Participation In Intercollegiate Athletics Research Articles

Collegiate Sports Participation, Academic Achievement, and Bachelor's Degree Completion1

Popular attention to the multi‐million‐dollar enterprise of collegiate sports often centers on the extent to which student athletes are academically engaged. In this article, we draw on a national sample of approximately 5,000 college‐goers, employ key comparisons (i.e., high‐visibility student athletes, nonrevenue student athletes, and nonathletes), and consider background disadvantages and collegiate division levels relative to achievement (i.e., grade point average) and bachelor's degree completion. Analyses show that once background attributes and division levels are accounted for, there is little difference in achievement and attainment between high‐visibility student athletes and their nonathlete peers. There is, however, a dual advantage in 4‐year degree completion for those playing other collegiate sports—an advantage tied to their more privileged family and educational backgrounds and their participation in intercollegiate athletics itself. Our results in these regards are robust to several restrictive and analytically rigorous modeling strategies. We conclude by highlighting the implications for higher education research and its attention to inequality, educational representation, institutional processes, and student success.

Athletics is Education

While participation in intercollegiate athletics has historically been classified as extracurricular, sports have the potential to serve as an educational avenue in postsecondary institutions if reframed through a higher education lens. Through a synthesis of research on traditional college students’ and athletes’ educational experiences, the current article highlights the unique nexus of higher education and Division I intercollegiate athletics by extending Chickering and Gamson’s (1987) seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education to intercollegiate athletics. First, the Seven Principles are briefly presented in their original form relating to the traditional higher education environment: (1) encourage contact between students and faculty, (2) develop reciprocity and cooperation among students, (3) encourage active learning, (4) give prompt feedback, (5) emphasize time on task, (6) communicate high expectations, and (7) respect diverse talents and ways of learning. Next, these factors are reconsidered and applied to the educational development of Division I intercollegiate athletes. Finally, implications of applying this framework and further integrating the educational components of collegiate sport to cultivate improved experiences for athletes are provided.

Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 Test Positivity in NCAA Division I Student Athletes vs Nonathletes at 12 Institutions

The COVID-19 pandemic initially led to the abrupt shutdown of collegiate athletics until guidelines were established for a safe return to play for student athletes. Currently, no literature exists that examines the difference in SARS-CoV-2 test positivity between student athletes and nonathletes at universities across the country. To identify the difference in risk of COVID-19 infection between student athlete and nonathlete student populations and evaluate the hypothesis that student athletes may display increased SARS-CoV-2 test positivity associated with increased travel, competition, and testing compared with nonathletes at their respective universities. In this cross-sectional analysis, a search of publicly available official university COVID-19 dashboards and press releases was performed for all 65 Power 5 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I institutions during the 2020 to 2021 academic year. Data were analyzed at the conclusion of the academic year. Schools that released at least 4 months of testing data, including the fall 2020 football season, for student athletes and nonathlete students were included in the analysis. Power 5 NCAA Division I student athletes and their nonathlete student counterparts were included in the analysis. Designation as a varsity student athlete. The main outcome was SARS-CoV-2 test positivity for student athletes and nonathlete students at the included institutions for the 2020 to 2021 academic year, measured as a relative risk for student athletes. Among 12 schools with sufficient data available included in the final analysis, 555 372 student athlete tests and 3 482 845 nonathlete student tests were performed. There were 9 schools with decreased test positivity in student athletes compared with nonathlete students (University of Arkansas: 0.01% vs 3.52%; University of Minnesota: 0.63% vs 5.96%; Penn State University: 0.74% vs 6.58%; Clemson University: 0.40% vs 1.88%; University of Louisville: 0.75% vs 3.05%; Purdue University: 0.79% vs 2.97%; University of Michigan: 0.40% vs 1.12%; University of Illinois: 0.17% vs 0.40%; University of Virginia: 0.64% vs 1.04%) (P < .001 for each). The median (range) test positivity in these 9 schools was 0.46% (0.01%-0.79%) for student athletes and 1.04% (0.40%-6.58%) for nonathlete students. In 1 school, test positivity was increased in the student athlete group (Stanford University: 0.20% vs 0.05%; P < .001). Overall, there were 2425 positive tests (0.44%) among student athletes and 30 567 positive tests (0.88%) among nonathlete students, for a relative risk of 0.50 (95% CI, 0.48-0.52; P < .001). There was no statistically significant difference in student athlete test positivity between included schools; however, test positivity among nonathlete students varied considerably between institutions, ranging from 133 of 271 862 tests (0.05%) at Stanford University to 2129 of 32 336 tests (6.58%) at Penn State University. This study found that in the setting of SARS-CoV-2 transmission mitigation protocols implemented by the NCAA, participation in intercollegiate athletics was not associated with increased SARS-CoV-2 test positivity. This finding suggests that collegiate athletics may be held without an associated increased risk of infection among student athletes.

