NCAA Athlete Development and Retention: Administrators’ Perspectives

Athlete well-being has been studied from many perspectives in recent years, yet limited studies have been incepted about athlete development from the standpoint of athletic administrators. Berg and Warner built upon their 2019 study, Advancing College Athlete Development via Social Support, in this empirical study. Researchers set out to use the sport development frameworks retention stage as a vehicle to understand athlete development at an elite level and how athletic department leaders and staff create socially supportive environments. The socially supportive environment was essential to understand as it relates to keeping athletes on campus, athletically engaged, and emotionally stable.

The retention stage of the sport development frameworks was used because that is the most pertinent stage that athletes are in while playing sports for their respective universities. The retention stage means that an athlete is no longer just playing their sport for fun or with friends recreationally, and this stage means that the athlete is fully engaged in the elite sport they play.

Twenty-four athletic administrators from 12 universities in a Division I non-Power Five conference were recruited using purposive and snowball sampling. A semi-structured interview guide was used for participants. Deductive and inductive thematic analysis was used to distinguish the themes from prior empirical studies while allowing for new results. QSR International’s Nvivo 12 software was used to code and analyze the data.

Data analysis showed four overarching themes from the minds of athletic administrators Developing Trusting Relationships, Intentional Support, Reprioritizing Athlete Well-Being, and Adapting to Athlete Needs. Developing Trusting Relationships is defined by the athlete feeling like they can trust the athletic department staff, like a natural bond or trust. Intentional Support means athletic administrators go out of the way to provide specialized programs and one-on-one personal conversations generated towards socially supporting the athlete. Participants identified a barrier to adequate social support as task overload, which led to the strong theme of Reprioritizing Athlete Well-Being. Adapting to Athlete Needs was a critical theme as interviews were being conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, and administrators had to adjust their plans for athletes innovatively to accommodate their needs.

The data led researchers to conclude that athletic departments must invest in developing culture and critical relationships themselves and not use a third party to outsource engagement with the athletes, which is an example of Developing Trusting Relationships. The finding also indicates that athletic departments need human resources that are both quality and quantity as it relates to making sure athletes are holistically developed, which is an example of Intentional Support. Too many tasks or task overload for staff in athletic departments was common because they had so much to do that they could only focus on their jobs, which led to the theme of Reprioritizing Athlete Well-Being. The COVID-19 pandemic and issues surrounding social justice allowed administrators to adjust with the athletes, which led to the theme of Adapting to Athlete Needs.

Mental health, athlete retention, and social well-being will continue to be critical in college athletics. This study shows how athletic administrators support and keep athletes at their universities; in contrast, the results of this study are just scratching the surface, and more research is needed on the practical ways to support athletic administrators to ensure that they are creating a strong community, developing personal trust, and the benefits of high retention rates. The revenue disparity between Power Five and non-Power Five institutions was a study limitation. An NCAA subsidy for non-Power Five universities could provide better staffing numbers to help avoid task overload and allow focus on Reprioritizing Athlete Well-Being.

Athlete well-being is more critical now than ever, and athletic administrators will continue to play a vital role in holistic support for college athletes.

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Berg, B. K., Warner, S., Walsh, D. W., & Wells, J. E. (2021). NCAA Athlete Development and Retention: Administrators’ Perspectives. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics.

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