Living Life Through Sport: The Transition of Elite Spanish Student-Athletes to a University Degree in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences

Preliminary results of student survey at the University of Rome "Tor Vergata" practicing sports: a focus on the effects of Dual Career regulation

The importance of sports and the approval of the Dual Career regulation at the University of Rome "Tor Vergata" are highly significant topics for the well-being and personal development of students. In line with European and international policies, this initiative recognizes the specific needs of student-athletes by offering them tools and flexibility to excel in both sports and academics. However, monitoring student-athletes by Universities requires thorough investigations and the development of initiatives to promote students' adherence to sports practice. Therefore, our study aims to analyze the results of a survey administered to students enrolled at the University of Rome "Tor Vergata" during the academic years 2020/2021, 2021/2022, 2022/2023, and 2023/2024, investigating the effects of the introduction of the Dual Career regulation on the student population. Our preliminary results showed that the introduction of the Dual Career program was associated with a significant increase in the number of students practising sports over the academic years, with greater participation in the academic years 2022/2023 and 2023/2024. Noteworthy, the number of student-athletes who applied to the Dual Career program markedly increased in the last year, with the highest number of enrollments in the macroareas of Medicine and Surgery, Economy, and Engineering. Overall, the Dual Career regulation offers the possibility to plan the study path in a personalized way, dedicated academic support, and flexibility in deadlines, making the University of Rome "Tor Vergata" a model of integration between education and sportiness.

Dual career policy at federal universities in Brazil: analysis of academic and sporting support

Internationally, the implementation of holistic programs aimed at academic, financial and retirement preparation support for student-athletes who find themselves in dual careers, such as university students, has been widespread and intensified. However, little is known about the subject in the Brazilian national context, because although there are related studies, they are punctual and related to specific universities. In view of the above, this study aimed to investigate public policy aimed at student-athletes at Brazilian federal universities. This is an exploratory, qualitative, cross-sectional and documentary study, using the websites, internal regulations and public notices of 69 Brazilian federal universities for the year 2023, using the content analysis technique. The results indicate that 72.05% offer some kind of support to DC based on the holistic model, 66.17% of which is academic and 60.29% sports. Among the academic support, the flexibility of assessments (57.35%) and the differentiated treatment of absences (51.47%) were close. The sporting support is centered on partial payment of competition costs (60.29%) and athlete grants are restricted to 20.58% of universities. It can be concluded that Brazil's federal universities have policies that include support actions that integrate the holistic model (academic), with incipient coverage of scholarships (sports), but do not effectively follow the holistic model.

FEPSAC Position Statement: Athletes' dual careers in the European context

The aim of this FEPSAC Position Statement is to summarize current knowledge about athletes' dual careers (DCs) in the European context and propose recommendations for future DC research, practice, and policy. Inspired by the European Union's Guidelines on Dual Careers of Athletes (European Commission, 2012), researchers, practitioners, and policy makers collaborated over the last decade to create the European DC discourse as a context-informed and negotiated body of DC knowledge. In this paper, we proceed from analyzing this body of knowledge using recent review papers and European DC psychological research projects to formulating seven postulates summarizing DC research findings on factors influencing athletes in their striving for DC excellence. These factors include (1) context, (2) pathways and transitions, (3) challenges, (4) resources and coping, (5) support and empowerment, (6) student-athletes' mental health, and (7) DC development environments. In the final section, we acknowledge the contributions of European DC discourse in serving athletes in their pursuit of DC excellence and European DC culture. We also provide a critical discussion on DC knowledge gaps and, on behalf of FEPSAC, offer recommendations for DC research, practice, and policy in Europe.

Soccer above all? Analysis of academic and vocational education among female soccer players in the German women's Bundesliga and 2nd women's Bundesliga

Introduction

Career-related (financial) reasons as well as advantages in terms of expanding social support systems, promoting a balanced lifestyle and personal development suggest that female soccer players should pursue academic or vocational education in parallel to elite sport. However, dual careers are fraught with challenges, mainly due to simultaneity in time and the associated conflicting goals. The aim of this article is to analyze the vocational or academic educational careers of professional female soccer players.

