistiska perspektivet som beskriver betydelsen av balans mellan idrott, skola och privatliv. Studierna nämner helheten som viktig för ungdomar ska må bra och kunna prestera i sin idrott och i sin utbildning. De olika forskningsstudierna utgår och lägger tyngdpunkten på idrottsdelen, idrottsmiljöerna och tränare. De pekar på betydelsen av skolan och på betydelsen av helheten idrott, skola och privatliv men går ej på djupet med hur lärarens undervisning eller elevens lärande ska utformas för bästa resultat. Diskursen som analyseras i detta arbete är ”matematikundervisning på ett idrottsgymnasium”. Forskningsfrågan som ställs och som formar diskursen lyder: Vilka är de didaktiska perspektiven i idrottselevernas utbildningsmiljö, specifikt inom matematikundervisning och vad görs viktigt i matematikundervisningen sedd som diskurs? Matematiklärarna och idrottseleverna sätts i fokus och studien undersöker, hur de beskriver olika företeelser när de ger sin bild av matematikundervisningen på skolan. Studien tar utgångspunkt från det didaktiska perspektivet/lärarperspektivet i idrottselevernas utbildningsmiljö. Data samlades in genom intervjuer med matematiklärare och en enkät till idrottselever på ett Riksidrottsgymnasium med cirka 60 idrottselever, under vårterminen 2019. I analysresultatet framstår diskursens normer, högt värderade ståndpunkter och dilemma som fem teman: ”det viktiga matematikämnet”, ”den goda idrottseleven”, ”dilemmat runt idrottselevens frånvaro”, ”strategier för stöd” och ”studieformens otydlighet”. Slutsatsen pekar på att det så tydligt frammanas en ideal bild av en framgångsrik elev, att matematikämnet värderas så viktigt och svårt utifrån sin tradition och att den specifikastudieformen för matematikundervisning för idrottselever saknar tydlig form. Studieformen kan beskrivas som lärarledd klassrumsundervisning kompletterad med olika anpassningar för att underlätta för idrottselevernas självstudier. Studiens diskursiva analys beskriver också vad som ses som framgångsfaktorer, vilket sammanfattas i idrottselevernas stora egna ansvar, motivation och förmåga att planera in och genomföra självstudier samt matematiklärarnas olika anpassningar och stöd för att underlätta idrottselevernas självstudier. / The Swedish model of elite sports secondary schools consist of Riksidrottsgymnasium, RIG,and National Sports Education Programs, NIU, which offer a training program with specialized sports to student-athletes in order for them to combine sport and study. The underlying philosophy for the model is seen as creating “winners in the long run” in preparingstudent-athletes for a post-athletic career, as well as coping with current demands to optimise development in an elite sporting career. For young student-athletes to successfully combine elite sport and study, it is important tohave a holistic perspective. Previous research in “dual careers” is based on the holistic perspective that describes the importance of a balance between sport, school and private life. The studies point out that the student-athlete has a challenging life situation to manage andit is important for the young student-athlete to feel good to be able to perform both in sportand study. The various research studies are based on and emphasize the sport, the sportenvironments and coaches. They put focus on the importance of the education and theimportance of the holistic perspective of sport, school and private life but do not go into depthhow the teacher's teaching or the student's way of learning should be designed for best results. This discourse analysis is defined as “mathematics at an elite sport secondary school”. The research question which shapes the given discourse reads: “What are the didactic perspectives in the student-athlete's educational environment, especially in mathematics teaching, seen as discourse?” The math teachers and the student-athletes are put into focus and the study investigates how they describe the math education at the RIG-school. The study is based onthe didactic perspective/teaching perspective in the student-athlete's educational environment. Data for the study was collected through interviews with math teachers and a questionnairefor student-athletes, at a RIG-school with approximately 60 student-athletes, during thespring of 2019.In the results of the analysis, the norms of the discourse, highly valued positions and dilemmaappear as five themes: “the important math-subject”, “the good student-athlete”, “thedilemma of the student-athlete's absence”, “strategies for support” and “the ambiguity of theform of the mathematics education”. These findings point to the fact that an ideal image of a successful student-athlete is clearly presented, that the math-subject is valued important and difficult based on its tradition and that the specific study form for mathematics education for student-athletes lacks a clear form. The model that is applied for the mathematics education at the RIG-school can be describedas teacher-led classroom education supplemented with various adaptations to facilitate the student-athletes' self-studies. In this study the discursive analysis also point out the success factors, which are summarized as the student-athletes' high responsibility, motivation and ability to plan and carry out self studies as well as the math teachers' various adaptations and support to facilitate the student athletes' self-studies.

