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George Minoso2025-05-05T10:49:36-05:00

From Classroom to Kickoff: A Case Study on the Perceived Value and Career Impact of Experiential Learning at the Super Bowl for Sport Management Students

George Minoso2025-05-05T10:49:36-05:00July 18th, 2025|General, Leadership, Sport Education, Sports Management|

Joshua S. Greer¹, Jason Grindstaff², Noa Stroop³

Dr. Joshua S. Greer serves as an Assistant Professor and Program Director for both the graduate and undergraduate Sport Management programs at Cumberland University. He also fulfills the role of Internship Coordinator for Exercise Science and Sport Management within the Jeanette C. Rudy School of Nursing and Health Professions. Dr. Greer holds a B.S. from the University of Tennessee at Martin, an M.Ed. from Bethel University, and an Ed.D. from the United States Sports Academy. His academic interests focus on experiential learning, sport marketing, and industry engagement, aiming to prepare students for dynamic careers in the sport industry.

Dr. Jason S. Grindstaff is the Interim Dean of the Jeanette C. Rudy School of Nursing and Health Professions at Cumberland University, where he has been a faculty member since 2010. He has taught across undergraduate and graduate programs in Exercise & Sport Science and has held leadership roles including Program Director for the Master of Sport & Exercise Science, Executive Director of the Honors Program, and Chair of the Academic Integrity Board. Dr. Grindstaff earned his B.A. from Dakota Wesleyan University, two M.S. degrees and a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and an M.B.A. from Cumberland University.

Dr. Noa D. Stroop is an Assistant Professor of Business at Cumberland University. He completed both his B.S. and M.B.A. at Tennessee Technological University and earned his D.B.A. from Trevecca Nazarene University. Dr. Stroop’s professional background includes roles as a consultant, coach, and business leader. At Cumberland, he focuses on delivering practical, student-centered business education, integrating real-world applications into his teaching.

Joshua S. Greer. https://orcid.org/0009-0005-2890-1673

We have no known conflict of interest to disclose.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Joshua S. Greer, 230 Foxfire Road, Paris, Tennessee 38242. Email: [email protected]

Abstract
Experiential learning is a foundational component of sport management education, offering students the opportunity to apply theoretical knowledge in real-world settings. Grounded in Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory, this case study investigates the perceived value and career impact of an immersive experiential learning opportunity at the NFL Super Bowl. Using a mixed-methods approach, data were collected from 11 undergraduate and graduate sport management students through a structured survey instrument. Paired samples t-tests were used to assess the alignment between students’ pre-event expectations and their post-event perceptions, while Pearson correlation analysis examined relationships between networking confidence and career-related outcomes.

Results revealed that students’ actual experiences exceeded their expectations in terms of professional development (t(9) = 3.67, p = 0.005), while expectations regarding a competitive edge remained consistent with post-event perceptions (t(9) = -0.56, p = 0.591). Strong positive correlations were found between networking confidence and key career outcomes, including meaningful connections (r = 0.84, p = 0.002) and perceived job prospects (r = 0.90, p < 0.001). These findings emphasize the importance of structured, high-impact experiential learning opportunities in developing students’ professional readiness and self-efficacy.
The study offers actionable insights for educators and program administrators, emphasizing the need to set realistic expectations while maximizing long-term career development through experiential learning. Recommendations include expanding access to immersive experiences and integrating reflective components to reinforce the value of applied learning in sport management curricula.

Key Words: experiential learning, sport management education, Super Bowl, career development, student perceptions, networking confidence, Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory, applied learning, professional readiness, event-based learning

From Classroom to Kickoff: A Case Study on the Perceived Value and Career Impact of Experiential Learning at the Super Bowl for Sport Management Students
Experiential learning has emerged as a cornerstone of sport management education, offering students practical experiences that bridge theoretical knowledge with the complexities of real-world practice. Grounded in Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory, this pedagogical approach has informed the design of various instructional strategies, including capstone projects, industry simulations, and problem-based learning (Bower, 2013). The incorporation of experiential components within sport management curricula not only fosters the development of technical and interpersonal skills but also enhances students’ employability by immersing them in authentic, applied contexts (DeLuca & Fornatora, 2020; Faure & Ray, 2021).

This case study explores the perceived value and career impact of participating in an immersive experiential learning opportunity at the NFL Super Bowl for sport management students. Specifically, it investigates the extent to which guided, real-world experiences influence students’ confidence in pursuing careers in the sport industry and examines the alignment between their pre-event expectations and the professional benefits perceived post-participation. Utilizing survey data from student participants, the study contributes to the expanding literature on experiential learning in sport management education by providing empirical insights into its efficacy. The findings offer practical implications for educators, curriculum developers, and industry stakeholders seeking to enhance student career readiness through intentionally designed, high-impact experiential learning initiatives.

Literature Review
In response to the growing complexity and competitiveness of the sport industry, academic institutions have increasingly recognized the need to integrate experiential learning into sport management curricula. Traditional lecture-based instruction, while foundational, often falls short in preparing students for the multifaceted demands of the professional sport environment. As a result, experiential learning has emerged as a critical pedagogical approach, bridging the gap between theoretical instruction and real-world application. Grounded in Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory, this educational strategy encompasses internships, client-based projects, event planning, consulting practicums, and blended learning environments—all of which immerse students in authentic industry settings. A growing body of literature demonstrates that such experiences not only enhance technical and interpersonal competencies but also foster critical career readiness attributes, including problem-solving, adaptability, communication, and leadership (Faure & Ray, 2021; Barefoot et al., 2023; Song et al., 2021). Furthermore, structured experiential opportunities facilitate professional networking, mitigate employment anxiety, and strengthen students’ confidence in their career trajectories (Chan, 2023; Wei & Fu, 2024). This case study explores the multidimensional value of experiential learning within sport management education, emphasizing its role in cultivating career preparedness, professional identity, and industry engagement through both in-person and virtual platforms.

Experiential Learning in Sport Management
Research continues to highlight the value of experiential learning in cultivating core competencies in sport management students. For instance, Faure and Ray (2021) demonstrated that student participation in a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship event served as a meaningful capstone experience, sharpening real-time problem-solving and organizational skills. Similarly, interdisciplinary, problem-based learning environments have been found to improve oral communication and data analysis capabilities through engagement with complex, profession-relevant scenarios (Song et al., 2021). Additionally, applied improvisation exercises have been shown to facilitate the development of meta-skills—such as adaptability and collaboration—that are increasingly valuable across sport management domains (Barefoot et al., 2023). Service-learning models, which build upon traditional internships by embedding guided engagement, offer further opportunities for students to apply classroom learning while contributing to societal needs (Gipson et al., 2023).
The integration of experiential learning within sport management programs is inherently multifaceted. Educators utilize various strategies—including internships, guided field-based projects, and blended learning environments—to address the evolving demands of the sport industry. Structured activities such as facility inspections and managerial interviews provide students with hands-on experiences that mirror operational realities within sport organizations (Diacin, 2018). Concurrently, hybrid learning models that combine in-person instruction with digital tools support flexibility in pedagogy and promote consistent engagement across experiential initiatives (Lower‐Hoppe et al., 2019). Recommendations for improving experiential learning practices, particularly internships—emphasize the need for continual assessment and innovation to better align educational outcomes with industry expectations (Brown et al., 2018; Sattler, 2018).
Collectively, these approaches highlight the significance of experiential learning as both a theoretical framework and a practical mechanism for enhancing professional preparedness in sport management. As the field continues to evolve in response to industry shifts, experiential learning remains essential for equipping graduates with the critical thinking, decision-making, and reflective capacities necessary for sustained career success.

The Importance of Experiential Learning in Sport Management Curricula
The integration of experiential learning into sport management curricula is increasingly acknowledged as a critical component for preparing students to navigate the complexities of a dynamic and competitive job market. Faure and Ray (2021) emphasize the effectiveness of capstone experiences in promoting student readiness, noting that hands-on learning cultivates both confidence and professional competence. In alignment with this perspective, Southall et al. (2003) contend that the inherently competitive nature of the sport industry demands a strong experiential foundation to ensure that graduates possess the practical skills and applied knowledge necessary for success. Gipson et al. (2023) further reinforce the value of immersive learning opportunities—such as internships and structured, guided-learning projects—as essential mechanisms for bridging the gap between theoretical instruction and real-world application. These experiences not only deepen student engagement but also foster critical thinking, adaptability, and problem-solving capabilities, which are essential for sustained professional growth in the sport industry.

A growing body of research supports the idea that experiential learning aligns with the industry’s increasing demand for professionals who can seamlessly apply their knowledge in various sport-related contexts. Traditional lecture-based instruction, while foundational, often falls short in equipping students with the practical skills required to navigate the complexities of sport management. By contrast, experiential learning models encourage students to engage in active learning environments, allowing them to develop competencies in areas such as leadership, teamwork, communication, and adaptability—skills that are highly valued by employers in the field.

Methodologies and Strategies in Experiential Learning
A variety of experiential learning strategies have been implemented across sport management programs, each offering unique benefits to students. One such method is the use of client-based projects, particularly in sport sales courses. Pierce (2018) illustrates how these projects not only engage students but also simulate real-world sales environments, fostering practical experience in negotiations, client relations, and revenue generation. Similarly, Bower (2013) discusses the application of Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory in organizing events such as golf scrambles, which provide students with opportunities to engage in hands-on event management and problem-solving.

