Student-Athletes’ Perceptions Toward Identity and Life After Sport

This study examined collegiate student athletes’ perceptions toward identity and life after sport. Participants were seventy-nine male collegiate football players from an NCAA Division I program in the Pacific Northwest. Participants’ responses from the sentence completion portion of the Life After Sport Scale (LASS) were used to examine how they perceived their own identities as student-athletes. Similarly, participants’ responses to the visual elicitation student-athlete profile section of the LASS were used to examine how they perceived the transition to life after sport. Thematic data analysis resulted in six major identity perception themes: Preparation for life after football/future oriented Different standards Hard worker/disciplined Blessed/humble/proud Idolized Busy/time management skills. The seven major life-after-sport themes that emerged from the data were: Exemplary Life after sport I can relate Role model Hard worker Hard to relate Pressure to succeed The resultant themes were discussed in context of the research questions involving collegiate student-athletes’ perceptions toward their own identities and life after sport