Att ta steget in i en dubbel karriär genom ett Riksidrottsuniversitet eller Elitidrottsvänligt lärosäte innebär att en elitidrottare kombinerar deras idrott med akademiskastudier. Föreliggande studies syftade till att undersöka studentidrottares upplevelser av att ha en dubbel karriär och vilka krav, barriärer och resurser de upplever samt hur de hanterarkraven. Den kvalitativa studien bestod av åtta deltagare fördelat på sju kvinnor och en man, i åldrarna 20–35 (M=24,25) som utövade olika idrotter. Studentidrottarnas upplevelser samlades in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med en intervjuguide utifrån Karriärövergångsmodellen (Stambulova, 2003) och Holistiska idrottsligakarriärutvecklingsmodellen (Wylleman, 2019). Resultatet sammanfattas genom fyra huvudteman: studentidrottares upplevda krav, barriärer, resurser och effektiv hantering. Resultatet visade att studentidrottarna bland annat upplevde höga interna krav från sig själva där de vill lyckas och maximalt prestera i allt de tar sig ann vilket upplevs krävande och stressande. Vidare upplevde de barriärer i form av externa barriärer, begränsad tid och Covid-19 pandemins negativa konsekvenser. Interna tillgångar var målmedvetenhet, erfarenhet och externa tillgångar i bland annat ekonomiskt stöd, dra nytta av andra studenter och ökad flexibilitet med distansstudier. Tre hanteringsstrategier som hjälpte studentidrottarna att hantera denna kombination var problemfokuserad hantering som innebär noggrannplanering för att få ihop livspusslet, undvikande hantering och till sist emotionsfokuserad hantering där personer i deras närhet har störst betydelse men även återhämtning. / Taking the step into a dual career through a National Sports University or Elite SportsFriendly University means that an elite athlete combines their sport with academic studies.The present study aimed to investigate student-athletes' experiences of having a dual careerand what demands, barriers and resources they experience and how they manage the demands.The qualitative study consisted of eight participants divided into seven women and one man,aged 20–35 (M=24.25) who practiced different sports. The student-athletes' experiences werecollected through semi-structured interviews with an interview guide based on The athletictransition model (Stambulova, 2003) and The holistic athletic career model (Wylleman,2019). The results are summarized through four main themes: student-athletes' perceiveddemands, barriers, resources and effective coping. The results showed that the student-athletesexperienced high internal demands from themselves where they want to succeed and performmaximally in everything they do, which is experienced as stressful. Furthermore, theyexperienced barriers in the form of external barriers, limited time and negative consequencesof the Covid-19 pandemic. Internal assets were determination, experience and external assetsin, among other things, financial support, taking advantage of other students and increasedflexibility with distance learning. Three coping strategies that helped the student-athletes dealwith this combination were problem-focused coping which involved planning,avoidant-coping and finally emotion-focused coping.

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Abstract Student-athletes are viewed as the epitome of health due to their physical appearance and talent set; however, it is their psychological health that needs significant attention (Etzel, 2006). Psychosocial stressors such as the pressures and demands of being a student and athlete as well as the demands and expectations of the coach have significant impact on the student-athlete’s mental health and well-being (Beauchemin, 2014; Cleary et al., 2011; Lafrenière et al., 2011; Mageau & Vallerand, 2003; Watson, 2005). The purpose of this research is to investigate any correlation between student-athletes’ perceptions of coaching leadership behaviors and the symptoms associated with disorders such as anxiety, depression, suicidality, and substance abuse. The Leadership Scale for Sport (Chelladurai & Saleh, 1980) and the Symptom Assessment Measure instruments are used in this study. An exploratory analysis determined the reliability and construct validity of the instruments. Thirty-three student-athletes from a non-football Division I university engaged in the study, with twenty-eight completing some or all portions of study. All participants are between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four. A linear regression analysis demonstrated no relation between the independent variable, student-athlete perception of coaching leadership behaviors and the dependent variable, symptoms associated with anxiety, depression, suicidal behavior, and substance abuse mental health disorders, (F=.52, p=.49, R2=.061, and Beta coefficient was -0.248). Gender differences is not determined due to the skewed sample consisting of eighty five percent female and fifteen percent male. Though the linear regression analysis indicates no relation between the dependent and independent variable, supplemental contextualization was given to additional questions asked on the Symptoms Assessment Measure. These findings provide evidence that student-athletes perceive that their coach’s leadership behaviors do have influence on their mental health. This reinforces reports that coaches do wield power over their athletes and their influence is related to student-athletes’ psychological well-being (Horn, 2008; Locke et al., 2012; Stebbings et al., 2012).