Guided-learning projects and internships are among the most effective experiential learning strategies in sport management education. These initiatives allow students to work directly with sport organizations, gaining firsthand exposure to industry challenges and operations. Coffey and Davis (2019) note that these experiences are particularly valuable for student-athletes, as they help translate their on-field teamwork and leadership skills into professional settings. Additionally, guided-learning projects often involve community engagement, which enhances students’ understanding of corporate social responsibility and the broader impact of sport organizations.

Faculty mentorship and supervision also play a crucial role in the success of experiential learning programs. Deluca and Fornatora (2020) argue that faculty guidance during applied coursework is vital for maximizing learning outcomes, as instructors help students navigate complex projects and reflect on their experiences. This perspective is echoed by Pierce and Petersen (2010), who emphasize the importance of assessing student learning outcomes in experiential settings to quantify the effectiveness of these educational experiences. Assessment tools such as reflective journals, portfolio development, and performance evaluations ensure that experiential learning remains structured, and outcome driven.

The Role of Blended Learning in Experiential Education
As technology continues to reshape education, blended learning approaches have gained traction in sport management programs. Lower-Hoppe et al. (2019) propose that combining online and face-to-face instruction can optimize learning outcomes by accommodating diverse learning styles while maintaining the integrity of experiential projects. This approach is particularly relevant in sport event management courses, where students can engage in virtual simulations, case studies, and live event planning.
Blended learning also facilitates greater accessibility to experiential opportunities, particularly for students who may face geographic or financial barriers to participating in traditional internships. Online platforms enable students to engage with sport professionals, analyze real-time industry data, and develop strategic solutions to contemporary sport management issues. By integrating digital tools with hands-on experiences, educators can create a more inclusive and effective learning environment.

Networking Opportunities
Experiential learning has emerged as a crucial pedagogical strategy to enhance both networking and career readiness among students. In particular, work-integrated learning opportunities—including internships, consulting practicums, and co‐curricular activities enable students to develop career readiness attributes by providing direct exposure to workplace practices and professional networks. Chan (2023) argues that exposing students to diverse, real‐world situations through hands-on learning not only develops essential work readiness skills but also creates networking opportunities that can significantly influence career outcomes. Similarly, Mayorga (2019) demonstrates that higher education institutions can effectively develop career readiness through incubator programs that immerse students in authentic, situational learning environments, thereby facilitating connections with industry professionals.

Structured experiential initiatives also foster networking by placing students in scenarios where practical skills blend with professional interactions. Jackson and Bridgstock (2020) highlight that work-integrated learning activities, such as internships, guided field experiences, and practicum placements, are instrumental in forging meaningful interactions with industry practitioners. This interaction is further emphasized by Akpan (2016), who shows that consulting practicums effectively equip students with the necessary career skills while simultaneously providing platforms for networking with experienced professionals. Prather (2007) documents that internships allow students to experience a connected learning environment where classroom theory is continuously integrated with workplace practices, thus promoting both skill acquisition and the expansion of professional networks.

The design and implementation of experiential learning modules play a critical role in fostering career readiness by promoting reflective practices that enhance self-assessment and informed decision-making. Wart et al. (2020) and Aithal and Mishra (2024) emphasize that hands-on experiences coupled with structured reflection enable students to refine their professional identities and clarify their career goals. These reflective processes are vital not only for the development of technical competencies but also for cultivating essential soft skills such as communication, adaptability, and leadership, which are crucial for effective professional networking.

In addition to traditional in-person experiences, the incorporation of virtual platforms into experiential learning offers expanded opportunities for career development. Combs, Joyce, and Bynum (2024) demonstrate that digital environments can effectively support networking by connecting students with mentors and industry professionals, particularly when geographic or logistical barriers limit face-to-face interaction.

Experiential learning also addresses the psychological dimensions of career preparation, such as employment anxiety and self-efficacy. Wei and Fu (2024) and Chen and Tang (2024) advocate for the integration of experiential teaching into career planning curricula to reduce employment-related stress and reinforce professional confidence. Exposure to realistic workplace scenarios and ongoing interaction with industry professionals helps students contextualize their academic knowledge, navigate relational dynamics, and build meaningful networks.
Taken together, experiential learning offers a multidimensional approach to career readiness by simultaneously developing technical and interpersonal competencies, promoting reflective growth, and fostering network-building. Through a variety of mechanisms—including internships, consulting practicums, hands-on projects, and virtual platforms, students gain direct exposure to professional expectations and establish critical industry connections. This holistic framework enhances not only students’ employability but also their long-term capacity to succeed within the dynamic landscape of the sport management profession.

Conclusion
As the sport industry grows in complexity and competitiveness, the need for experiential learning in sport management education becomes increasingly imperative. This study emphasizes how experiential learning bridges the gap between academic instruction and real-world application through methodologies such as internships, capstone projects, guided-learning experiences, and blended learning environments. The integration of these strategies has demonstrated significant benefits, including the enhancement of critical thinking, adaptability, and industry-specific competencies.

Participation in large-scale events, such as the Super Bowl, represents a pinnacle of experiential learning, offering students a rare opportunity to immerse themselves in high-stakes, professional environments. These experiences provide not only technical skill development but also instill confidence, professional identity, and career direction. The value of faculty mentorship, structured assessment tools, and intentional curricular design further amplifies the effectiveness of experiential initiatives, ensuring that they are both impactful and aligned with industry expectations.

Looking ahead, continued research is essential to evaluate the long-term career benefits of experiential learning and to identify best practices for maximizing its impact. Expanding partnerships between academic institutions and sport organizations will be crucial in offering meaningful, scalable, and inclusive experiential opportunities. Ultimately, embedding experiential learning deeply within sport management education equips students with the tools they need to transition from the classroom to the kickoff—prepared, confident, and career-ready.

Materials and Methods
Participants
The total number of 11 participants were included in this study. The gender distribution was as follows: 7 participants (63.6%) were female, and 4 participants (36.4%) were male. Of these, 6 participants (54.5%) were graduate students, including 4 (66.7%) females and 2 males (33.3%).

Instrument
From Classroom to Kickoff: Evaluating the Career Benefits of Super Bowl Experiential Learning Survey (attached)
Data Treatment and Analysis
Statistical analyses were conducted to address the research questions and evaluate the perceptions of sport management students regarding the career benefits of participating in the NFL Super Bowl experiential learning opportunity. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize participant responses. Paired samples t-tests were conducted to compare students’ expectations before the event with their perceived outcomes (e.g., professional development, competitive edge, career benefits). Pearson correlation analysis was used to explore the relationships among key outcome variables such as confidence in career pursuits, networking effectiveness, and perceived career impact. Open-ended responses were analyzed thematically to supplement quantitative findings and provide deeper insight into students’ overall satisfaction and willingness to recommend the experience.

Results and Discussion
Student Expectations and Perceived Outcomes
The results of the paired samples t-tests revealed several important findings related to students’ expectations and perceived outcomes from their Super Bowl experiential learning experience. A significant difference was found between students’ expectations of gaining hands-on learning (Q1) and their perceptions of professional development after the experience (Q2), t(9) = 3.67, p = 0.005. This suggests that students felt their actual experience exceeded their initial expectations regarding professional development.

In contrast, no significant difference was found between students’ expectations of gaining a competitive edge in the job market (Q11) and their perceptions following the event (Q12), t(9) = -0.56, p = 0.591. This indicates that students’ expectations were generally aligned with their perceived benefits in this area. However, a highly significant difference was observed between students’ expectations of receiving direct career opportunities, such as job offers or interviews (Q13), and their reported outcomes (Q14), t(9) = 6.00, p < 0.001. This suggests that while students were optimistic about immediate career benefits, those expectations were not fully met in the short term.

Networking Confidence and Career Perceptions
The Pearson Correlation analyses revealed several statistically significant associations between students’ self-reported networking confidence and career-related perceptions, highlighting the potential impact of experiential learning within sport management education. A strong positive correlation was observed between students’ confidence in their networking abilities (Q10) and their belief that participation in the Super Bowl experience would enhance their future job prospects (Q5), r = .90, p < .001. This suggests that students who expressed higher levels of confidence in their networking skills were more likely to view the experience as a meaningful contributor to their professional development.

Similarly, a strong positive correlation was found between networking confidence (Q10) and students’ beliefs that the professional connections formed during the event would support future opportunities, such as employment, internships, or graduate assistantships (Q9), r = .77, p = .009. This indicates that students who perceived greater utility in their networking efforts also reported higher levels of self-assurance in their ability to build professional relationships. In addition, a strong correlation was identified between networking confidence (Q10) and the extent to which students reported making meaningful professional connections during the event (Q8), r = .84, p = .002. These findings collectively suggest that students who felt more confident in their networking capabilities were also more likely to report engaging in valuable professional interactions.

Career Readiness and Perceived Professional Development
Beyond networking-specific outcomes, further analysis revealed significant relationships involving overall career readiness and perceived professional development. Students who felt more prepared for a career in sport management (Q3) were more likely to recommend the Super Bowl experience to others (Q15), r = .80, p = .005. A strong correlation was also found between the alignment of students’ assigned tasks and their perception that the experience met their expectations for professional development (Q6), r = .88, p < .001. Notably, students who believed the Super Bowl experience gave them a competitive advantage in the job market were significantly more likely to report already receiving tangible career benefits, such as internship offers or job interviews (Q13), r = .89, p < .001. One additional correlation between networking confidence and perceived competitive advantage (Q10 and Q12)—approached statistical significance, r = .60, p = .066, suggesting a potentially meaningful relationship that could be more clearly established in studies with larger sample sizes. Collectively, these findings highlight the interconnectedness of networking confidence, career preparedness, and the perceived value of high-impact experiential learning. The strength and consistency of the correlations support the notion that participation in major sporting events such as the Super Bowl can meaningfully enhance students’ professional development trajectories within the field of sport management.

