Unwilling or unaware: Exploring black division II football athletes’ awareness and perceptions of mental health services available at a university

Competition in winter sports came to a screeching halt during the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic shutdown in 2020. Arenas that were once packed with cheering fans were replaced with empty seats and silence, as the battle between student athletes and mental health (MH) grew louder. During this period the number of athletes reporting MH concerns along with the expression of willingness to utilize MH services increased. The purpose of this basic qualitative inquiry was to explore Black, male, football athletes’ perceptions and awareness of MH services available at a less resourced university. As documented in the literature review, research has been conducted on related topics, particularly at the Division I level (Bird et al., 2020). Researchers have recognized an unmet need for analysis of various sub-populations represented within student athletes throughout all NCAA Divisions (e.g.., Division I, II, III) (Wilkerson et al., 2020). Literature surrounding MH and student athletes lacks subjective investigation of the barriers between Black, male, football athletes and MH services utilization in less resourced regions, divisions, and intuitions. Why Black, male, football athletes are included in the student populations underutilizing MH services at the Division II level remains without a clear understanding. Fulfilling this gap in knowledge would draw the literature closer to understanding the best ways to implement MH resources to serve marginalized student athletes effectively.

Author

• Iwuagwu, Nnadozie A.

Identifier

hdl:10057/27413

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:soar.wichita.edu:10057/27413