An Antitrust Analysis of NCAA Amateurism as an Unlawful Tying Restraint: Market Power, Surplus Extraction, and Foreclosure

Economists have long recognized the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a monopsonistic cartel that restrains athlete labor compensation below competitive market levels. However, an additional restraint has been heretofore ignored. This article argues that NCAA justifies the restraint on athlete compensation through an anticompetitive tying restraint between two distinct products: intercollegiate athletic participation and post-secondary academic education. Contrary to the unitary “college education” market definition used in the O’Bannon v. NCAA case and to which parties stipulated in subsequent litigation, this article presents evidence of separate relevant markets for these goods. The NCAA Division I cartel leverages its market power in the intercollegiate athletics market, particularly through dominant autonomy “Power-5” conference members, to enhance market power in the tying market, extract consumer surplus from both athletes and the general student body and foreclose competition in the tied market. The existence of separate markets, market power in the tying market, and non-trivial foreclosure sales in the tied education market confirm that NCAA’s model of “amateurism” meets the Supreme Court’s three-pronged per se test for unlawful tying. Further, even in the absence of foreclosure share, the tying arrangement enhances dominant schools’ market power in athletics and achieves surplus extraction by harming competition, which should warrant the imposition of antitrust liability. This article presents an analysis of relevant markets and discusses relevant economic arguments raised by economic experts in the O’Bannon and NCAA Grant-in-Aid litigation, along with a review of the relevant academic literature and legal precedent.

Does Athletic Participation Signal Employability?: An Experimental Analysis of Male and Female Athlete Job Applicants

College athletes face high expectations to compete on the field and in the classroom. However, the time demands associated with athletics and academics often limit their ability to engage in traditional college experiences. Internships or practical job trainings are one such opportunity unfortunately forgone due to the time constraints of the contemporary college athlete experience. This results in an issue when applying for jobs outside of sport, as direct internship experience positively impacts an individual’s likelihood to be hired into an entry-level position. Through the application of signaling theory, the current study explored the perceived value of intercollegiate athletic participation compared to and in addition to direct internship experience via four resume evaluation experiments. Two hundred and thirty five individuals with hiring experience participated; results suggested athletic participation was perceived as at least equally favorable to direct internship experience. However, male athletes without direct internship experience were more likely to receive an interview and received higher unobserved attribute ratings than female athletes with the exact same credentials.

Do Sports Crowd Out Books? The Impact of Intercollegiate Athletic Participation on Grades

We investigate the influence of intercollegiate athletic participation on grades using data from the U.S. Naval Academy. Athletic participation is an endogenous decision with respect to educational outcomes. To identify a causal effect, we develop an instrument via the Academy’s random assignment of students into peer groups. Instrumental variable (IVs) estimates suggest that sports participation modestly reduces recruited athletes’ grades. This finding has implications beyond college, as we also show that grades—not athletic participation—are most strongly associated with postcollegiate outcomes such as military tenure and promotion rates.

