Dual sport career experiences of student-athletes studying in South Africa and the USA
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 investigate...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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AOSIS
2024-02-01
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| Series: | African Journal of Career Development |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ajcd.africa/index.php/ajcd/article/view/96 |
| _version_ | 1797289284034625536 |
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| author | Louis J. van Zyl |
| author_facet | Louis J. van Zyl |
| author_sort | Louis J. van Zyl |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T19:02:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c0ca5b370447430db40f2d86e7c28f1e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2709-7420 2617-7471 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T19:02:42Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | AOSIS |
| record_format | Article |
| series | African Journal of Career Development |
| spelling | doaj.art-c0ca5b370447430db40f2d86e7c28f1e2024-03-01T13:18:04ZengAOSISAfrican Journal of Career Development2709-74202617-74712024-02-0161e1e910.4102/ajcd.v6i1.9658Dual sport career experiences of student-athletes studying in South Africa and the USALouis J. van Zyl0Department of Humanities Education, Faculty of Education, University of Pretoria, PretoriaBackground: 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.https://ajcd.africa/index.php/ajcd/article/view/96dual careerstudent-athletestransitionsupport systemssouth africausa. |
| spellingShingle | Louis J. van Zyl Dual sport career experiences of student-athletes studying in South Africa and the USA African Journal of Career Development dual career student-athletes transition support systems south africa usa. |
| title | Dual sport career experiences of student-athletes studying in South Africa and the USA |
| title_full | Dual sport career experiences of student-athletes studying in South Africa and the USA |
| title_fullStr | Dual sport career experiences of student-athletes studying in South Africa and the USA |
| title_full_unstemmed | Dual sport career experiences of student-athletes studying in South Africa and the USA |
| title_short | Dual sport career experiences of student-athletes studying in South Africa and the USA |
| title_sort | dual sport career experiences of student athletes studying in south africa and the usa |
| topic | dual career student-athletes transition support systems south africa usa. |
| url | https://ajcd.africa/index.php/ajcd/article/view/96 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT louisjvanzyl dualsportcareerexperiencesofstudentathletesstudyinginsouthafricaandtheusa |