Qualitative analysis of international student-athlete perspectives on recruitment and transitioning into American college sport

Abstract

Introduction Recruiting athletes from outside of United States is a growing trend in college athletics as international student-athletes play an increasingly prominent role in NCAA competition (6, 9, 22). For coaches, who must recruit talented athletes in order to be successful, the pressures to win, and penalties for losing, are exacting. Many Division I coaches jobs are predicated on strength of their programs, causing them to recruit best talent they can find, in many cases from international pool (19, p. 860). Evidence of a worldwide search for talent is found in 17,653 international student-athletes that competed in NCAA competition during 2009-10 school year, a large increase from just under 6,000 that competed a decade prior (11). Among Division I schools, over one-third of male and female athletes in both tennis and ice hockey, and over one-eighth of male and female golfers, were born outside of United States (11). In addition to increasing participation numbers, international athletes have dominated in individual sports like tennis and golf, and led teams to championship performances (13, 22). However, international athletes face many challenges in adjusting to language, coursework, dorm life, food, cultural expectations, coaching, paperwork, and style of play in United States. As international athletes continue to leave their mark on NCAA sports, coaches and administrators benefit from understanding what difficulties come with transitioning to life as a student-athlete in U.S. and how international athletes learn about recruitment process. Previous research has examined adjustment process for both international students and international athletes to college. While researchers have noted that a lack of groups with which to socialize is a problem for many international students (7, 10, 20), international athletes have advantage of being immediately placed within a team structure (14). However, athletes may still face similar obstacles to a successful transition including culture shock, cultural differences, academic adjustment, homesickness, discrimination, and contentment (5). Ridinger and Pastore (17) were first to create a model of adjustment for international student-athletes, which included four antecedent factors (personal, interpersonal, perceptual, and cultural distance), and five types of adjustment (academic, social, athletic, personal-emotional, and institutional attachment), resulting in two outcomes (satisfaction and performance) to define successful adjustment to college. Researchers have also examined recruitment of international athletes. Not only can coaches create winning programs through recruitment of international athletes, but coaches can also maintain successful teams with international athletes through establishment of talent pipelines (3-4, 21). Bale (3) identified talent pipelines in which concentrations of athletes from certain countries were found in particular NCAA institutions, with coaches hoping that friend-to-friend recruiting will result in attracting elite athletes from a particular foreign country. Bale (3) noted that institutions unable to compete for homegrown talent, due to lack of prestige or unattractive campus location, established talent pipelines with a foreign country. For example, a talent pipeline of elite track and field stars from Kenya was found at schools like University of Texas El Paso and Washington State University, and a pipeline of track talent from Nigeria was identified at University of Missouri and Mississippi State University (3). Talent pipelines are an important recruiting strategy, particularly when coaches are unable to compete for local athletes or local talent is not available for certain sports (21). This research seeks to provide answers following questions regarding recruitment of international student-athletes and their transition to college life: (1) what is most difficult aspect of international university experience? …