Impact of Intercollegiate Athletic Participation on Leadership Development

This study examined the effects of participation in intercollegiate athletics on leadership development using a multi-institutional, longitudinal sample of students at four-year institutions. Using Astin’s (1993) Input–Environment–Outcome model, we examined whether athletic participation influenced leadership development using the Socially Responsible Leadership Scale while controlling for students’ background and institutional characteristics. Using pretest/posttest data from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education, we found participation in certain types of athletics, particularly team sports, inhibit leadership growth. This study contributes to the literature by using longitudinal data, comparing athletes to nonathletes, and classifying athletes based upon team or individual sports as well as by the contact level in their respective sport. Finally, this study has implications for higher education policy, including practical applications for coaches, administrators, faculty, staff, and students.

Examination of Drinking Habits and Motives of Collegiate Student-Athletes

Universities across the United States have reported consistently high rates of alcohol use and abuse among students during the past 20 years. The college student alcohol consumption level is considered an important public health concern. The increase in problematic drinking seems to be campus wide, but there is an understudied at-risk demographic—collegiate student-athletes. The purpose of this study is to examine student-athletes’ motives for alcohol consumption, drinking patterns, and alcohol-related negative consequences. Student-athletes (N = 283) from five Midwestern universities completed an online questionnaire assessing this behavior. Male student-athletes reported higher levels in all three categories than females. In addition, differences were found in the drinking motives of individual and team sport student-athletes. Unlike previous studies, Division I student-athletes did not differ from Division III with respect to these behaviors. Male student-athletes seem particularly at-risk for problematic alcohol consumption. Additionally, differences were found in motives experienced for alcohol consumption based on sport type (i.e., individual versus team). Level of play was not found to influence drinking motives or alcohol consumption which may signify participation in intercollegiate athletics is a greater influence than division. Differences found in gender and sport type may provide insight to help decrease dangerous drinking habits of student-athletes.

Surprise, Sensemaking, and Success in the First College Year: Black Undergraduate Men's Academic Adjustment Experiences

Background Much has been written about Black undergraduate men's out-of-class engagement and social experiences, identity development, participation in intercollegiate athletics, and college enrollment and completion rates. Too little is known about their academic readiness and first-year college adjustment. Purpose The purpose of this study was to understand Black male students’ academic transition experiences in the first college year, with a particular emphasis on how they resolved academic challenges with which they were confronted. Setting This study was conducted at 42 colleges and universities in 20 states across the United States. Six institution types were included: private liberal arts colleges, public research universities, highly selective private research universities, public and private Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and comprehensive state universities. Participants The sample was comprised of 219 Black undergraduate men, mostly juniors and seniors, who maintained high cumulative grade point averages, were extraordinarily engaged in a range of student organizations, held multiple leadership roles on campus, cultivated meaningful relationships with faculty and administrators, participated in enriching educational experiences (e.g., study abroad programs), and earned numerous merit-based awards and honors for their college achievements. Research Design Qualitative research methods were used in this study. Specifically, phenomenology was used to understand what Black male students experienced in the first college year and how they experienced the transition phenomenon. Data Collection and Analysis Individual, face-to-face interviews were conducted with all 219 participants. Each interview was 2-3 hours. Moustakas’ (1994) process for phenomenological data analysis and Harper's (2007) trajectory analysis technique were used to analyze data collected for this study. Findings Two thematic categories of findings are presented in this article. First are reflections from students who experienced turbulence in their transitions from high school to higher education. Being underprepared for the academic rigors of college, the surprising mismatch between academic effort and first-year grades, the racial composition dissimilarities between their high schools and college campuses, and feelings of cultural misfit were factors to which participants attributed their initial adjustment challenges. The second category includes insights from achievers who transitioned seamlessly to college. They attributed their successful starts to strong academic preparation, prior experiences in demographically comparable educational environments, participation in summer bridge and college transition programs, and academically profitable relationships they cultivated in student organizations. Recommendations This article ends with several suggestions for helping Black undergraduate men adjust more seamlessly and resolve surprising academic transition issues encountered in the first college year.