Conclusion
The present study contributes to the growing body of literature emphasizing the value of experiential learning in sport management education by examining student perceptions of professional development, career readiness, and networking outcomes resulting from participation in the NFL Super Bowl. The findings emphasize the importance of high-impact learning experiences in enhancing students’ confidence, career awareness, and perceived marketability within the competitive sport industry. Quantitative analyses revealed that students’ expectations regarding hands-on learning and professional development were not only met but exceeded, as demonstrated by significant increases in post-event perceptions. While students’ expectations regarding competitive advantage remained consistent, the anticipated short-term career outcomes such as job offers or interviews were not fully realized. This discrepancy suggests a need to frame experiential learning as a catalyst for long-term, rather than immediate, professional advancement.

The strong and consistent correlations between networking confidence and several career-related outcomes highlight the pivotal role of self-efficacy in professional relationship-building. Students who reported higher levels of networking confidence were more likely to form meaningful connections, perceive the experience as professionally valuable, and anticipate long-term career benefits. These findings align with existing research that underscores the importance of confidence and social capital in career development among emerging sport professionals.
Additionally, the alignment between assigned tasks and students’ expectations was a significant predictor of overall satisfaction and perceived professional growth. This supports the argument that carefully structured and intentional experiential learning opportunities are critical in maximizing the educational and professional value of such events. This study affirms the potential of large-scale sport events like the Super Bowl to serve as transformative learning environments that foster career readiness, enhance networking abilities, and solidify students’ commitment to pursuing careers in sport management. Future research should consider longitudinal approaches to evaluate the enduring effects of these experiences on actual career outcomes, including job placement, graduate school enrollment, and professional advancement. Additionally, expanding sample sizes and incorporating multi-institutional data could strengthen generalizability and provide further insights into best practices for experiential learning program design.

Research Limitations and Implications
While this study offers meaningful insights into the perceived benefits of Super Bowl experiential learning, several limitations should be acknowledged. First, the small sample size (n = 11) limits the generalizability of the findings. Although the data revealed significant patterns and correlations, the results may not fully represent the experiences of a broader population of sport management students. Future studies with larger and more diverse participant pools would enhance the reliability and applicability of these findings. Despite these limitations, the findings have important implications for sport management education. Experiential learning at large-scale events like the Super Bowl can play a critical role in enhancing students’ career preparedness, particularly in the areas of networking and professional confidence. Academic programs should continue to prioritize and expand these opportunities, while also integrating reflective components that help students connect their experiences to broader career goals.

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Troy Palmer2025-06-24T08:57:53-05:00

The Impact of Head Coach and Student Athlete Decision Making in the Transfer Portal Era of College Sports

Troy Palmer2025-06-24T08:57:53-05:00July 11th, 2025|Contemporary Sports Issues, General, Research, Sports Studies|

ABSTRACT

In collegiate sports, the reputation of the head coach is important in urban and suburban America as the transfer portal era of college sports continues to evolve. Many young athletes are going through the decision-making process as they prepare to compete on the collegiate level. Athletes have overcome their circumstances to open doors to the field of college sports, but with the impact of coaching changes, coaching reputations, and the growth of the transfer portal in recent years, college sports has entered an era of mobility on the coach and player levels, during the post-Covid pandemic society in our global sports world.

Key Words: High School Sports, College Sports, HBCU Sports, Coaching, Transfer Portal

INTRODUCTION

College sports has evolved tremendously from the days of four-year scholarship opportunity commitments to now the transfer portal era of today’s sports paradigm.  The transfer portal era refers to the ability of players to sign with one school this year and then transfer to another school the next year if another opportunity arises.  Many forces are now influencing the expansion of college sports and which, in effect, draw attention to the reasons why the impact of who the head coach is and the student athlete decision making process, are now having an impact on where today’s student athlete is deciding to go on signing day. 

From a practical viewpoint, while the college or university name plays a role in the decision-making process, when considering the student athlete decision, when considering the movement in player recruitment evolving over the past five years, the reputation of the coach along with the transfer portal and name, image, and likeness (NIL) opportunities are now playing a larger role in where students are attending across America.  When considering the hiring of coaches like Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders at Jackson State University in 2021 and then his movement to the University of Colorado in 2023 and the growth of transfer portal in recent years, coaching changes and coaching reputations have evolved to a level where a ‘free agent” market, like professional sports includes, is now part of the everyday operations of college sports. 

Thus, using sociohistorical and current perspectives and demographical information, the following questions guide this exploration:  

1. What is the impact of the head coach in the pre-Covid transfer portal era (prior to 2020) and post-Covid transfer portal era (2020 to the present) on the NCAA Division I (FBS), NCAA Division I (FCS), NCAA Division II, and NCAA Division III levels of college sports? 
2. What is the impact of the student athlete decision making process in the pre-Covid transfer portal era (prior to 2020) and post-Covid transfer portal era (2020 to the present) on the NCAA Division I (FBS), NCAA Division I (FCS), NCAA Division II, and NCAA Division III levels of college sports? 

These questions provide the context for understanding how the impact of the head coach has evolved from the pre-Covid transfer era in 2020 to the present post-Covid era on the NCAA Division I (FBS), NCAA Division I (FCS), NCAA Division II, and NCAA Division III levels. These questions show how on each of these levels and even to the recruitment of graduating high school student athletes is much different in 2025 as compared to years past. Using the implications of contextual matters, these questions offer a wider understanding of the contextual impact of the head coach along with their reputation and the universities ability to compete in the transfer portal era of college sports with the appropriate academic and athletic resources, today and tomorrow in the changing landscape. 

A View of the Impact of the Head Coach in the Transfer Portal Era of College Sports

Context matters when viewing the impact of the head coach and the student athlete decision making in the transfer portal era of college football, particularly given how the post-Covid transfer portal era is significantly different than the pre-Covid transfer portal era has evolved for student athletes selecting their colleges and universities.  The competition that has become apparent is that many athletes are now choosing not only where they attend based upon the reputation of coach, as past studies show, but also now where they can build upon their name, image and likeness (NIL) as well as where they can have the abilities to play the sport they love.  With the convergence of these concepts, entrance into the college ranks has been a detailed process from middle school to high school as many parents and student athletes embrace the process of going from youth sports to collegiate sports through the traditional way of the college choice process as outlined in past studies, like (1), (4), (5), and (7).  

According to (2), the primary college choice model is the (3) model, which focuses on the “predisposition phase, the search process and the choice stage” (pp. 207-221). In this model, (3) explain the logical steps that a student would encounter in the decision-making process, including the following: (1) the predisposition phase focuses on whether or not the student would like to continue formal education; (2) the search process focuses on the consideration and selection of characteristics of higher education and (3) the choice stage focuses on developing choice criteria and selecting an institution to attend.

When looking at the (3) of college choice in more detail along with (2) study on the college choice process of male and female collegiate student athletes going to the next level, it has three primary components including: (a) creating a simpler yet more conceptual model as compared to previous models; (b) isolating and containing the college choice process within a manageable three-stage framework (predisposition, search, and choice) as described above; and (c) emphasizing stages that focuse more on the student rather than the institution.  As a result, we see how student athletes are navigating to colleges and universities, that include those hired during the Coach Prime Era from 2020 to the present, those with previous college coaching experience or those coached with former NFL players.

As Table 4 shows, from the sampling of coaching hires, it was found that out of 25 coaching hires, 10 or 40% had NFL Playing Experience, had college coaching experience 13 or 52%, and had NFL Coaching Experience, 2 or 8%, excluding Coach Prime, thus the Coach Prime Effect on college coaching hires is part of the impact of today’s post Covid transfer portal era along with higher coaching salaries heading into the 2025 season, according to (10) in Table 5.

A View of the Impact of the Student Athlete Decision Making Process in the Transfer Portal Era of College Sports

In 2025, context matters, too, with regards to the head coach and student athlete decision making in the transfer portal era of college sports, specifically in football.  During the past five years, following Covid in 2020, the transfer portal has become a major component of the college football paradigm.  With the ability of players to become immediately eligible to play in most cases when they transfer, player movement has evolved to resemble the free agency model of professional football.  Through a sampling of schools throughout the country, there has been an uptick in players entering the transfer portal from 2020 to 2024 that have impacted to the collegiate sports industry.  Table 6 summarizes how this period has reshaped the sports paradigm. 

As Table 6 shows from NBC Sports and On3.com, “there has been an increase from years 2020 to 2021 and then from 2022 to 2023. The 65% increase in 2020-2021, along with the 19% increase from 2022-2023, shows that the impact of the transfer portal is growing throughout the field of college football and in the student athlete decision making process” (9), (10), (11), (12), (13) and (14). The largest increase has been from the 2020 to the 2025 years as there has been a 418% increase in the number of transfer portal entrants as shown in Table 6 above from 786 entrants in 2020 to 4060 entrants currently in June 2025.

