Kaitlin Rohrs-Cordes’s research while affiliated with Bowling Green State University and other places

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and member institutions claim the responsibility to support and protect collegiate athletes with a priority on their well-being (NCAA, 2017). When an athlete obtains a career-ending injury, individual universities decide whether or not to honor scholarships and medical care to the injured athletes. This research study investigated the policies, procedures, and enforcement procedures regarding athletes who obtain a career-ending injury as written in the athlete handbooks of 23 Division I NCAA university athletic departments. Utilizing thematic textual analytic procedures (Braun & Clarke, 2006), findings revealed written policies used to guide the majority of the athletic departments’ handling of athletes with career-ending injuries were inconsistent and lacked specificity. Findings implied there is more the NCAA and its institutions can do to fulfill their mission in providing career-ending injured collegiate athletes with consistent protection and support for their overall well-being during their transition out of sport.

Forced early retirement due to a career-ending injury is a unique and traumatic life event for an NCAA collegiate athlete. Although the NCAA financially helps some of these athletes, problems still arise due to inadequate recognition of the psychosocial effects of career-ending injuries. There has been little research to evaluate the effectiveness of a common psychosocial intervention for these athletes. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate if an NCAA-sponsored online support group would help collegiate athletes with career-ending injuries transition out of college sport. Participants were identified using purposive criterion sampling. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with former Division I NCAA collegiate athletes who experienced a career-ending injury. Implications practitioners could use to help ease these athletes’ transition out of sports were identified and a foundation was established for future studies regarding the helpfulness of online support groups for career-ending injured athletes.