Iron Deficiency Anemia Among Collegiate Athletes

PURPOSE: To characterize the iron status of student-athletes during participation in intercollegiate athletics at an NCAA Division I institution. METHODS: In this retrospective medical record review, hemoglobin (Hgb), hematocrit (Hct) and ferritin (Fer) lab values were obtained for student-athletes on active team rosters between 2002 and 2014. The labs were collected either as part of the institution’s pre-participation exam (PPE) (all female athletes), routine screening (cross country teams) or as needed for medical work-up (symptomatic student-athletes). Anemia was defined as low Hgb, < 11.6 g/dL for females and < 13.6 g/dL for males. Iron deficiency was defined as Fer < 20 ng/mL for all student-athletes. In addition to descriptive statistical analysis of iron status among genders and sports, a mixed effects linear regression was utilized to evaluate the trends of iron status through the course of student-athletes’ careers. RESULTS: A total of 5,705 lab draws were obtained for 2,749 unique individuals from 24 different teams (56% female). Of the 12,590 combined Hgb, Hct and Fer lab values, 8.0% were found to be outside the normal ranges established by the clinical laboratory. The incidence of low Hgb among female athletes at PPE was 5.6% (95% CI 4.4%-6.9%). No female sports had a significantly higher incidence of anemia at PPE compared to the group mean. For males, 9.3% of all Hgb measurements were low (95% CI 8.1%-10.5%). Among the 395 instances of Fer < 20 ng/mL, only 7.1% of student-athletes were found to be anemic. Fer values tended to improve over time for all student-athletes, with an average increase of 8% per year (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Iron deficiency, with or without anemia, has been and continues to be a concern in collegiate athletics, which is supported by the incidence of anemia detected by routine screening of incoming female student-athletes at our institution. The higher proportion of male student-athletes found to be anemic in our retrospective review was not surprising since they were typically evaluated only when symptomatic. Given the impact of iron status on athletic performance, informed iron screening and supplementation practices are warranted.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Perceived Exploitation of College Athletes Questionnaire

Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Perceived Exploitation of College Athletes Questionnaire Derek Van Rheenen (bio) and Jason R. Atwood (bio) The exploitation of college athletes has been a topic of controversy within American higher education for over half of a century. Ever since the term student-athlete was coined in the 1950s (Sperber, 1999), academics and administrators have debated the extent to which the commercialization of college sports has turned college athletes into commodities, excluded from the free market while their coaches, colleges, and conferences reap huge financial rewards (Branch, 2011; Van Rheenen, 2013; Zimbalist, 1999). Especially in the revenue-generating sports of men’s basketball and football, critics have highlighted the surplus gains expropriated by colleges and universities on the backs of these young men, who are disproportionately Black (Eitzen, 2000; Hawkins, 2010; Rhoden, 2006). The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education (“Are the flagship,” 2005) argued, “The case is strong that flagship universities are exploiting Blacks for their athletic talents,” by noting: “The majority of flagship state universities admit Black students who are not academically qualified . . . [and] solely for the purpose of their participation in intercollegiate athletics” (p. 2). James Duderstadt, a former college football player and President of the University of Michigan, also observed that universities “exploit” the athletic talents of college athletes “for financial gain and public visibility,” in part by “tolerating low graduation rates and meaningless degrees in majors like general studies or recreational life” (Duderstadt, 2000, p. 5-6). Even Walter Byers, who served as NCAA Executive Director from 1951 to 1987, titled his memoir Unsportsmanlike Conduct: Exploiting College Athletes (Byers & Hammer, 1995), a clear indictment of modern college sports and the institutional commodification of at least some of these student athletes. To date, only a few studies (Adler & Adler, 1991; Beamon, 2008; Leonard, 1986) have explored the idea of exploitation from the perspective of college athletes, and the limitations of these reports reveal the need for a more comprehensive and comparative analysis. The proposed Perceived Exploitation of College Athletes (PECA) Questionnaire is an internally consistent three-item scale (α = .80). These three items were initially part of a seven-item index about perceived exploitation, which was one of several constructs studied in earlier papers about noncognitive predictors of academic success among college athletes (Simons & Van Rheenen, 2000) and the academic motivation of college athletes (Simons, Van Rheenen & Covington, 1999). In these studies it was found that college athletes who were more committed to their sports were also more likely to feel exploited. Additionally, the more college athletes felt exploited, the lower their university grade point averages. Utilizing this three-item exploitation scale on a sample of 581 Division I college athletes, Van Rheenen (2011) found significant differences by gender, sport, and race. Participants on the revenue-generating sports of [End Page 486] men’s basketball and football were over seven times more likely to report feeling exploited than their peers on nonrevenue sports teams. Van Rheenen (2011) also found significant differences by race in self-reported perceptions of being exploited. The odds of Black college athletes feeling exploited were nearly five times as great as that of White varsity athletes and four times as great as student athletes who identified as Hispanic, Asian, Native American, or any other racial group. The Perceived Exploitation of College Athletes (PECA) Questionnaire, if found to be statistically valid and reliable as hypothesized, will help researchers and student affairs practitioners interested in this important area. For example, the scale will allow researchers to examine whether perceptions of exploitation differ by sport, gender, race, year in school, and/or scholarship status. These analyses can be conducted at colleges and universities who participate at varying levels of athletic competition, are public or private, and who offer scholarships or not. The demographics of the student body at large, relative to the student athlete population, may also be a factor in these perceptions of exploitation. Findings could inform administrators and educators about the need to reform institutional policies related to recruiting, academic support services, career counseling, and compensation. If it is determined that a subset of college athletes are particularly vulnerable to feelings of exploitation, colleges and universities—and the conferences and associations to...