Table 7 shows the impact of when a high-profile coach leaves one college and moves to another college that student athlete’s decision making resulted in approximately 60 student athletes entering the transfer portal.  This occurred when Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders took a head coach job at the University of Colorado and completed his work as head coach at Jackson State University.  Coach Prime’s exit resulted in him achieving a Power 5 position in the Big 12 Conference.  The resulting impact has also seen the hiring of other former athletes, like former Tennessee State University head coach Eddie George, recently moving to Bowling Green State University after having a measure of success with an Ohio Valley Conference Championship and postseason playoff appearance at Tennessee State University. 

Though many well-known sports figures are arriving at colleges and universities, like Michael Vick at Norfolk State University (football), Desean Jackson at Delaware State University (football), Reggie Barlow at Tennessee State University(football), and Bill Belichick at the University of North Carolina (football), the student athlete decision making process of offers, commitments and signings continue to be a valuable part of the recruiting process as the world of college athletics in 2025 evolves into a stronger business model of NIL collectives, new administrative roles like Athletic Department General Managers, and a more active transfer portal era during the post-Covid era, thus requiring a broader contextual perspective.

Additionally, Coach Prime and the Colorado Buffaloes recently continued in their turnaround from a one win season in 2022, prior to his arrival, as they qualified for the Alamo Bowl with a nine win season in Year Two of the Coach Prime Era along with having a Heisman Trophy Winner, while Coach T.C. Taylor, the coach that replaced Coach Prime at Jackson State, just recently led them to a SWAC Championship and Celebration Bowl HBCU National Championship twelve-win, two loss season, though both schools were recently impacted by the transfer portal between 2022 and 2024, according to (6). Also, the Ohio State University football team won the first-ever 12 team playoff National Championship over the University of Notre Dame, with a fourteen-win, two loss season. 

Shared Implications of Coaching, Student Athlete Decision Making and the Transfer Portal Era of an Evolving College Sports Model in 2025 and Beyond

In closing, since the first collegiate football game in November of 1869 between Rutgers University and the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) until the most recent national championship between the Ohio State University and the University of Notre Dame in January 2025, the college sports model has been consistently focused on maintaining the balance between student and athlete.  For many years, this balance was focused on a model of players going to school for an education through scholarship achievement and athletic competition.  Though this still remains the primary focus, the transfer portal is now playing a stronger role on the student athlete decision making process as athletes have the flexibility to opt-out of their scholarships and transfer to other schools on a year to year basis, if they so choose.  Moving forward, with a major $2.8 billion settlement coming in July of 2025, a shift in the model on all levels will see more fluidity as the impact of the head coach and who that person is, along with how valued a student athlete feels will become factors that influence where players play and whether or not they choose to enter the transfer portal and then go elsewhere.  For example, according to (8), “more than 4,600 Division I athletes have entered their names in the NCAA transfer portal in the month of April 2025, in part because schools have been preparing for the expected roster limits in the $2.8 billion settlement”.  Moreover, as new student athletes enter the college sports arena from high school, having knowledge of the NIL process, will factor into the how student athletes make college choices and it will also have an impact on how colleges and universities structure their athletic departments and, in many instances, run them like professional organizations as the transfer portal era continues. 

George Minoso2025-05-23T11:29:04-05:00

Correlation Between Post-Injury Mental Health Symptoms and Rehabilitation Adherence in Collegiate Athletes

George Minoso2025-05-23T11:29:04-05:00July 4th, 2025|General, Research, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|

Luis Torres^1, Fredrick A. Gardin², Shala E, Davis³ and Colleen A. Shotwell⁴

¹Department of Kinesiology, Montclair State University
²Department of Exercise Science, East Stroudsburg University

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Luis Torres, Department of Kinesiology, Montclair State University, 1 Normal Ave, Montclair, NJ 07043. Email: [email protected]. 

Correlation Between Post-Injury Mental Health Symptoms and Rehabilitation Adherence in Collegiate Athletes

ABSTRACT

Purpose: To explore the correlation between post-injury mental health symptoms and rehabilitation adherence in collegiate athletes to gain knowledge that would improve rehabilitative recommendations. Methods: 19 National Collegiate Athletic Association athletes (M age: 20.58 ± 1.31) were assessed for depressive and anxious symptoms using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) after injury. Once they were cleared for full sports participation, they were administered the HADS again and the Rehabilitation Adherence Questionnaire (RAQ) to measure their perceptions of adherence to their rehabilitation programs. Results: A significant correlation was found between the two administrations of the HADS  (R = .55, P = .03), but no significant correlations were found between RAQ scores and any of the HADS scores. Conclusions: Although the findings of this study did not establish a significant correlation between post-injury depression and anxiety symptoms and self-perceptions of rehabilitation adherence, strong evidence still exists to believe that poor mental health may be associated with poor rehabilitation adherence. Applications in Sport: Members of the collegiate athlete care team should be aware that the common underreporting of mental health symptoms in this population might make it difficult to establish the relationship between these symptoms and their recovery process after an injury. A holistic recovery approach should be considered in any injury recovery processes to allow collegiate athletes to heal both physically and psychologically.

Keywords: depression, anxiety, injury, recovery

Abbreviations: NCAA, National Collegiate Athletic Association; HADS, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; RAQ, Rehabilitation Adherence Questionnaire

Introduction

Depression and anxiety remain as the leading mental health conditions among collegiate athletes, with as many as 30% and 50% of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletes reporting depression and anxiety, respectively, in a 2011 survey from the National College Health Association (NCAA, 2024).  More recently, the American College of Sports Medicine (2024), in their 2021 statement on mental health challenges for athletes, found that the prevalence for depression and/or anxiety in this population ranges between 25% to 35% and only 10% of collegiate athletes with a known mental health condition seek help from a mental health professional. The reasons for this prevalence are multi-faceted given that collegiate athletes often maintain a strong athletic identity that is reluctant to ask for help and are faced with the societal perception of athletes always having to be immensely resilient during all hardships (Chang et al., 2020; Sarac et al., 2018; Tomalski et al., 2019; Wayment et al., 2017; Weigard et al., 2012; Wolanin et al., 2016). Collegiate athletes balance academic demands with their time-intensive and stress-inducing athletic demands while encountering issues relevant to sexuality, gender, hazing, bullying, sexual misconduct, body image, and sport transition (Greenleaf et al., 2009; Petrie et al., 2008; Putukian, 2016). The notion that athletes may be at a decreased risk for mental health conditions due to increased levels of exercise and other personality traits that can aid in athletic success has been shown to be a misconception (Chang et al., 2020).Furthermore, collegiate athletes are exposed to an abundance of additional unique risk factors for depression and anxiety when compared to non-athlete collegiate student counterparts (Demirel, 2016; Ghaedi et al., 2014; Hagiwara et al., 2017; Hanton et al., 2013; McGuire et al., 2017).

Unfortunately, sports injury is an often unavoidable element of collegiate athletics participation, with approximately 40% to 50% of collegiate athletes sustaining at least 1 injury requiring either medical attention or a participation restriction during their careers (Yang et al., 2014b).  Injuries such as ligamentous sprains, muscular strains, skeletal fractures, joint dislocations, and concussions are relatively common (Yang et al., 2014a). Sports injuries further aggrandize the preexisting symptoms of depression and anxiety present in collegiate athletes due to the fact that a sports injury may serve as potentially one of the most physically and emotionally disturbing events that a collegiate athlete may experience during their career.  Injured collegiate athletes experience enhanced risk factors of depression and anxiety such as fear of reinjury, trouble sleeping, poor concentration, emotional numbness, and injury conversation avoidance (Li et al., 2017; Padaki et al., 2018).  They utilize the coping mechanisms of unrealistic wishful thinking, unhealthy venting of emotions, denial, and behavior disengagement (Wadey et al., 2014). Additively, social stressors and financial stressors have also been shown to substantially grow post-injury in collegiate athletes (Evans et al., 2012).  Despite these complications, however, collegiate athletes are often still expected to adhere to sports rehabilitation exercise programs for a full recovery and timely return-to-sport.

Sports rehabilitation exercise programs are only effective for collegiate athletes when they are closely adhering to the instructions provided to them by their rehabilitative healthcare provider (Torres et al., 2023a).  Poor rehabilitation adherence may prolong recovery, enhance reinjury risk, and reduce the likelihood of positive patient outcomes upon return-to-sport (Jack et al., 2010). The salient post-injury symptoms of depression and anxiety play a role in reducing rehabilitation adherence and hindering injury recovery in collegiate athletes (Baez et al., 2023; Torres et al., 2023b).  However, given that as many as 98.3% of injured collegiate athletes have been reported to either overadhere and underadhere to their rehabilitation programs, more contemporary evidence is needed to further understand this extent of this role (Granquist et al., 2014). Despite the recent progress in collegiate athlete mental health screening that has been made, rehabilitative healthcare providers of injured collegiate athletes may not yet be collectively appropriately aware of the symptoms of depression and anxiety in rehabilitation. The purpose of this study was to explore the correlation between post-injury depression and anxiety and rehabilitation adherence in collegiate athletes in an effort to gain knowledge that would improve recommendations for sports rehabilitation programs.

Methods

Sampling

The sampling in this study was limited to two collegiate institutions of varying NCAA competition levels (NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III) within the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Demographic information on age, sex, NCAA competition level, race/ethnicity, academic eligibility level, type of sport, and type of musculoskeletal injury was collected from all participants. Participants were recruited by their athletic trainers after a sports injury had occurred and were included based on being 18 years of age or older and sustaining an acute musculoskeletal sports injury that required the inability to engage in full sports participation for at least four weeks. The purpose of this four week requirement was to ensure that the injuries sustained were significant enough to require a rehabilitation program for at least a month (Shin et al., 2010). Collegiate athletes were excluded if they had a concussion, respiratory disease, metabolic disease, cardiac disease, autonomic nervous system disease, or chronic injury of an unknown origin.

