The purpose of this study was to examine African-American Division I football players’ perceptions of their ability to balance their roles as “students” and “athletes”. Three major questions were addressed: Can student-athletes balance both the roles of “student” and “athlete”? If so, how are they able to do so? And, are they truly successful at it? Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with eight African-American football players at a Division I university. Six themes emerged which included: (a) parental emphasis on education and sport; (b) “childhood dreams” versus sport realities; (c) reality check; (d) perceptions of student-athletes; (e) pressure to become a “man”; and (f) being a student-athlete. Future directions for research, sport psychology consultants and athletic department staff are also given.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UTENN/oai:trace.tennessee.edu:utk_gradthes-1423 |
| Date | 01 May 2008 |
| Creators | Jones, Patricia Y |
| Publisher | Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange |
| Source Sets | University of Tennessee Libraries |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | Masters Theses |
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