Student-Athletes? The Impact of Intercollegiate Sports Participation on Academic Outcomes

As of 2011, there were over 444,000 college athletes playing for over 18,000 teams in the United States. Using data from a longitudinal survey of college students at over 400 institutions, we estimate the impact of participation in intercollegiate athletics on academic outcomes. We focus on whether the effects differ across sports and student demographics including gender, race, and pre-college academic ability. Among our results, we find participation in college sports has a small, negative effect on GPA. This effect is stronger among football and basketball players, stronger among males, weaker among top students, but does not differ across race.

Life span exercise among elite intercollegiate student athletes.

Background:Despite prominent public attention, data on life span health and exercise outcomes among elite, competitive athletes are sparse and do not reflect the diversity of modern athletes.Hypothesis:Life span exercise behavior differs between National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) student athletes and a nonathlete control group. Sustained exercise is associated with improved cardiopulmonary health outcomes.Study Design:Cross-sectional, descriptive epidemiology study.Level of Evidence:Level 3.Methods:A total of 496 students and alumni (age range, 17-84 year) at a large, NCAA Division I university, including student athletes and an age- and sex-matched nonathlete control group, completed anonymous, self-report health and exercise questionnaires. Age-stratified, cross-sectional analysis evaluated previous week’s total exercise volume (ExVol), self-rated exercise importance (ExImp), and compliance with American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) exercise guidelines for healthy adults. The association of ACSM guideline compliance with lifetime cardiopulmonary health outcomes was also assessed.Results:Current student athletes reported significantly greater ExVol (P < 0.001. Cohen d = 0.99, probability of clinically important difference [pCID] >99.5%), ExImp (P < 0.001, d = 1.96, pCID = 96%), and likelihood of compliance with ACSM guidelines (odds ratio [OR], 95% confidence interval [CI] = 30.6, 11.0-84.6) compared with nonathletes. No significant differences were found between alumni student athletes and nonathletes. Alumni student athletes demonstrated substantially lower ExVol (P < 0.001, d = –0.94, pCID >99.5%) and guideline compliance (OR = 0.09, 95% CI = 0.05-0.19) compared with current student athletes, whereas nonathletes had similar exercise behavior across the life span. Among alumni, ACSM guideline compliance was associated with significant attenuation of cardiopulmonary health concerns (P = 0.02, d = –0.50, pCID = 14%) independent of intercollegiate athletic participation.Conclusion:Although current NCAA Division I student athletes demonstrated significant, clinically important differences in exercise behavior compared with nonathletes, no group differences were evident later in life. Irrespective of collegiate athletic status, healthy exercise behavior among alumni was associated with cardiopulmonary health benefits.Clinical Relevance:To realize life span health benefits, it is imperative that student athletes maintain consistent patterns of healthy exercise beyond retirement from competitive sports.