Instrumentation

Zigmond and Snaith (1983)  designed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) as a 14-item questionnaire to measure the symptoms of depression and anxiety. The HADS consists of two subscales that are constructed of seven items for symptoms of depression (HADS-D) and seven items for symptoms of anxiety (HADS-A). Each item contains responses that are individually scored on a scale from 0 to 3 with higher scores indicating a higher level of symptom frequency (i.e., not at all, sometimes, occasionally very often, nearly all the time, etc.). The combined score of emotional distress (sum of HADS-A and HADS-D) ranges from 0 to 42 with scores of 11 or higher indicating a potential for a clinically significant mood disorder case. The total score of each participant places them into one of the following categories: non-case/normal (0 – 7), borderline case/borderline abnormal (8-10), case/abnormal (11 – 21+). Correlations ranging from .76 to .41 for the seven anxiety items (P < .01) and from .60 to .30 for the seven depression items (P < .02) have been associated with this instrument (Zigmond & Snaith, 1983).  Similarly, calculated Spearman correlations between subscale scores and confirmed psychiatric ratings have shown that R = .70 for HADS-D and R = .74 for HADS-A (P < .001). The HADS has been routinely established as an instrument that performs well in assessing the symptom severity and caseness of depression and anxiety in both psychiatric and primary care patients and the general population (including collegiate athletes) (Bjelland et al., 2002).

RAQ

Fisher et al. (1988) designed the Rehabilitation Adherence Questionnaire (RAQ) as a 40-item questionnaire to measure rehabilitation adherence, while Shin et al. (2010) later redeveloped the RAQ into a 25-item questionnaire and validated it for injured athletes. The RAQ consists of six subscales: support from significant others (five items), pain tolerance (five items), scheduling (four items), self-motivation (five items), perceived exertion (three items), and environmental conditions (three items), and participants using the RAQ rate their level of agreement to each item using a four-point scale (i.e., 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = agree, 4 = strongly agree). The responses to each statement are then summed for a total adherence score that can range from 25 – 100. Higher total adherence scores indicate that participants perceive themselves successfully adhering to and completing their rehabilitation programs as prescribed by their rehabilitative healthcare provider. Moderate to high intra-class correlation coefficients for the each of the six subscales (support from significant others = .81, pain tolerance = .64, scheduling = .72, self-motivation = .78, perceived exertion = .67, and environmental conditions = .82; P < .01) have been found for this instrument, thus indicating a high level of test-retest reliability within the RAQ (Shin et al.).

Data Collection

A non-experimental repeated-measures prospective cohort study design was used in the completion of this study. Human subjects research approval was provided from the East Stroudsburg University Institutional Review Board (protocol #ESU-IRB-041-2021) in March of 2021, with the data collecting period for this study starting in June of 2021 and ending in February of 2022. After an in-season sports injury had occurred, collegiate athletes who met the appropriate inclusion criteria were approached by their athletic trainer for voluntary participation in this study through the provision of an electronic informed consent form on their first full day of starting their rehabilitation programs. The collegiate athletes were made aware that their involvement in this study would not have any effect on their status as a student-athlete at their respective institution. Once enrolled in the study, the participants were asked to complete the HADS to measure their current post-injury depression and anxiety symptoms. Participants were then monitored throughout the duration of their rehabilitation programs until they received clearance for full sports participation from either their team physician and/or athletic trainer (i.e., at return-to-play). On the day this clearance was attained, the HADS was administered again as well as the RAQ to measure their self-perceptions of their adherence to their rehabilitation programs. All questionnaires in this study were administered through Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliant Google Forms on either a password-protected tablet, smartphone, or computer desktop with all collected data being deidentified, kept confidential, and storedin a password-encrypted computer.

Data Analysis

The IBM SPSS 27.0 Statistical Package was used to analyze all collected data once the data collection period was complete. Descriptive statistics were reported and Pearson product-moment correlation tests with a significance level of P < .05 were conducted among HADS and RAQ scores to attempt to further identify the relationships between post-injury depression and anxiety and rehabilitation adherence in collegiate athletes. The following criteria were used to interpret R values: little to no relationship (.00–.25), fair relationship (.25–.50), moderate to good relationship (.50–.75), and good to excellent relationship (above .75) (Portney & Watkins, 2009).

Results

The 19 participants (M age: 20.58 ± 1.31; 17 males, 2 females) in this study were primarily NCAA Division II student-athletes (73.7%), White Caucasian (63.2%), academic seniors (42.1%), and football athletes (63.2%). The participants sustained various musculoskeletal conditions such as foot/ankle injuries (36.8%), knee injuries (21.1%), hip/thigh injuries (21.1%), and shoulder injuries (21.1%) with three participants not being cleared for a return to full sports participation at the conclusion of the data collection period. The cleared participants (n= 16) took 96.63 ± 31.90 days to recover from their sustained injuries before they were cleared for full sports participation. For the completion of the post-injury HADS (i.e., HADS 1 administration), the participants (n = 19) scored an 11.58 ± 5.26, while for the completion of the return-to-play HADS (i.e., HADS 2 administration), the participants (n = 16) scored a 9.63 ± 5.83. The participants (n= 15) rated their self-perception of rehabilitation adherence to be 57.20 ± 4.95 on a scale of 25 to 100 using the RAQ. A significant positive correlation was found between HADS 1 and HADS 2 scores (R = .55, P = .03), but no significant correlations were found between RAQ and HADS 1 scores (R = .52, P = .85) or RAQ and HADS 2 scores (R = .14, P = .63).

Discussion

The mean scores of both HADS 1 and HADS 2 falling above the asymptomatic normal HADS category indicates that depressive and anxious symptoms remain a substantial presence for collegiate athletes at post-injury and return-to-play states. Furthermore, although the findings of this study did not establish a significant correlation between post-injury depression and anxiety symptoms and self-perceptions of rehabilitation adherence, there is still strong existing evidence from previous researchers to believe that poor mental health may be associated with poor rehabilitation adherence. Holt et al. (2019) organized a literature review of 34 studies on the topic of adherence to exercise therapy interventions in children and adolescents with musculoskeletal conditions among 6 different databases. The selected studies represented 1,563 participants (35% male, 65% female, 2-19 years old), 11 musculoskeletal conditions, and multiple exercise interventions. Commonly identified barriers to rehabilitation adherence in this review included time constraints, physical environment (location), and previous negative exercise experiences. Holt et al. concluded that a diversity of barriers and facilitators to exercise therapy for musculoskeletal conditions exist and current strategies to boost adherence are not consistent with contemporarily identified barriers and facilitators. They clinically referenced that making exercise enjoyable, social, and convenient may be important to maximizing rehabilitation adherence to exercise therapy in young, injured athletes.

Jack et al. (2010)  developed a systematic review of 22 articles reporting on 20 independent cohort studies using the ADMED, CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PUBMED, PSYCINFO, SPORTDISCUS, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and PEDro databases to understand the barriers to treatment adherence in physiotherapy outpatient clinics. These researchers identified high quality studies that maintained a focus on the exploration of rehabilitation adherence in patients with musculoskeletal conditions. They found that there was strong evidence to indicate that poor treatment adherence was associated with low levels of physical activity at baseline or in previous weeks, low in-treatment adherence with exercise, low self-efficacy, depression, anxiety, helplessness, poor social support, greater number of perceived barriers to exercise, and increased pain levels during exercise. They also found that the research focused on the ability of health professionals and health organizations to address these barriers was comparatively limited. Holt et al. (2019)  and Jack et al. would agree that symptoms of depression and anxiety may negatively influence rehabilitation adherence and that future study on the barriers to rehabilitation adherence is essential to the development of useful interventions by sports medicine professionals and other healthcare providers.

Brewer et al. (2013)  studied the predictors of adherence to home rehabilitation exercises following ACL reconstruction in a study of 91 (58 males, 33 females) post-operative patients. These patients completed measures of athletic identity, neuroticism, optimism, and pessimism before ACL surgery and measures of daily pain, negative mood, stress, and home exercise completion for 42 days postoperatively. These researchers found that their participants reported high levels of adherence to the prescribed exercise regimen and that the participants completed fewer home exercises on days when they experience more stress or negative moods. They concluded that day-to-day variations in negative mood and stress may contribute to adherence to prescribed home exercises. This conclusion may be generalizable to athletic training settings in collegiate athletics, as past studies have supported the presence of poor rehabilitation adherence by student-athletes in these settings (Granquist et al, 2014; Fisher et al., 1988).

Evans et al. (2012)  researched the stressors experienced by injured athletes during the 3 phases of their recovery from sports injury (onset, rehabilitation, return to play) and the differences in the stressors experienced by team-sport athletes as compared to individual-sport athletes with the use of semi structured interviews. The sample in this study consisted of 5 previously injured high-level rugby players and five previously injured high-level golfers. These researchers found that the athletes in their study experienced sport, medical/physical, and social and financial stressors; they also found that these same athletes reported several differences in the stressors experienced across the 3 phases of injury recovery and between team and individual-sport athletes. These researchers stressed that their findings have important implications for the design and implementation of interventions aimed at managing the potentially stressful sport injury experience and facilitating the return of injured athletes to competitive sport. This research supports the notion that certain psychosocial components of sports injury affect the ability of collegiate athletes to return to sports participation without any limitations.

