For many first-year college students, transitioning from a high school student to a college student is difficult because of the differences between workload, freedom, social adjustments and professors' expectations. Although some students are able to adapt to the new lifestyle, some students never make the adjustment and are left at a dire disadvantage. In light of these characteristics involved in the new lifestyle of a college student, how does adding another adjustment to your lifestyle affect you success? This is the case for many high school athletes entering into college and not playing an organized sport. These students must adjust to no longer playing sports that, in many cases; they have been playing for the majority of their lives. How could this alteration affect these student athletes more so than the average college students?
According to a study conducted by John R. Lubker, an assistant professor in the Department of Sports and Exercise Sciences at West Texas A&M University and Edward F. Etzel, an associate professor in the School of Physical Education at West Virginia University, there are significant differences in the success rates of first-year disengaged athletes (being those who no longer play a life-long sport), non-athletes, and current varsity college athletes.
In 2006, in the United States, out of the 2.3 million male high school athletes playing football, basketball, baseball, hockey, and soccer combined, only 35,000 of the high school players transition to college freshman roster positions, resulting in an average of only about 2 high school athletes out of every 100 the chance to play at the collegiate level (NCAA, 2006). Although this percentage does not include the number of students playing intramural sports, the drastic decrease in athletic activity from high school to college shows the number of college students who no longer play a sport that they’ve played throughout their adolescence; however, the difference between NCAA divisions’ athletics and intramural sports also play a role in athletes identity and self-analyses.
The conclusion of their study was that, female disengaged athletes reported a higher level of adjustment, attachment to the university, and overall academic achievement than their male counterpart. I believe that this is due to females being more willing to shed their athletic identity than their male counterpart. Overall, the success rate of disengaged athletes, collegiate athletes, and non-athletes could possibly lead to more programs being set up to help these disengaged athletes adjust to college life. Stay tuned!
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