Examining the Influence of Athletic Participation in Evaluation of Entry-Level Positions In Financial Services: An Application of Role Congruity Theory

Role congruity theory was utilized to examine whether a candidate’s participation in intercollegiate athletics influenced hiring preferences of managers in the financial services industry; an industry with a majority of leadership positions occupied by men. Participants were N = 163 (female n = 71, male n = 92) managers within the financial services industry. A simulated employment procedure was used with hiring managers evaluating mock applicant résumés for either male/female athletes or male/female non-athletes prior to answering questions about preferences for hiring candidates for entry-level employment. Results indicated female athlete candidates received similar scores to the male athlete candidates for hiring and competence. The female non-athlete candidate received the lowest scores for hiring and competence. Further, female athlete candidates received the highest scores overall for likeability. The findings indicate that participation in athletics provides women with a benefit in regard to hiring preference in the financial services industry.

Signaling Eligibility: Evaluating the Messaging of NCAA Eligibility Requirements to Prospective Student-Athletes.

Resting on core values including a focus on academic achievement and amateur competition, the NCAA requires that student-athletes meet specific eligibility requirements prior to competing in intercollegiate athletics. Prospective and current student-athletes receive information surrounding eligibility requirements from a variety of sources and are solely responsible for securing their eligibility. Signaling theory explores the informational asymmetry that exists between two parties in a transaction, when one party in a position of power holds information that the other party has not obtained and may be important in the ability of the uninformed party to make a decision (Connelly, Certo, Ireland, & Reutzel, 2011). Additionally, importance-satisfaction analysis offers a practical way to evaluate how satisfied consumers are with a particular attribute, against whether or not they believe that attribute to be important (Martilla & James, 1977) This study explores student-athletes’ satisfaction with the communications they received surrounding academic and amateurism eligibility requirements for participation in NCAA intercollegiate athletics, and their perceived importance of those communications within an environment of informational asymmetry. Specifically, I surveyed 162 NCAA student-athletes competing in all three NCAA divisions and 20 conferences. The results indicated that while student-athletes were generally satisfied with the communications they received regarding eligibility requirements, discrepancies between the satisfaction with and the reported importance of these communications exist. These results suggest that the NCAA and its member-institutions have an opportunity to improve communications surrounding eligibility requirements in an effort to level the proverbial playing field in an environment of informational asymmetry.

The impact of baseball participation on the educational experiences of black student-athletes at historically black colleges and universities

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of baseball participation on the educational experiences of black student-athletes at two Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the southeastern United States (US). HBCUs were selected for this study because of the limited amount of research on student-athletes at these institutions. Two separate focus group interviews were conducted for data collection. Data was retrieved from student-athletes who participated in baseball at two selected HBCUs in the southeastern US. A grounded theoretical approach was employed to examine the relationship between intercollegiate athletic participation and the educational experiences of black baseball student-athletes at HBCUs. The findings from this study revealed that the current structure of intercollegiate baseball created both positive and negative impacts on the overall educational experiences of black baseball student-athletes at HBCUs. However, when there is a healthy balance between academics and athletics, positive outcomes for students can be achieved. With the grounded theoretical approach to analysis, the researchers developed the Education-Sports Symbiosis (ESS) hypothesis to explain the phenomenon in this study. These findings support previous research that suggested the current structure of intercollegiate athletics requires immediate reform in order to enhance educational experiences and developmental outcomes for black student-athletes. These general findings will be discussed in terms of their implications for policy, practice, and future research.