Wadey et al. (2014) explored the relationship between re-injury anxiety and return-to-play outcomes in a cross-sectional research study of 335 collegiate athletes (M age = 23.5 ± 6.6) from varying NCAA competition levels. The athletes in this study completed the RIA-RE subscale of the Reinjury Anxiety Inventory (RIAI) as an assessment of reinjury anxiety and the Return to Sport After Serious Injury Questionnaire (RSSIQ) as an assessment of the perceptions of athletes on returning to sport. These researchers also assessed the presence of coping strategies in these athletes with the use of the Crocker and Graham MCOPE measure. They found a positive relationship between re-injury anxiety and heightened return concerns (R = .62, P < .01) and significant indirect effects for coping were found for wishful thinking, venting of emotions, denial, and behavioral disengagement. They suggested that future researchers should continue to examine the relationship between anxiety and return-to-play outcomes using diverse methodologies. 

Conclusions

With the premise that poor mental health may be correlated to poor rehabilitation adherence, it is reasonable to suggest that rehabilitative healthcare providers should have an invested interest in utilizing effective psychosocial interventions within their programming when treating injured collegiate athletes. Additionally, they should re-evaluate their own mental health screening practices to ensure that they are screening for appropriate mental health symptoms at baseline, at post-injury, and at return-to-play, as this is now considered best practice (Baez & Jochimsen, 2023). Rehabilitative healthcare providers should also be keenly aware of the fact that underreporting and a proven reluctance to ask for help in this population may play a role in masking certain symptoms through the entire rehabilitative process. These same elements may have also played a role as to why a relationship was not established between post-injury depression and anxiety symptoms and self-perceptions of rehabilitation adherence in this study. Other study limitations, including a small, predominantly White and male sample, timing and scheduling issues in the athletic training facility, and a lack of standardization when it came to the rehabilitation programs prescribed by the athletic trainers, could also have impacted the results. Future researchers should seek to create similar studies with much larger, diverse sample sizes that explore correlations between the individual subscales of HADS-D and HADS-A and the self-perceptions of rehabilitation adherence of collegiate athletes.

Applications in Sport

Members of the collegiate athlete care team, such as coaches, athletic trainers, and other healthcare providers, should be aware that the common underreporting of mental health symptoms in this population might make it difficult to establish the relationship between these symptoms and their recovery process after an injury. A holistic recovery approach should be considered in any injury recovery processes to allow collegiate athletes to heal both physically and psychologically. Despite their inability to sometimes be vulnerable and transparent in reporting, collegiate athletes clearly struggle with their mental health and more research is needed to better understand how the more nuanced aspects of depressive, anxious, and disordered eating symptomatology affect them while they are recovering from a sports injury. The best collegiate athletic environments are those that permit collegiate athletes to report any and all mental health symptoms, concerns, and crises without any fear of consequences stemming from coaches and other relevant personnel.

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George Minoso2025-05-02T11:00:25-05:00

Shamateurism in Romanian Soccer Refereeing: The Path to Professionalization in an Evolving Sports Landscape

George Minoso2025-05-02T11:00:25-05:00June 20th, 2025|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sport Education|

Andrei Antonie has been a PhD Candidate at the University of Eastern Finland since 2011. His research focuses various aspects of soccer referees’ careers, such as career development and stress factors, as well as on sport policy. Andrei has also been an active soccer referee in the Romanian top tier (Superliga) since 2017 and has participated several times in the Dallas Cup as a referee.

Shamateurism in Romanian Soccer Refereeing: The Path to Professionalization in an Evolving Sports Landscape

ABSTRACT
Purpose: Top-level soccer has become part of the international entertainment industry. The role and status of referees have changed over the last 30 years. The purpose of this study was to (a) analyze the level of referee professionalization in European football and (b) place Romanian refereeing on the sport labor market. Methods: Analytic autoethnography and interactive interviews were the research methods used in this study. I have been refereeing since 2002 and part of the elite refereeing population since 2017. The interactive interviews with the six Romanian elite soccer referees were held in July 2023. Key findings: The results offer evidence that referees’ professional status is influenced by the TV rights dimension, refereeing being a ‘serious leisure’ activity in the leagues with insignificant revenues and being recognized as a profession in the ‘top’ European leagues. The intermediate step is ‘shamateurism’, which also applies to Romanian refereeing. Romanian elite referees have an amateur status, even though they have a professional approach and their refereeing income exceeds the earnings from their regular jobs. Moreover, a significant number of Romanian top-league referees have no regular jobs, or they work for regional soccer associations in order to focus on refereeing. Romanian elite refereeing is characterized by monopsony, due to the relationship between the governing bodies and the referees’ earnings, working conditions, and labor conditions. Conclusion: The findings generally support the idea of interdependence among the domestic league revenues from TV rights contracts, refereeing professionalization status, and the monopsonic character of refereeing.

Key Words: soccer (football), referee, serious leisure, shamateurism, profession, monopsony 

INTRODUCTION
Webb et al. (1) divided soccer (or football) into two social groups: the ‘ingroup’ (i.e., players, coaches, and spectators) is concerned with the result, winning being the primary objective, whereas the ‘outgroup’ (i.e., referees) is only interested in correctly applying the Laws of the Game and ensuring that the game is conducted according to them. Accepting that referees constitute a distinct ‘group’ inside soccer might lead to conflicts with players, coaches, and fans, which could give refereeing a negative image. Although the ‘ingroup’ frequently complains about the quality of today’s refereeing, there is ample evidence to suggest that referees and the quality of officiating are better than in the past. Referees are now in better physical condition, being stronger and faster than their predecessors because of technology, equipment, training facilities, and knowledge of body mechanics. Psychological and tactical preparation has improved referees’ performance in terms of correct decisions and game management.

Changes in soccer in recent decades have led to an explosion in the amount of research on the sport. Also, research on soccer refereeing has recently become an interesting area of scientific research, the most discussed topics being physiological demands, performance (e.g., decision making, mental demands, and stress during matches), and physical demands (e.g., fitness, training, and fatigue). Pina et al. (2) identified 267 studies of refereeing, while Vasilica et al. (3) found in their systematic review that only 381 studies have examined refereeing, with a limited number of researchers (i.e., 20) having published three or more studies.

Few articles address referees’ career trajectories. Antonie (4) developed a career success model for Romanian soccer referees, whereas Loghmani et al. (5) studied the career dynamics of Iranian elite soccer referees. Pina et al. (6) proposed a multidisciplinary skill model for excellent referees covering matters such as individual preparation, game preparation, and game management, whereas Mendes et al. (7) created a general referee performance model for Portuguese referees. Loghmani et al. (8) studied the job characteristics of Iranian soccer referees, focusing on internal psychological factors. Most occupational and professionalization research inside soccer has focused on players, with limited consideration given to referees. Little is known about the socio-economic aspects of refereeing, such as professionalization, labor conditions, and economic stability, due to the insignificant amount of research.

RESEARCH AIMS & METHODS

This study analyses the professionalization of soccer referees at two levels. First, I will review the general trends in the professionalization of refereeing, i.e., how top referees have gradually turned professional in the 2000s, especially in the ‘big European football’ countries. The main research questions are: How has this change occurred? What factors have contributed to this change? What will the situation be in the 2020s? Commercialization has had an impact on soccer in recent decades, and among the biggest impacts has been that of broadcasting, as reflected in TV rights deals. Nowadays, TV rights represent a significant part of league and club revenues, and have also impacted soccer refereeing. Second, I will focus on Romania, as an interesting target for such research because of its tradition and success in soccer, including in terms of refereeing. On the other hand, Romania is not one of the biggest soccer countries in the world or Europe. In any case, a shift is now occurring even in Romania toward the professionalization of referees. I will consider the position of the Romanian top referees between amateurism and professionalism: What is their position, and how do the top referees themselves perceive it?

One theoretical starting point of the analysis is Dunning’s (9) typology and the concept of ‘shamauterism’, which has been practiced in various forms across a variety of sports and countries. His conceptualization emphasized financial aspects, which were divided into legitimate and illegitimate payments, but also focused on athletes, with the referees being ignored in his analysis. Another theoretical perspective is Stebbins’ (10) concept of ‘serious leisure’, recognizing that, from a societal perspective, serious leisure participants are hobbyists, career volunteers, and amateurs. Career volunteers provide services in education, science, and civic affairs, whereas hobbyists and amateurs are common in art, entertainment, and sport. I will also link my analysis of the role of Romanian top referees to the concept of monopsony, as associated with the functioning of the labor market in professional sports. Rosen and Sanderson (11) recognized that Rottenberg was the first researcher to publish a serious economic analysis of labor markets in professional sports in 1956. Some of the topics Rosen and Sanderson discussed were monopsonist exploitation, investments in training, contracts, payments, and the player drafts, as well as their implications, and most of these topics are also applicable to soccer refereeing.

In-depth interviews are a key source material for this study of Romanian referees. The participants in this study were six male Romanian elite soccer referees operating at the highest national and international levels at the time of the interviews. According to the Romanian Football Association, the elite group of Romanian (Superliga) referees for the 2023–2024 season comprises 27 referees (25 male and two female). Before the interviews, the subjects received detailed information about the study. They were guaranteed anonymity, and pseudonyms are used to protect their identity. Because of privacy issues, no other information about the sampling of the selected referees will be disclosed. The interviews were held at the Summer Seminar for Romanian Elite Referees in July 2023. The sampling was done so as to represent the best of the population of Romanian elite soccer referees: two were FIFA referees, another two were Romanian top-league referees with over ten years of experience at the highest level, and the last two were considered ‘talents’, refereeing in the top league but with under five years of experience at this level.

