Supporting Collegiate Students in the United States Through Athletic and Career Transitions

The purpose of this paper is to explore the athletic and career transitions that student-athletes navigate and to present examples of providing ongoing psychological support for student-athletes through these transitions. Guided by frameworks for understanding athlete change-events, a series of evidence-based propositions are presented to conceptualize how to understand and support collegiate student-athletes through transitions. A specific educational program is explained to provide an example of supporting student-athletes’ goal setting, identity, and life skills transfer during the transition out of college sports and college life. Future opportunities for supporting student-athlete transitions are then identified, along with reflections and lessons learned on how to provide ongoing psychological support to collegiate student-athletes.