Insights Update: What Student-Athletes Think About COVID-19 Now

As student-athletes begin in-person, hybrid, or remote learning, it’s a critical time to reassess their attitudes and beliefs about COVID-19. Doing so will lead to a better understanding the support they need from Coaches, Athletic Directors, and other staff.

COVID-19 has impacted every aspect of student-athletes’ lives, but the recent insights data can be categorized into three areas: COVID’s impact on student-athletes personally, their views on its impact on society, and its impact on their student-athlete specific activities.

PERSONAL IMPACT

In the midst of colleges and universities battling COVID-19 spikes on and off campus, administrators are struggling to get students to cooperate with new safety measures. Despite the narrative of media reports about students acting recklessly, multiple respected surveys like the Harris Poll indicate that the vast number of Gen Z are doing their part.

Student-Athletes are contributing too, with behavior that’s largely better than that of the general population by comparison.

Like many young people, student-athletes’ beliefs show a growing trend of a lack of trust in the country’s institutions and authorities.

SOCIETAL IMPACT

COVID-19 has disrupted the lives of student-athletes in a way that could not have been imagined. They’ve lost seasons, been forced to adapt to remote learning, and have been contained in their homes with only digital communication to stay connected to teammates.

Student-Athletes are wary and bracing for things to get worse before they get better. But as is often the case, they are hopeful of an eventual return to normal.

Student-Athletes show concern about the federal government’s handling of the pandemic.

STUDENT-ATHLETE IMPACT

COVID-19 has posed unique challenges to student-athletes. While postponed and canceled seasons are certainly important, it’s the loss of connection to teammates and Coaches that student-athletes report to be the most difficult aspect of COVID-19.

Percent of student-athletes who say that COVID-19 has negatively impacted their mental health has declined in the last 45 days.

There has been an improvement in the percent of student-athletes who say that COVID-19 has negatively impacted their ability to maintain a routine. There has also been a decline in the percent of student-athletes who say that COVID has negatively affected their family’s finances.

But we are not out of the woods yet; student-athletes remain concerned about their personal safety and a return to remote learning.

METHODOLOGY

In gathering student-athlete insights for this study, I used artificial intelligence (AI) to study the anonymized “big data” of student-athletes, coupled with multiple surveys. The study is representative of the 500,000+ college student-athletes. Representation is aligned with the 2019 NCAA Demographic Database for all divisions: 55% male and 45% female, 64% white, 16% black, and 6% Hispanic/Latino.