Anderson (p. 375, 12) defined analytic autoethnography as ethnographic work in which “the researcher is (1) a full member in the research group or setting, (2) visible as such a member in the researcher’s published texts and (3) committed to an analytic research agenda focused on improving theoretical understanding of broader social phenomena.” My own refereeing career started in 2002 and I have been a Romanian elite referee (Superliga) since 2017. Therefore, I have not had to deal with any red tape regarding working closely with other elite referees: as part of the elite group, I have established both professional and personal relationships with them. Hughes and Pennington (p. 15, 13) stated that “autoethnographic methods of data collection and analysis are inclusive of many types of qualitative methods, such as reflective journaling, videotaping, interviewing and fieldwork.” As part of the elite referee population, I took part in the referees’ ‘hot topic’ discussions when meeting for courses and for matches. When asked targeted questions in interviews, the interviewees could not lie to me about certain facts and events that I also was privy to but that would have been unknown to an outsider. Their answers revealed confidential details of refereeing activity. The recorded discussions were frank and I was usually treated as a fellow referee and not as a researcher. At the same time, some topics might have been influenced by my subjectivity, just as their subjectivity could also have influenced the interviewees’ answers.

Semi-structured interviews were employed to investigate current referees’ challenges in terms of their occupation, not only in Romania but also around the world, through their life stories and experiences as elite referees. The interviews lasted 30–90 minutes (average, 55 minutes) and were conducted and recorded in the Romanian language. A narrative inquiry was conducted to enable the referees’ job trajectories, in terms of refereeing, to be constructed. Clandinin (p. 10, 14) described narrative inquiry as “an overarching term that encompasses the activities involved in generating, analyzing and re-presenting stories of life experiences.” An interactive in-depth interview protocol was designed to realize these aspects of narrative inquiry. On occasion, the questions were not asked in strict order or in their entirety, because the conversations moved into new and unexpected territory and so produced new information.

In line with Ryba et al. (15), I transcribed the interviews verbatim and then translated them into English. In the follow-up phase of the study, I read and reread the interviews several times. The thematic analysis was conducted based on common codes and comments, which represented the central themes of each interviewee’s narrative. A narrative analysis of form was performed to ensure that the narratives were coherent. Consequently, common discourses emerged from the professional stories of the interviewed referees. The information provided during the interviews about the referees’ employment by different national football associations (FAs) around the world was cross-verified where possible, using online sources or previous studies, to strengthen the reliability. Collecting data on referees’ employment types was challenging due to the limited transparency of the National Referee Committees. There are publicly available data on referee employment only from England, Japan, the USA, Canada, Iran, Belgium, and Mexico.
Being part of the Romanian elite soccer referee group helped me to get closer to the studied phenomenon and basically become part of it, although this could arguably create challenges in terms of validity and reliability. To enhance the validity and reliability of this research, the criterion of trustworthiness was integrated into the research process. In accordance with Merriam and Tisdell (16), two external peer reviewers with experience in soccer refereeing who are aware of the actual situation of Romanian refereeing confirmed that the findings were plausible. Confirmability was achieved by bracketing during the data collection and analysis process, to reduce researcher bias, eliminate preconceptions, and reflect data without prejudgments.

FROM SERIOUS LEISURE TO A PROFESSION IN REFEREEING

FROM SCHOOL MASTERS TO PROFESSIONALS

The role and status of referees have changed over the last 30 years. These changes are part of a wider cultural change in soccer that started in the 1980s, intensified in the following decade, and accelerated in the 2000s. Three major factors underlie these changes. The first is the growth of top-level soccer in particular, marketization, and an increased emphasis on economic factors, as top-level soccer has become part of the international entertainment industry. Second, the role of referees has been affected by major changes in the interpretation of the rules of football since the 1990s. The romantic period of refereeing lasted over 100 years, when referees had well-paid jobs and respected positions in society. The change was brutal as the referees now had to be top athletes due to the increased speed of the game, leading to the implementation of various fitness tests in order to ensure better physically prepared referees. Refereeing specialization also occurred, establishing the difference between referees and assistant referees. In short, these changes have increased the powers of referees, but also their responsibilities on the pitch. Third, the role of referees has changed in the 2000s with the introduction of technical equipment, the best-known examples being the video assistant referee (VAR) and goal-line technologies.

CURRENT REFEREEING PROFESSIONALIZATION LEVEL IN EUROPE

In recent decades, European domestic soccer competitions have grown notably as a commercial product in economic terms. One reason for this has been the continuous increase in the amounts paid for TV rights by broadcasters. The continuous growth of soccer as a commercial product has involved the greater professionalization of all actors involved in the industry, from management to coaches and players. Consequently, refereeing could not be excluded from this natural development. In 2017, Italian Serie A was the first domestic league that implemented VAR. This was one of the most significant changes in soccer and refereeing, and influenced the career paths of match officials. Samuel et al. (17) showed that VAR’s implementation changed the career prospects of Israeli elite referees. FAs across Europe have implemented VAR in the vast majority of top leagues in under ten years, which not only required financial investment in the technology, but also involved the appointment of a larger number of referees. Thus, the National Referee Committee has had to find strategies to attract referees and to determine the most suitable financial compensation.

Table 1 European Top Leagues’ Total Revenue and Domestic TV Rights

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) (18) has released the financial data for all European domestic leagues for the 2023–2024 season. Table 1 presents the financial results of 52 out of 55 European domestic leagues (Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus are excluded from the analysis, because their data are influenced by current political conditions). The following analysis determines whether there are any links among league revenue, domestic TV rights, and VAR implementation (marked in bold and italics in Table 1), as well as the referees’ professionalization level in European countries.

REFEREEING AS SERIOUS LEISURE

The UEFA has divided the European football leagues into three groups based on their revenues. The analysis starts from the lowest leagues (i.e., the top 36–52), which have annual revenues under EUR 20 million. Eleven national leagues in this group have no TV rights income, while six others receive under EUR 0.5 million. A similar pattern applies to VAR implementation, as only six leagues in this group have benefited from it; interestingly, these six leagues are not the same six in this group that earn the most from TV rights.

The middle group of leagues (i.e., the top 21–35) are the ones with total revenues of EUR 20–100 million. Ten out of 15 of these leagues benefit from TV rights and, as can be noted, five leagues do not. Only one league in this group that sells TV right earns under EUR 1 million from doing so. Six of the leagues in this group earn EUR 1–10 million and the Cyprus league earns over EUR 15 million from selling TV rights. The only league earning over EUR 20 million from TV rights is the Romanian league. In terms of VAR implementation, 12 out of 15 leagues use VAR on a regular basis.

Based on the data on these two groups, 18 out of 33 leagues use VAR. In terms of TV rights, 16 out of these 33 leagues benefit economically from selling these rights, but only two receive more than EUR 10 million from doing so. As a consequence of the minimal professionalization of these leagues, refereeing is also affected. In these leagues, referees receive match fees and additional costs for travel and accommodation. In these conditions, refereeing cannot be considered more than ‘serious leisure’, as defined by Stebbins (p. 23, 10). ‘Serious leisure’ is “the systematic pursuit of an amateur, hobbyist, or volunteer activity sufficiently substantial and interesting for the participant to find a career there in the acquisition and the expression of a combination of its special skills, knowledge, and experience.” Johansen (19) concluded that Norwegian elite referees officiate because of their passion for the game and for social reasons, whereas their economic benefits are negligible, because the match fees have hardly any impact on their monthly income. Moreover, the financial unpredictability of refereeing was demonstrated by Voight (20), who revealed that one of the most important stress factors for US referees is the conflict between officiating and work demands, whereas the overall performance of Turkish referees is affected by their income (21). Voight’s research is partially supported by Gillue et al. (22), who studied stress factors among Spanish referees, finding that work and family demands were among the most important stress factors outside of matches. Rullang et al. (23) revealed that two of the key factors explaining why German referees end their careers are related to professional considerations and insufficient compensation. Their study was supported by Choi and Chui (24), who described how South Korean referees quit or leave their careers before becoming highly qualified due to financial reasons. Although the above-cited studies were conducted in countries other than those previously mentioned in this section, they might well be relevant, assuming that they treat familiar topics associated with serious leisure. It is common for financial, work, and family reasons to affect the elite referees in these countries. Hence, refereeing remains a ‘serious leisure’ activity as long as elite referees have other jobs and an amateur status in soccer in these countries, and no forms of refereeing employment are identified.

REFEREEING AS A PROFESSION

The European Top 20 leagues are among the most important ones worldwide and have annual revenues of EUR 100 million–7.1 billion, with greater total revenues associated with more valuable TV rights. In this group, only Czechia earns under EUR 10 million from TV rights, while the majority (13 out of 20) earn between EUR 20 million and EUR 100 million. The French and Portuguese leagues earn between EUR 180 million and EUR 500 million from their TV rights, whereas the broadcasters pay between EUR 1 billion and EUR 3.2 billion for the English, Spanish, German, and Italian league TV rights. In these leagues, soccer is a business, having a high degree of professionalization at all levels. The VAR implementation in 19 out of 20 of these leagues was a natural consequence of soccer development. There is one exception, however: Swedish fans own over 50% of each club’s shares, and they blocked VAR implementation in their league, considering that technological intervention would destroy the drama of the game.

