Academic Engagement of First Year Student Athletes: University Football as a Serious Leisure Community of Practice

Abstract

Students must engage in communities supportive of academia to achieve success at university. Academic engagement is crucial for success, given that low levels of engagement have been shown to develop risks for a variety of adverse consequences, including absenteeism and dropping out of school. Students with a supportive environment have been shown to have higher levels of academic engagement. The purpose of this research was to use a phenomenological approach to explore how participation in a Serious Leisure (Stebbins, 1992) Community of Practice (Wenger, 1999) affects academic engagement. This research may be practical for coaches, educators, student athletes and researchers aiming to promote student athletes' academic engagement. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve first year student athletes in the University of Ottawa's Gee Gees varsity football program. Results showed that football participation is so demanding that it may inhibit academic engagement. Conversely, football participation has helped individuals enter university, create a new home, integrate into a brotherhood/pseudo-family, develop an identity, time manage wisely, and become academically motivated. Although athletic pressure may be detrimental, the social support from the football program has proven helpful towards academic engagement.