Football Coaching, Academic Learning Time, and Student Success
Exploring the Experiences of University Student-Athletes in Ghana
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Abstract
Academic workload and competitiveness in sports have been issues of concern in higher education institutions around the world. Student-athletes at the university are expected to maintain demanding academic workloads along with rigorous training, competition and coaching demands. Football participation has been proven to contribute to personal development, leadership, teamwork, and physical health; however, there are concerns about its impact on academic learning time and student success in general. Even though the university football programs are growing in Ghana, there is a scarcity of empirical evidence to show the impact of football coaching demands on academic engagement and the learning experience of the student-athletes in inter-university competitions and/or talent development programs. The study examined the experiences of the university student-athletes with regard to their participation in football coaching, learning time and student success in some selected universities in Ghana. The study was guided by two theories, namely the Social Ecological Theory and Student Involvement Theory, and was a qualitative phenomenological design with a paradigm of interpretivist. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with student-footballers, football coaches, sports administrators and academic staff. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse the data. The findings indicated that football coaching positively impacted discipline, time management, resilience and social integration, but also encountered difficulties with missed lectures, deadlines for assignments, academic fatigue and limited study time during the competitive season. The flexible academic arrangements, mentoring, and coach-academic collaboration were identified as institutional support mechanisms that positively affected student success. The study suggests that the dual career support systems should be reinforced and the academic support systems put in place should be incorporated into the university sport programs.
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