Successfully Assimilating International Student-Athletes in the College Setting

Abstract

Research has focused on the process of assimilation that international student-athletes experience when they move to a different country to play their sport as well as continue their education. What mechanisms do these athletes develop and implement to facilitate or ease their experience while going through this process? What opportunities do their new environments provide them to assist with this process? In the present study, ten international athletes were interviewed on their personal experience through this process of assimilation to the United States college setting as student-athletes and conclusions have been drawn regarding what helped them overcome this stage of assimilation and what added more stress to this process. This research will focus on the challenges that international student-athletes face when arriving in college in the United States and what they can do to overcome these challenges, as well as what colleges can do to provide support. Key recommendations to improve integration and accommodations into the American collegiate academic and athletic campus culture are presented.