Life After Sports Summary

Kristina Navarro’s journal article, “An Examination of the Alignment of Student-Athlete’s Undergraduate Major Choices & Career Field Aspirations in Life After Sports” examines the unique situations collegiate student-athletes(SA) navigate while working toward a degree and planning for their future. Driven by the individuality emphasis of Mark Savickas’ career construction theory, a qualitative approach was employed to capture each SA participants’ stories and tales. Few research studies exist that focuses solely on the SA population and Navarro’s research was aimed at understanding the impact of life experiences on choosing a major and how the chosen major lines up with their career aspirations (Navarro, 2015). The 29 voluntary participants
who all met the researcher’s criteria, engaged in individual interviews and Navarro, using the information they provided, created a “cognitive mind map”.
Seperating the SAs from the general student population, allowed several impactful factors to come to light. When faced with choosing a major, eligibility and availability issues can force a SA to choose a major that allows them to keep their comittment to team obligations and meet requirements to maintain their eligibility within NCAA standards, rather than choose based on their perosnal interests and goals (Navarro). Navarro found SAs that had an identity independent of their sports role and those who utilized the college resources outside of the athletic department, had a better grasp on what they wanted and how they could achieve it. The results of this study accentuated the need for additional resources tailored for SAs that go beyond the athlete role and that place a priority of the student part of the student-athlete identity. This research project and process relied on each individual’s honesty and individual experience and because of those limitations, it does not have external validity. The findings were representative of the university where the athletes attended, but to apply findings on a larger scale, studies like these are the jumping off point to create such quantitative
studies (Navarro).
Career Development Connections
The student-athletes used in the study all were their final year of eligibility and undergraduate studies. These individuals are in typically are in the emerging adulthood stage, which is characterized by identity exploration, self-focus, instability, feeling in-between, and opportunity (Sharf, 2013). This transitional stage is crucial as an individual moves from adolescence into adulthood and begins to chooses a career path. These student-athletes are working through the features of emerging adulthood along the demands and stipulations placed on them as an athlete, while preparing for life beyond a team, school, and sports. Super’s stages for these athletes is exploration. This is the time for individuals to understand and make decisions about occupations and begin to enter the working world (Sharf). Savickas postulates an individual is an actor, agent, then author of their life story (Sharf). For student-athletes, visualizing and executing plans or plays is an everyday part of their life. These methods line up with the substages of exploration. As they explore, they visualize or work through the crystallizing and specifying stages. In the crystallizing stage, they choose a path that aligns with their interests, values, and abilities; then enter the specifying stage, where they test the waters or practice in their preferred field (Sharf). After they visualize, they execute or enter the implementing stage. Here the individual takes what they have learned in the previous two stages and puts it into action. This stage aligns well for student-athletes who spend many hours practicing and perfecting their craft before applying on a larger stage. The researcher used Savickas’ constructivist theory, where Savickas (2011) says the creation of self is a task. As Navarro pointed out, student-athletes as a whole have a unique college experience, but that experience is further exacerbated by individual experiences. This theory of career construction is all about an individual and their construction of their social realities. Where Savickas’ theory and student-athletes career journey overlap is in the concept of adaptability (Sharf). Adaptability is key for an athlete, but is equally important when looking at careers. The up and downs and rigorous schedule of collegiate sports prepares individuals superbly for the constant changes and uncertainties they will encounter in the working world.
Personal Reflection This study resonated with me because I am a former collegiate student-athlete and currently work with high school athletes.
Beyond the general population I am interested in working with, adolescents, I would like to specialize in sports counseling/psychology. The most significant finding from Navarro’s article revolved around selecting a major. The NCAA has certain rules for declaring majors and completing percentages of course work. Pressure from athletic advisors who are more concerned with eligibility than meaningful learnings and work, is not entirely something I faced in college, but I have several friends who could not choose the major of their choice because classes were only offered during practices or because travel would cause them to miss too many classes for a course. Where I would apply the findings from the research is adjusting working with revenue versus nonrevenue sports. The revenue sports are the sports that bring in money to the school and have possibilities of becoming professional with the opportunity to make millions of dollars. The goals of the revenue athletes are likely to be more focused on sports as a future, while the nonrevenue athlete does not have the same potential future earning in their sport and is looking for a career that still satisfies their athletic and competitive inclinations. It is important to me as a counselor to have this knowledge and tailor my work to suit their needs and realities. Student-athletes tend to have an identity
rooted in their sports, but what I found interesting and helpful was the finding that those students who went beyond the athletic department had a better outlook and were better prepared. More research needs to completed to have generalized findings, but looking at populations as a whole does not benefit the many and diverse groups that exist within. To stay on top of specialized studies will help me provide the best service to my clients, no matter what group they may fall in.