The loss of identity is felt by many collegiate student athletes transitioning out of the sports arena and into life after sport. Per the NCAA, in the United States about eight million high school students participate in sports and more than 480,000 transition into competing at the collegiate level (NCAA, 2020). A small amount of athlete's transition to the professional level from each sport (NCAA, 2020). Miller and Buttell (2018) report, 2% of collegiate athletes will transition into professional sports leaving 98% of collegiate athletes transitioning into retirement.
Due to the small number of athletes transitioning to the professional level, that leaves a large population of student athletes without a structured plan moving forward into new occupations. Much of the literature notes that there has been little research completed and program implementation regarding student athlete retirement and encourages the need for future research to be completed. Smoot & Martella (2017) note that occupational therapy practitioners have the tool set to assist the student athletes transitioning out of their sports careers. Occupational therapy uses a holistic approach to their clients including the mental health setting, therefore, can be an instrumental partner in addressing the loss of identity in athletes.
AthleteID is an educational program created by an occupational therapist to aid in addressing the loss of identity in student athletes who are transitioning out of the sports arena and into new, meaningful occupations. AthleteID is designed to collaborate with Augusta University’s athletic department and occupational therapy department to optimally facilitate the program. The educational program consists of five modules that can be completed on-line or in-person depending on the student athletes preferred learning style. The module's content includes how the student athlete identifies themselves in their current occupations, personal interests, work-life balance, transferable skills, goal-setting skills, future planning, and career skills. The intended outcome of this project is to prepare student athletes for their transition out of the athletic arena and into retirement.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/46182 |
| Date | 08 May 2023 |
| Creators | Jennings, Shelby B. |
| Contributors | Lamb, Amy, Jacobs, Karen |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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