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Players Academy

Exploring the Life Form of a Student Athlete

Authors: Natalia Korhonen, Aku Nikander, and Tatiana V. Ryba
Research guiding Practice

Abstract

The current paper introduces a case study conducted in one of the most well-established athletic talent development environments in Finland, with the focus on the environment’s ecological dynamics and organizational culture, in light of its recent effort to rebrand itself as a dual career development environment. Our analysis has been inspired by the holistic ecological approach and ecological dynamics, wherein the authors have considered a dual career development environment from the point of view of its transactions with agentic individuals and affordances for student athletes in the study domain, the sports domain, and the private domain. The authors believe our findings can provide other sports environments with insight into what to consider when transforming the organizational culture of an environment to better aid their student athletes in realizing their dual career goals.

Overview

Key Findings

Student-Athlete Balance

The dominating presence of sports within an athletes life may be causing the other domains (academics and private life) to suffer, and it may also be nurturing a negative quality of life.

Holistic Environment

For student-athletes, a holistic athlete development environment consists of three domains: sports, study and private life.

Athlete Development Environment

To understand elite talent development environments, Henriksen, Stambulova, and Roessler (2010) proposed shifting focus from an individual athletes’ development to the entire development environment.

Key Finding

With sports organizations being the dominant environment within a student-athletes life they need to prioritize the coordination of upper secondary studies and competitive sports.

Dual Career Environments

Across Europe, sports organizations are prioritizing the education of student-athletes transforming Athlete Development Environments into Dual Career Development Environments.

Organizational Culture

Schein and Schein (2016) explain that in organizational culture, there are three levels: artifacts (observed behavior and visible structures and processes); espoused beliefs and values (rationalizations, ideals, values, and aspirations); and basic underlying assumptions (subconscious, taken-for-granted beliefs and values that determine perception, thought, feeling, and behavior).

Shared Identity

Schein and Schein (2016), sharing a sense of group identity is a key component of culture, and it is also the force that aids in stabilizing said culture, which means that for a sports environment to function well, key agents must work together toward a shared identity.

Self Advocacy

Moreover, student athletes also did not seem to attribute resources to taking care of their developmental needs beyond sports, which could be seen in most athletes not taking the time to connect with their families and nonathlete peers at school.

Breaking Down The Silo

There did not seem to be a shared culture in the environment, rather the environment was seemingly split into two clear subcultures between the sports academy and the school.

Shared Identity

Student athletes did not recognize teachers as key agents, the opportunities afforded to them by the study domain were often either not recognized or not utilized, and the student athletes’ form of life was typically exercising, eating, training, and attending school, which does not depict the holistic view of DC.

Key Finding

Without a shared culture between academic institutions and athletic organizations, student-athletes prioritize the development of their athletic identity at the expense of their academic identity.

Communication

Communication between teachers, coaches and families is crucial to ensure ensure the best possible outcome for student athletes.

The empirical model of a Finnish dual career development environment.
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