The purpose of the study was to examine coaches’ experiences of working with RIU (Riksidrottsuniversitet)-dual career (DC) athletes with foci on the coaches’ DC awareness, perceived challenges, resources, and strategies. The authors of this study conducted 9 interviews, including both men and women, ranging from 23 to 54 years of age (M=33.33, SD=10.20). Through combining the holistic athletic career model (Wylleman, 2019) and the athletic career transition model (Stambulova, 2003), semistructured interview guides were designed and applied by the authors. The results showed a lack of awareness regarding what the RIU concept entailed for the coaches, and their greatest challenge was to help their athletes remain focused on their practice. The coaches expressed that the most important resources were the coaches’ own professional support network, as well as the athletes’ support network, which would aid the coaches in their work. The coaches had difficulties with articulating what strategies they utilized when helping their student-athletes, though they could still explain situations in which that they had acted in certain ways to help ease the demands for the DC-athlete. These strategies were “planning together with the athlete” and “adjusting schedules in line with the student-athletes demands”. The results of the study highlight the need for a better communication between the coaches and the schools, in terms of optimizing the environment for the student-athletes. / Syftet med studien var att undersöka tränares upplevelser av att arbeta med studentidrottare, med fokus på deras upplevda utmaningar, resurser och strategier. Författarna till uppsatsen genomförde nio intervjuer, vilket inkluderade både män och kvinnor från 23 till 54 års ålder (M = 33,33, SD = 10,20). Genom att kombinera Holistiska karriärutvecklingmodellen (Wylleman, 2019) och Karriärövergångsmodellen (Stambulova, 2003) designades semistrukturerade intervjuguider av författarna. Resultaten visade brist på insikt i RIU (Riksidrottsuniversitet) konceptet från tränarna och deras största utmaning var att hjälpa idrottare att behålla sitt fokus under träningarna. Tränarna uttryckte att den viktigaste resursen var tränarnas egna professionella stödnätverk, tillsammans med idrottarnas egna stödnätverk, vilket bidrog till att tränarna kunde behålla fokus på sin egen uppgift. Tränarna hade svårigheter att formulera de strategier som de använde sig av när de hjälpte sina studentidrottare. Dock, kunde de fortfarande förklara situationer när de hade agerat på särskilda sätt för att hjälpa underlätta kraven för studentidrottaren. Dessa strategier var “planering tillsammans med idrottaren” och “anpassa scheman i enlighet med studentidrottarens krav”. Resultaten av uppsatsen önskar belysa att det behövs en bättre kommunikation mellan tränaren och skolorna för att kunna optimera miljön för studentidrottare.

Previous research has indicated the majority of athlete alumni do not give charitable donations to their alma mater or athletics department. With over 4 million former National Collegiate Athletic Association student-athletes, these athlete alumni should have an inherent affinity for their athletics department. The purpose of this research study was to examine the relationship between a student-athlete career preparation program (“Career Program”) and athlete alumni affinity for the athletics department. This study uses the theoretical framework of Social Exchange Theory to examine if an athlete alumni’s affinity for their athletics department increases when they receive support for their career launch. The quantitative quasi-experimental study had two groups of athlete alumni, career program varsity athlete alumni and non-career program varsity athlete alumni, who graduated from one large, public university at the Football Championship Subdivision level. The intervention of the Career Program was provided to one group of athlete alumni. An athlete alumni affinity questionnaire was developed and administered to both groups. The questionnaire received a low response rate with 71 respondents. The Pearson chi-squared test did not show a relationship between athlete alumni affinity and the Career Program. There was no statistical difference indicated between the two groups for the five latent variables of (a) career preparedness, (b) communication, (c) connection, (d) student-athlete experience, and (e) undergraduate experience. Two athlete alumni affinity statements did show significance, and they were related to student-athletes developing a LinkedIn profile and professional resume.

Many research studies have identified high drinking rates amongst US student-athletes, yet there has been limited exploration into the social value of alcohol practices within this context. Drawing on Bandura's Social Learning Theory framework (1977) and the work of Palmer (2011), this study sought to explore student-athlete drinking practices and the social value of said practices to better understand why high drinking rates may occur. The participants were 65 student-athletes enrolled at Mason University, a NCAA Division I University located on the west coast. The study employed mixed methods, which combined quantitative (online questionnaire) and qualitative (interview) tools. Findings revealed that (a) student-athletes remain at high risk of heavy drinking practices; (b) the social value of alcohol was demonstrated, specifically in its use as a socialization tool; and (c) drinking practices were influenced by varied team drinking cultures, which may have significant effects on team cohesion. Implications from this investigation speak to the necessity of more team specific interventions and gives recommendations for future research investigating the social value of alcohol in team drinking cultures.

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