“Football Did Not Make Me a World Champion, but It Did Help My Wellbeing”: A Qualitative Study of Study-sport Balance Based on Fung Ka Ki

Abstract

Managing the balance of academic and athletic responsibilities at university is a serious challenge for student athletes. This phenomenological case study illuminates how one individual successfully managed his study-sport balance at university, and how such experiences shaped his life. Through two semi-structured interviews, the participant Fung Ka Ki, a former student athlete turned international footballer, made sense of his lived experiences at university and achievements post-university. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was employed for the qualitative analysis. Two themes were derived: 1) Deploying athletic wisdom to inform life coping strategies, 2) Wellbeing through intellect and body developing together as a system. The findings provide insights into how mental and physical discipline may complement each other to create deep existential wellbeing. The study contributes to the on-going debate on whether high performance athletes should further their studies at university, and indicates ways sports and wellbeing practitioners may support student athletes more effectively.