Dual sport career experiences of student-athletes studying in South Africa and the USA
Résumé
Background: Institutions of higher education are hubs for student-athletes pursuing dual careers, in sports and higher education. The concepts of dual careers, transition models and support systems for student sports provide the conceptual framework for this study. Objectives: The study investigated the dual sports career experiences of South African track and field student-athletes who studied at universities in South Africa and the United States of America (USA). Objectives determined satisfaction in terms of student-athlete support systems in their chosen localities. Method: This qualitative study used a purposive sample of 12 participants from a general population of South African junior track and field athletes who pursued dual careers. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Results: The respondents found the US National Association Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sports system superior to the South African sports system. The dual-career student-athletes transitioning through the last two stages of the South African Long-Term Athlete Development model reported a lack of support that negatively impacted the success of their dual career balance. Conclusion: The South African context of student sport is not generally conducive to creating and enabling a dual sports–academic career environment because of insufficient contextual, processional and sports-specific factors. The participants perceived the NCAA system of student sport as holistic and supportive of their dual-career development. Contribution: This study adds to the limited pool of knowledge relating to the dual-career development of student-athletes, and provides a base line for future research studies.
Citer ce document
Accès au document
Texte intégral en lecture en ligne, réservé aux abonnés SPHAERO et aux membres de l'institution. Se connecter
Voir l'article sur le site de la revueAuteur(s)
Statistiques
Consultations : 1
Téléchargements : 0