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This paper aims to investigate capitalization support, an alternative perspective for theorizing social support in-service settings. In the service setting of the student-athlete experience, the relationships between capitalization support service dimensions (i.e. the academic, athletic, self-development and place dimensions), well-being and sports performance are examined through a transformative sport service research (TSSR) lens, a newly introduced form of transformative service research (TSR).

Data from an online survey of Australian student-athletes (n = 867) is examined using partial least squares structural equation modeling.

The results support the theorized service dimensions of capitalization support, indicating their validity and relevance to the student-athlete experience. Further, the results demonstrate that all capitalization support dimensions except athletic support (i.e. academic support, place support and self-development support), have a direct effect on well-being and an indirect effect on sports performance.

This research is unique for several reasons. First, it introduces a new perspective, capitalization support, to theorizing about social support in services. Second, it is one of the first studies in both TSR and TSSR to empirically test and demonstrate a relationship between support services, well-being and performance in a single study. Insight into how to design services to optimize well-being in relation to other service objectives like performance thus emerges.

This chapter explores social media and athlete mental health and well-being from a sociological perspective. The chapter provides an overview of current literature and encourages future research to address the mental health and well-being impacts of social media use among athletes.

The chapter synthesizes existing literature focusing on sociological approaches to mental health, social media's impact on mental health, and athlete mental health and well-being. Focus is given to the ways social media can impact athlete mental health and well-being through virtual maltreatment and using the platforms for social change and challenging stigmatization.

Virtual maltreatment typically manifests in the intersectionality between gender, race, and sexual orientation adding to mental health challenges of vulnerable groups. Conversely, athletes could help challenge stigmatization of mental health and use their status to create social change among social groups experiencing higher rates of mental health challenges.

The chapter reveals that sociological perspectives around athlete mental health and well-being related to social media are growing, yet predominately concentrate on publicly available social media content. Therefore, more concentrated efforts are needed to fully understand these impacts in the short and long-term.

The chapter provides one of the first insights on social media and athlete mental health and well-being from a sociological perspective and argues that athletes contend with unique stressors compared to the general population which can exacerbate mental health challenges. The chapter advances that more research is needed to inform practice and help safeguard vulnerable populations of athletes.

The coach−athlete relationship mediates the relationship between sports participation and student-athlete character, health and well-being outcomes. High school athletic administrators (AAs) can provide critical leadership, mentorship and direction for coaches to optimize student-athlete performance and human development. Social and emotional learning (SEL) is an evidence-based approach to developing adult and student competencies for holistic development across the lifespan that has been primarily performed and researched in the classroom. The purpose of this research is to capture the lived experiences of AAs applying a novel SEL-based curriculum (InSideOut Initiative, ISOI) with coaches and student-athletes in high school sports.

Interviews of 10 AAs captured their lived experiences of applying SEL-based leadership and coaching and their perception of its impact on coaches and student-athletes in high school athletics.

AAs described leadership and coaching that are characterized by (1) safety, support and mentorship; (2) skill and support-based behavior modeling; (3) trusting, loving and supportive relationships; (4) self-reflection of values/beliefs and behaviors that impact self, student-athlete and culture; (5) the influence of emotions on the aforementioned; (6) the ability to have a long-term, sustainable impact on student-athletes and (7) alignment with their immediate environmental context.

The data captured in this study suggest that ISOI-trained AAs practice SEL-competent leadership and coaching. Evaluation of the novel application of SEL-based interventions in athletics will be useful to understanding their effects on participant social and emotional competencies and outcomes traditionally associated with classroom-based SEL applications.

Athletic administrator interviews describe an approach to high school sports that requires a reconceptualization of the purpose of athletics. When the high school sport operates as a curriculum, integrated opportunity for its student-athletes and athletic administrator and coach leadership aligns with this overarching philosophy, there may be increased potential for positive youth development.

The results of this research are valuable in demonstrating preliminary evidence of how SEL-based leadership and coaching is applied and impacts adult and student-athletes in a unique sport context.

This study uncovers the challenges and coping mechanisms related to stigma and discrimination experienced by gay professional team sport athletes.

Utilizing interpretive phenomenological analysis, this study recruited six gay athletes in professional team sports. Data were collected through virtual one-on-one semi-structured interviews, along with field notes and reflexive journaling, and were thematically analyzed.

The first theme highlights the discrimination and marginalization experienced by gay athletes in professional team sports, as well as the perceived differences between these athletes and their heterosexual counterparts. The second theme includes anecdotes illustrating their experiences of exclusion, along with counter-stories that resist marginalization. The last theme comprises stories that underscore the lack of acceptance and advocacy, emphasizing the awareness education aimed at making the sporting realm more inclusive.

Despite the extensive recruiting efforts for this study, numerous sports and countries remain unexplored. Follow-up studies are required to fill this gap. As this study was initiated, additional research is needed to provide information on athletes who are still in the closet. Cross-comparisons between gay athletes and their heterosexual teammates can help bridge the gap in perspectives.

Participants emphasized collective efforts in creating inclusive and welcoming environments for gay athletes, including anti-discrimination policies related to language use, showers and relocation adjustments.

Participants have put forth concrete recommendations for enhancing inclusivity within team sport environments and society at large, including proposals for early educational initiatives within the school systems.

This is the first empirical study that focuses on the experiences of gay professional team sport athletes.

This paper aims to conduct the first cross-sectional survey on depression, Resilience, well-being, depression symptoms and concussion levels in equestrian athletes and to assess whether past concussion rates were associated with depression, resilience and well-being.

