College student athletes are expected to commit to a regime of physical conditioning and training while maintaining academic standards. However, many post-secondary institutions demand that as public-facing representatives of their respective schools, athletes must abide by stricter moral and behavioral codes than non-student athletes. To bind them accordingly, most collegiate athletic programs across the United States require that each athlete sign a student athlete behavior contract.
On the surface, the documented formality makes sense. However, upon closer inspection one may theorize that these contracts place an excessive amount of pressure on an athlete while not recognizing the mental health challenges they face. Below is a look at what’s typically included in student athlete behavior contracts. In addition, we explore considerations to be made to ensure that protecting the integrity of schools does not come at the expense of athlete wellness.
Overview of Why Student Athlete Behavior Contracts Must Include Considerations for Mental Health and Provision Access to Support
Example of a Standard Student Athlete Behavior Contract
General student athlete contracts feature items regarding both athletic and academic performance. Behavioral expectations are either documented separately or included as an addendum. Below is an example of the items and language commonly included in these commitments.
I understand that as a student-athlete, I am a visible representative of the institution both on campus and off-campus whose behaviors are often closely scrutinized by the media and general public. I recognize that my behavior affects public perception of institutional ethos, athletics department standards, and the character of the student body. Therefore, it is an expectation that I will demonstrate consistent role model behavior, sportsmanship and self-control. More specifically:
- I understand that any actions that result in being sanctioned by school, local, state, or federal authorities may also result in sanctions from the athletics department.
- I understand that student-athletes are expected to abide by all athletics department policies that are contained in the Student-Athlete Handbook, including, but not limited to the policies that prohibit alcohol consumption, sexual harassment, bullying, drug use, gambling, and tobacco use.
- I understand that I must be committed to fair play. Intentional acts of unsportsmanlike behavior or cheating will not be tolerated.
- I understand that when representing my team during competition, I will exercise self-control in all ways including, but not limited to, resisting the use of profanity, demonstrating unnecessary aggression or hostility towards others, making inappropriate physical gestures, taunting or excessively celebrating, and disrespecting coaches, officials, teammates or opponents.
- I understand that I am prohibited from interacting in any negative way with fans.
- I understand that when interacting with the media, I am expected to remain positive and not use media interviews as a platform to share personal frustrations about the team, coaches, the athletics department or the institution or to make any negative comments about opponents or officials.
Athlete Predispositions to Behavioral Violations?
The listed items above seem reasonable, but do they consider the mental and behavioral issues that elite young adult athletes are predisposed to? Numerous bodies of research have shown that in addition to athletic burnout, this unique segment of the post-secondary population exhibits higher instances of the following when compared to the general public:
- Anger and irritation
- Anxiety disorder
- Chronic stress
- Depression
- Eating disorders
- Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Process addictions including problem gambling, unhealthy gaming, problematic use of pornography and sex addiction
Further, a number of these athletes face pressure from dependent families who may depend upon them to sustain great success through collegiate years so that they can make it professional leagues (NFL, NBA, WNBA, etc.) and provide financial support. Those who are involved in NCAA NIL deals face added pressure from sponsoring brands and companies which also levy performance and behavioral expectations upon athletes. On top of it all, narrower segments within the collegiate athlete population face their own unique set of issues. This includes female student athletes (view details) and athletes from within military academies (view details).
New Threat to Athlete Behavioral Health
It is very important for colleges and universities to come to terms with an entirely new threat to student athlete wellness when devising behavior contracts. The legalization and regulation of online sports betting has created an unfortunate phenomenon where which disgruntled sports bettors are targeting athletes with online harassment and threats of physical harm. Understanding the critical nature, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) initiated a study to analyze how concerning this threat is, and uncovered startling results which you can read about here. What’s important to note for the sake of today’s discussion, is that this new threat is compounding the anxiety and stress that young adult athletes face. This may lead to participation in unhealthy coping mechanisms which may subsequently lead to a violation of terms of their behavior contracts.
CALL TO ACTION
If stakeholders at educational institutions and their athletic programs have full transparency on the innate vulnerabilities to behavioral health disorders, they may reassess protocol when building student athlete behavior contracts. The call to action is not so much about offering greater leniency, but to invest in more robust and specialized counseling services that directly address the numerous and growing challenges.
Kindbridge is a leader in providing behavioral health services to student athletes in the United States. As a stakeholder at an educational institution, you are encouraged to contact us to get help in creating programs that not only protect the integrity of your institution, but the wellness of the young men and women who navigate the numerous challenges of student athlete life.
Student Athlete Organizations and Institutions
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