Ninth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

Athletes are immersed in a culture of aggression that does little to promote healthy relationships and emotional intelligence (EI). As emerging adults, collegiate student-athletes (SAs) are susceptible to underdeveloped self-regulatory skills and EI, affecting athletic performance, academic achievement, and interpersonal relationships. Preventative education can improve EI before dysregulation cycles are ingrained. In preliminary focus groups with current SAs, we found that many struggle to identify, understand, and manage emotions in both athletics and their daily lives. Based on these findings, we adapted two lessons from the Dibble Institute’s evidence-based Love Notes curriculum to address the most salient issues for SAs. These workshops have been delivered to SAs in their Freshmen CHAMPS Life Skills class in Summer and Fall 2017. Efforts were evaluated by SAs, and two primary themes emerged: knowledge of the topic improved after the workshops and more education on relationship management and emotional wellbeing was desired. Such feedback indicates a need to continue to build EI and relationships skills through programming. We need to identify other relevant emotion management topics and adaptation and development of workshop material that can be shared across collegiate campuses, beginning with a focused discussion among professionals at the Sport and Society Conference.