Methods

To generate the data, an online survey was conducted among soccer players in the German Women's Bundesliga and 2nd Women's Bundesliga. A total of n = 200 questionnaires (German: n = 191; English: n = 9) were included in the analysis, which corresponds to approx. 29.6% of the population addressed.

Results

90.6% of the players are pursuing or have already completed academic or vocational education. The majority (71.2%) of female soccer players choose to study. 81.8% of players report no impact or even a positive impact of soccer on their performance in academic or vocational education. Willingness to pursue and complete academic or vocational education is influenced by membership of the A-National Team, time spent playing soccer, form of school-leaving qualification, nationality and age.

Discussion

This study increases the visibility of professional women's soccer as an object of analysis in sports science research, follows up on demands for a more athlete-centered approach and generates further insights for research and practice with regard to the success of dual careers in elite sport.

Relationship between Psychological Distress, Basic Psychological Needs, Anxiety, Mental Pressure, and Athletic Burnout of Chinese College Football Athletes during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 poses a significant threat to mental health, which may lead to psychological stress in a number of individuals. Athlete burnout is a common psychological phenomenon that has a negative influence on their sports career. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between psychological distress and athletic burnout among Chinese college football athletes during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the mediating role of basic psychological needs, anxiety and mental pressure. In an online cross-sectional survey conducted in February 2022, the team coaches sent an electronic questionnaire to college football athletes. Participants completed questionnaires on relevant variables. Pearson correlation analysis and mediation effect analysis were carried out by using SPSS software and its plug-in process V3.3. The study included 672 participants and the results showed that: (1) psychological distress, basic psychological needs, anxiety, mental pressure and athletic burnout were significantly pairwise correlated, (2) mental pressure, anxiety and basic psychological needs play a mediating role between psychological distress and athletic burnout respectively, and (3) basic psychological needs and anxiety, basic psychological needs and mental pressure, anxiety and mental pressure, as well as mental pressure, anxiety and basic psychological needs respectively play a chain mediating role between psychological distress and athletic burnout. In conclusion, psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic is an important factor leading to athletic burnout among Chinese college football athletes and may further affect the level of athletic burnout through basic psychological needs, anxiety and mental pressure. The government and schools should strengthen the recognition of these factors in order to improve the situation of athletic burnout among Chinese college football athletes.

Government grant for athletic scholarships in the Federal District: economic profile, athletic information and academic status of the recipients

ABSTRACT This study outlined the profile of athletes participating in the Athlete Scholarship Program of the Federal District to conduct a processual analysis of factors composing the holistic dual career model. The research sample included 25 athletes who benefited from the program in 2014. Data were collected through an online structured questionnaire about the topic under discussion. The main results indicate that the athletes present no educational delay, have high educational expectations, and that most belong to the highest socioeconomic class. Sporting and educational institutions must stimulate the organization of public policies, increasing public investments in high performance sports.

Is There a Reformation Into Identity Achievement for Life After Elite Sport? A Journey of Identity Growth Paradox During Liminal Rites and Identity Moratorium

Athletes' identity development upon retirement from elite sport was examined through a model of self-reformation that integrates and builds on the theoretical underpinnings of identity development and liminality, while advancing seven propositions and supporting conceptual conjectures using findings from research on athletes' transition out of sport. As some elite athletes lose a salient athletic identity upon retiring from sport, they experience an identity crisis and enter the transition rites feeling in between their former athletic identity and future identity post-sport life, during which a temporary identity moratorium status is needed for identity growth. Given the developmental challenges encountered in moratorium and psychosocial processes necessary to establish a new, fulfilling identity for life after elite sport, we identified key conditions, triggers, and processes that advance how a journey of identity growth paradox experienced during liminality serves as a catalyst toward identity achievement. Elite athletes must be encouraged to persevere in this challenging identity search and delay commitments for as long as it is necessary to achieve identity growth despite experiencing uncomfortable feelings of confusion, void, and ambiguity during the liminal phase. Reforming into an achieved identity for life after elite sport would corroborate the successful navigation of transition, as elite athletes evolved into a synthesized sense of self by cementing, through a negotiated adaptation pathway, constructed identity commitments that will provide new beginnings and meaningful directions to their life after elite sport.