Frame

My framework is examining the real “cost” of college sports. It is widely known that college athletics is a highly lucrative industry that universities are financially benefitting from, yet leaving college athletes out of pocket. High school athletes sign on to college dreams with hopes of making it to pro-leagues and to receive a higher education at a fraction of the cost, if not free. Many of the students do not know the true extent of what they are signing away in their letters of intent. I believe that student-athletes make four great sacrifices, further known as “costs” of college sports. These 4 “costs” are being stuck in an athletic “bubble” on campus, narrow degree paths, injuries, and exploitation.

I would like to examine how attachment theory lends into student-athlete injury reporting. According to findings in “Sport-Related Concussion Reporting and Coach-Athlete Attachment Among Collegiate Student-Athletes,” the attachment theory is a developmental paradigm that organizes human behavior, cognition, and emotion from infancy to adulthood to explain the influence of interpersonal dynamics in relationships on how individuals respond to periods of distress. College is the first time in many athletes lives that they are away from home. In turn, coaches serve as surrogate parents. These coach-athlete relationships can either serve as a place for athletes to seek and find comfort or force athletes to become avoidant. The attitude of those surrounding student-athletes seriously influences how one may act when injured.

At this point, my key terms are: costs, benefits, student-athlete, concussion protocol, history of injury, and commodification of student-athletes/athletes as a commodity.