Browsing by Subject "Student athletes"
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Item A game within the game : an ethnographic study of culture and student-athlete recruitment at a Division I university(2010-12) Stephens, James Edwin, 1977-; Maxwell, Madeline M.; McGlone, Matthew; Dailey, Rene; Browning, Blair; Pfiester, AbigailThe success of a college coach to develop winning teams and a winning culture in any sport largely depends on his/her ability to recruit and strengthen the skill levels of his/her student-athletes. The following ethnography of the Eastern Hawks baseball coaches seeks to describe the culture of this organization during two consecutive seasons including the recruitment of student-athletes and the management of the current players on the roster, and to also detail the coaches’ use of compliance gaining and aspects of communication in their interaction with the recruits and their families. To investigate these issues, an ethnographic study was performed with a Division I baseball team called Eastern University. Numerous individual interviews were conducted with the staff and later transcribed. Team functions, games, and events were also attended for data collection. Results indicate that the organizational culture of Eastern Hawks baseball was initially created through artifacts such as facility improvements, game rituals, and performance requirements. The observed culture is being negatively influenced by espoused values and basic assumptions that run contrary to stated and desired goals. Leader-member relationships were regarded as predominantly low during this study accentuated by unfulfilled expectations of performance. The coaches used various compliance-gaining methods in recruiting student athletes but were most successful when targeting prospects who valued education, had parents who also valued education, and who believed they would fit in with the culture present at Eastern. The coaches implemented strategies that were pro-social and also reduced excessive apprehension. When competing against the professional draft, the staff provided metaphorical statements to prospects and their families that which sought to highlight social identity. Coaches compared the negative effects of turning pro early as opposed to developing personally and athletically at Eastern.Item Understanding the impact of college sponsorships on student athletes’ brand loyalty(2021-12-03) Gibson, Alison A.; Love, Brad (Ph. D. in media and information studies)In recent years, the brand sponsorship industry has continued to grow, and with the emergence of the new Name Image Likeness (NIL) rules in college sports, it is essential for brands to understand how their sponsorships are impacting athletes. Athletes’ voices, followings and opportunities are growing and brands need to evolve to remain relevant. This thesis investigates the mental frameworks of student athletes as well as their perceptions of and affinity towards their sponsors to better understand the impact of brand sponsorships on student athletes’ long-term loyalty. Athletes were interviewed using a standard questionnaire, which was created based on concepts from Social Identity Theory and the consumer decision-making process. It accounts for consumer vs. brand loyalty, as well as functional, symbolic, and experiential variables. Using the standardized questionnaire, 23 athletes were asked about their college experiences, thoughts, memories, and feelings as they pertain to brand sponsorship. Five key findings resulted from this research: athletes feel connected to their university brands, but disconnected from their university sponsorship brand, aesthetic is a very powerful variable that affects self-concept, external perception, identity, and in some cases performance, branded clothing (aesthetic) can create exaggerated feelings of team connectivity as well as connections to strangers – this relationship becomes more complex as the clothing becomes more unique or requires more work to acquire, performance enhancement and brand trust are potentially related and inclusion, input and individuality impact athlete-brand connection. In relation to the overarching research question, over three fourths of the postgraduates interviewed said they still occasionally purchase gear from the brands they wore in college and over three fourths of the current athletes said that they will continue to purchase; however, no concise conclusions can be made that college sponsorship leads to long term brand loyalty