Mentoring Student Athletes
Mentoring relationships play a critical yet often underappreciated role in the success of college students—particularly for student-athletes, who face unique academic and career challenges. In their recent study, Park, Park, Lee, and Gang (2024) explored the mentoring experiences of NCAA Division II college athletes, a population often overlooked in previous research. Using qualitative interviews with eight athletes across six sports, the researchers examined how mentoring relationships in athletic and academic settings support (or fail to support) student development.
The findings were striking. Most athletes reported having strong, informal mentoring relationships with their coaches. These relationships offered important psychosocial benefits—such as friendship, role modeling, and counseling—but tended to arise organically rather than through structured programs. Coaches provided emotional support and career advice within the world of athletics, but few helped students build networks or prepare for careers outside of sports.
At the same time, athletes overwhelmingly described a lack of mentoring relationships with faculty. Although students recognized the potential value of faculty connections for long-term career development, many cited limited time and scheduling conflicts as barriers to forming these relationships. Without structured efforts to bridge the gap, most athletes missed out on critical career-related mentoring, such as networking, sponsorship, and skill development for non-athletic professions.
This research highlights a pressing need: while psychosocial mentoring in athletics is valuable, student-athletes—especially those unlikely to pursue professional sports careers—must also have opportunities to build academic and career-focused relationships. Institutions must take proactive steps to connect athletes with supportive faculty and professional mentors, helping students broaden their career horizons and leverage the full benefits of their college experience.
MentorPRO stands at the forefront of this important work. Through tools like the MentorPRO platform and MentorPRO Academy, colleges and universities can ensure that student-athletes and other undergraduates are supported holistically. Programs like Connected Futures—which teaches students how to build meaningful relationships with faculty, staff, and other mentors—are critical. Connected Futures is available through MentorPRO Academy, providing students with structured guidance to develop the networks they need for success during college and beyond.
To fully support students’ futures, especially student-athletes balancing the demands of sports and academics, institutions must not leave mentoring to chance. Structured, accessible interventions like Connected Futures, delivered through platforms like MentorPRO, can help ensure that all students have the opportunity to build the relationships that will shape their academic, personal, and professional lives.
Park, J., Park, J., Lee, J. Y., & Gang, A. (2024). A qualitative study of NCAA Division II college athletes’ mentoring relationship experiences in higher education. Journal of College Student Development, 65(6), 684–689. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2024.a944814