In total, 511 participants from Canada, Republic of Ireland, UK, Australia and USA took part in an international cross-sectional, online survey evaluating concussion history, depression symptoms, resilience and well-being.

In total, 27.1% of athletes met clinically relevant symptoms of major depressive disorder. Significant differences were shown in the well-being and resilience scores between countries. Significant relationships were observed between reported history of concussion and both high depression scores and low well-being scores.

Findings highlight the need for mental health promotion and support in equestrian sport.

Results support previous research suggesting a need for enhanced mental health support for equestrians. There is reason to believe that mental illness could still be present in riders with normal levels of resilience and well-being.

This study examined an understudied athlete group: equestrian athletes and presents important findings with implications for the physical and mental health of this population.

There is a paucity of empirical research that explores the financial well-being of collegiate student-athletes. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the key aspects of financial well-being (e.g. financial knowledge, financial self-efficacy and finance-related stress levels) of varsity athletes at US colleges and universities.

The authors used data from the National Student Financial Wellness Study. The data were analyzed using general linear regression models.

The findings suggest student-athletes have lower financial knowledge than students who are non-athletes. Despite their lower levels of financial knowledge, these student-athletes report higher levels of financial self-efficacy. Furthermore, even when controlling for scholarship funding, student-athletes reported lower levels of financial stress than their counterparts. One could interpret this as student-athletes having a false sense of confidence in their money management behaviors. This overconfidence can impact many areas of their overall financial well-being. Alternatively, non-athletes may not be as financially confident as they should be.

This study could be replicated with stronger measures (e.g. Financial Self-Efficacy Scale), with the inclusion of subjective financial knowledge measures, comparing the impact of demographic variables. As, most financial constructs have gender differences (Farrell et al., 2016) and race differences (Amatucci and Crawley, 2011) and depend upon college major (Fosnacht and Calderone, 2017). Another limitation of this study is the small percentage of student-athletes, a common problem with research in this area. Further research is also needed to unpack the finding that self-efficacy decreases at higher levels of financial knowledge.

It is evident that college students (athletes/non-athletes) need financial education. For universities and college coaches, this study could be used as a rationale for providing financial education for their athletes. The addition of financial courses could be used as a recruiting tool for collegiate coaches and benefit the university. Requiring financial education could also benefit universities long term as it may potentially increase the donor possibilities by alumni. As a final note, it is important that financial courses figure out ways to improve financial self-efficacy alongside financial knowledge, as findings suggest both are integral to decreasing financial stress.

Less than 4 percent of universities in the USA require students to take a personal finance course (Bledsoe et al., 2016). If more universities included personal finance as a graduation requirement and did more to engage student-athletes (and non-athletes) in financial planning, then the average level of financial knowledge would likely improve on campuses across the USA. In addition, increasing young adults financial self-efficacy could improve financial stress which is linked to mental health and physical health.

This study provides the first empirical look into the financial well-being of collegiate student-athletes across the USA. Although there are many benefits to participation in college sports, student-athletes face additional time pressures and a predisposition to clustering around certain majors. Findings suggest that collegiate athletes need additional support around their financial literacy and non-athletes may need support developing financial self-efficacy. These two findings should be used by academic institutions and athletic departments to determine how to encourage financial health in their student-athletes and general student body.

The intent of this chapter is to examine the historical and present-day intersections of injury, impairment, pain and risk-taking in the Paralympic Movement. While much has been written about injuries that end an athlete’s career, far less consideration has been given to how an injury might launch a sports career. In this chapter, I explore the experiences of athletes for whom injury and sports participation are fundamentally entwined.

To accomplish this, I draw on sociological literature on sport and injury, psychological literature on identities and sport retirement and feminist disability theories. The discussion is further enriched by interviews with Paralympic athletes and informed by own experience as a researcher, guide and volunteer in the Paralympic Movement.

This work illustrates how systems of representation intersect to (re)produce identities. This includes demonstrating how some individuals use sport as a means of claiming an athletic identity while distancing themselves from devalued disabled identities and the subsequent impact this can have on their psycho-social well-being.

This chapter demonstrates how sociologists of sports can engage with critical disability scholarship to deepen understandings of how and why individuals with impairments enter into sport and their experiences therein.

“Athlete experience” is a huge focus in modern-day American collegiate athletics, and is beginning to hold as much, if not more, weight than an athlete’s or team’s performance. With new emphasis on athlete well-being, coaches are more motivated to use healthy leader/follower dynamics. This paper aims to examine the follower-centric space of American collegiate athletics to understand how coaches train and develop followership.

Contemporary organization psychology and leadership/followership theories are highlighted in partnership with modern collegiate athletic programming. Author experiences after years of athletic participation and consulting are included, as well as illustrative practical applications beyond athletics.

Although sports have unique leader/follower dynamics, three common cultures are identifiable: personal development, co-collaboration and cohesion. These cultures define followership development in athletics.

Understanding how coaches improve “athlete experience,” increase retention and improve team performance through a follower-centric structure sheds new light on the value of followership in athletics and highlights unique systems in place for corporate settings.

Recognizing the value American collegiate athletics place on healthy followership changes the stigma of followership behavior in a perceived hierarchical structure, changes perceptions of how coaches motivate athlete performance and allows recognition that followership development (as opposed to leadership development) empowers teams to succeed long term.

American collegiate athletics are unknowingly ahead of their time regarding student athlete well-being through followership development. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is the first to explore how coaches emphasize and develop followership through sport.