Transitions Into and Out of Intercollegiate Athletic Involvement and Risky Drinking

Cross-sectional data show that college athletes consume more alcohol and experience more general alcohol-related problems than those not participating in athletics. To our knowledge, the current study is the first to use a longitudinal design to examine the extent to which the course of drinking and alcohol-related problems relates to involvement in intercollegiate athletics, including transitioning into and out of athletic involvement. Participants were drawn from a sample of 3,720 college students from the Intensive Multivariate Prospective Alcohol College-Transitions Study who completed a survey every semester through their fourth year. Four groups were created based on athletic involvement status at baseline (freshman year) and follow-up (senior year): nonathlete, nonathlete (no reported athletic involvement at either time point), nonathlete, athlete (nonathlete at freshman year, athlete at senior year), athlete, nonathlete (athlete at freshman year, nonathlete at senior year), and athlete, athlete (athlete at freshman year, athlete at senior year). A series of repeated measures analyses were then conducted to test for developmental differences among the athlete groups involving alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems. Although findings differed as a function of alcohol outcome and comparison among various groups with differing athletic involvement, the general pattern of results showed that individuals who were more athletically involved demonstrated sharper increases in problem drinking (i.e., heavy drinking, frequency of intoxication, alcohol-related problems) during the college years. These findings highlight the apparent risk associated with participation in intercollegiate athletics on college drinking.

The Effectiveness of a Dynamic Warm-Up in Improving Performance in College Athletes

Warming up before performing rigorous physical activity is typically done to increase range of motion and improve athletic performance. Common warm-up techniques in college athletics include static stretching, proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretching, dynamic warm-ups, and sport-specific activities. However, the type of warm-up routine used in the college setting varies based on a variety of factors including coaching or therapist experience, education, and preference. Recent studies have investigated the effectiveness of different types of warm-up on college athlete performance measures such as vertical jump, agility, and sport-specific activities (eg, sprint performance). Although a dynamic warm-up is generally thought to be superior to other common warm-up techniques, there remains uncertainty regarding the best method to prepare for intercollegiate athletic participation.

A Gendered Perspective on Student Involvement in Collegiate Clubs and Organizations in Christian Higher Education

The theory of student involvement (Astin, 1984) acknowledges that as students devote time and energy to educationally purposeful activities, they can expect to make cognitive and affective gains throughout the college years. Participation in clubs and organizations is one form of involvement associated with a host of learning and developmental gains. Compared to other demographic groups, male college students may be more at risk of missing some of these gains because they show lower participation rates in cocurricular activities (Pike, Kuh, & Gonyea, 2003). Hierarchical multiple regression and logistic regression analyses were used to investigate the predictors of men's and women's involvement in collegiate clubs and organizations. Samples consisted of senior-year men (N = 554) and women (N = 991) who attended faith-based liberal arts institutions and completed the 2002 Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) and 2006 College Senior Survey (CSS) instruments. Students’ entry characteristics, goals and aspirations, use of time, and campus experiences were examined. Four significant predictors of involvement were shared by men and women: previous high school involvement, anticipated collegiate involvement, working on campus, and student-faculty interaction. Living on campus in the first year of college, ethnicity (being White), public service goals, career goals, and satisfaction with a sense of community uniquely predicted involvement for women, whereas participation in intercollegiate athletics was a unique predictor for men. Program design, recruitment, outreach, and maximizing campus experiences are avenues through which the findings of this study can be leveraged to promote involvement in cocurricular clubs and organizations.

Health Concerns Precede Participation in Intercollegiate Athletics: Epidemiological Data on Five Conditions

Health Concerns Precede Participation in Intercollegiate Athletics: Epidemiological Data on Five Conditions