Refereeing should be in line with the state of soccer’s economic development, so the best leagues should have the best prepared referees. Webb (25) stated that the question of the professionalization of referees was first raised in England in 1964. The subject was debated until 2001, when referees signed contracts in England, the first country in the world that recognized refereeing as a profession. Abadi et al. (p. 89, 26) defined ‘profession’ as “the work that an individual does for a living, having the degree of knowledge, expertise and training required.” Closely connected to profession is the notion of career success as explored by Shen et al. (p. 1755, 27), who studied ‘career success’ across 11 countries and defined it as “the accomplishment of desirable work-related outcomes at any point in a person’s work experiences over time.” Financial achievement is the primary indicator of a successful career worldwide, being closely followed by ‘promotion/achievements’, defined as a sense of career success based on attaining better positions or assignments. This can also be applied to soccer refereeing, where reaching the top means promotion resulting in better match assignments that result in higher match fees. At an international level, the elite FIFA referees from Europe (21 referees from 17 countries) did not mention the refereeing demands among the experienced stress factors (28). At the moment, 15 out of 20 of the European top leagues offer referees different types of contracts, as presented in Table 2.

Table 2 Soccer Referees’ Professionalization Level in Top 20 European Leagues

In terms of professionalization, England, Italy, and Germany are the most developed countries by far, because referees there who officiate in the first and second tiers are paid monthly salaries, although there are different types of contracts depending on the number of years of experience at the highest level or the number of games officiated per season. Although they had ‘full-time’ jobs as referees, Webb (p. 82, 25) revealed that most English referees continued also having part-time jobs because they were contracted to work in refereeing on a seasonal basis, which could not guarantee them financial stability for longer periods.

The second contract type is found in those countries in which all the top-league referees are offered full-time contracts. This applies to Spain, Germany, France, Turkey, Poland, and Hungary. Israel and Denmark offer part-time contracts to their top referees. In Norway and Sweden, only FIFA referees work as full-time referees, whereas only FIFA referees sign part-time contracts in Portugal.

The last contract type is the hybrid type of contract represented by the Netherlands and Belgium. In the Dutch system, FIFA referees have full-time contracts and the remaining top-league referees have part-time contracts. In Belgium, 12 out of 29 referees work as part-time referees; they receive two days of training (physical, mental, and theoretical) at the Belgian Football Centre (29).

Soccer refereeing is a profession not only in Europe but also in other countries that have competitive leagues. Countries outside Europe are not part of this study, but it is interesting to note other soccer leagues around the world that also recognize refereeing as a profession. All the data I could find about referees’ professionalization status worldwide are presented in Table 3.

Table 3 Soccer Refereeing as a Profession in the Rest of the World

In conclusion, refereeing has recently become a profession not only in Europe but also in the other continents. Fifteen European leagues and another 11 worldwide have recognized refereeing as a profession. There had been little change in refereeing for over 100 years, and the professionalization trend arose only in the last decade due to soccer commercialization as well as the involvement of VAR technology. Professionalization and the use of technology are only common in top-league soccer refereeing, whereas the otherleagues are still operating under the old conditions. Therefore, a line of change that divides soccer internally also differentiates refereeing and distinguishes countries.

THE ROMANIAN CASE

SHAMAUTERISM

Romania has a strong tradition in soccer, participating in several World Cups and European Championships and producing players such as Gheorghe Hagi and Cristian Chivu, who are part of contemporary soccer history. Romanian refereeing is equally prominent, having important representatives at the international level. Nicolae Rainea refereed five games at three World Cups and the European Champions Cup final in 1983, while Ion Crăciunescu was the referee of the Champions League Final in 1995. The best generation of Romanian referees is the current one, having Istvan Kovacs and Ovidiu Haţegan as its main representatives. Both of them took part in Euro 2020, which was a great achievement for Romanian refereeing. Romania was the only country with two referees, excepting the big five soccer countries, which always have two referees at the main tournaments. Moreover, Kovacs was the fourth official at the 2022 Qatar World Cup and was appointed by UEFA to referee the Conference League and Europa League finals.

Although Romanian referees have performed well, the referee professionalization process has been slower in Romania than in other countries due to the domestic economic situation and soccer bodies. Many Romanian referees have refereeing as their main focus, and the income from it is significant because they have no other job or a poorer-paying one. Even though they still have an amateur status, the top Romanian referees perceive themselves as professionals with their main focus on refereeing. All these features are typical of the concept of ‘shamateurism’.

No forms of referees’ employment were identified in the top 21–35 European soccer leagues and there is hardly any data about referees’ match fees across Europe due to the National Referee Committees’ lack of transparency. Each soccer league across Europe has its specific arrangements. The same is true regarding Romania, which is 23rd according to the UEFA ranking but is in the Top 20 based on TV rights revenues. Further analysis will determine whether these revenues exert any influence on the referees’ professionalization level. The starting point of the analysis was to identify the Romanian elite referees’ professions using autoethnographic tools, which was easy as I was part of the group and had had long-term professional and personal relationships with them (i.e., 27 referees, comprising 25 men and two women) for over ten years, as presented in Figure 1. The soccer referee population is small, and all referees know one another not only from professional contacts but usually from personal ones as well. Nine out of 27 of the Romanian referees work solely as referees and have no other jobs. Five of them work in soccer for county FAs and have different roles, such as the president, general secretary, or chairman of the county referee committee. Another five work as physical education (PE) teachers. Two of the elite referees work in healthcare, as a physiotherapist and a nurse, respectively. Three of the referees are entrepreneurs who have their own businesses, while the remaining three work as managers in various companies.

Figure 1: The Professions of Romanian Soccer Referees

Dunning (p. 114, 9) defined ‘shamateurism’ as “any kind of ludic activity from which people obtain financial gain,” in his discussion of professional sports. He identified different types of sports that involve relationships between the producers and consumers of the sporting performance and others who offer financial support to the producers. Furthermore, his typology includes legitimate types of sports professionalism, including those types of professionalism in which financial support for athletes is derived from ticket sales and those types of professionalism in which financial support is provided by commercial entities, such as sponsors. Based on Dunning’s conceptualization, the theoretical perspective of shamateurism can be developed and also be applied to refereeing. The new type of shamateurism is defined as a legitimate sports activity that economically benefits its practitioners but is not officially recognized as a profession. Shamateurism in refereeing is characterized by the financial support received by the referees from commercial entities, such as the national FA as concerns match fees and sponsors as concerns equipment or other benefits.

            As mentioned in the previous section, the Romanian Superliga started using VAR technology in 2022. It was a big step in the referees’ professionalization process due to the intense preparation required for the implementation. The proposed definition of shamateurism was supported in the interviews, which revealed that five out of six Romanian referees work solely as referees:

If refereeing was my passion, my hobby, ten years ago, now it’s my job, my business. My approach is 100% pro, although in Romania you can’t work as a full-time referee. (Referee 1)
Referee 2 added:

Right now, refereeing is everything. It’s the most important thing in my life. Everything else takes second place compared with my refereeing duties. (Referee 2)

During the interviews, a pattern emerged:

I quit my job when I made the FIFA list. Being an international referee made me more determined than ever to focus more on refereeing. (Referee 3)

At the same time, young referees who have the chance to become international referees also focus on refereeing:

At the moment, refereeing is my number one priority. I am one hundred percent focused on refereeing. (Referee 5)

However, another national league referee prefers to have a regular job because it offers him financial stability in case he is unable to earn enough from refereeing:

Refereeing is like a profession for me because it’s more than a passion, but I still have a full-time job. At the same time, you can’t survive being just a referee, but you can still live without being a referee … I might quit my job if I could be on the FIFA list, but I’m not sure, maybe I would change to a part-time job that wouldn’t pay that well but would provide an income in case there were any critical situations. (Referee 6)

To illustrate the trends in the referees’ professional status, the 2006 World Cup referees’ and 2023–2024 Romanian Superliga referees’ professional status will be compared. Although one might criticize the comparison of the two groups, they share certain features: in both groups, refereeing is not recognized as a profession, and both groups are refereeing at the highest level. Therefore, both groups might be relevant in terms of trends and the future of refereeing from the profession perspective. Nevala (30) was interested in the professions of referees who officiated at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, finding that 18 out of 21 had other full-time jobs: ten of them (48%) were senior white-collar employees (i.e., middle managers and teachers), five (24%) were entrepreneurs or CEOs, three (14%) were regular employees (i.e., a nurse, sales representative, and IT expert), and the last three (14%) were professional referees or worked for a soccer organization at the time. Nevala’s categorization was also applied to Romanian elite referees in order to have comparable data: 14 out of the 27 were full-time referees or involved in county FAs; six were entrepreneurs and CEOs, five were teachers and middle managers, while the last two were a nurse and physiotherapist.

Figure 2 shows that there are insignificant differences in the nurse/physiotherapist and entrepreneur/CEO groups. While the vocational profession of nursing/physiotherapy might be considered to have the same pattern as refereeing, the entrepreneur and top-level management professions might offer sufficient flexibility that refereeing can be done. While teaching and middle management used to be popular professions among referees, it seems that newer generations of referees focus on refereeing or find jobs linked to soccer activities, such as working for county FAs. This pattern reflects the current pace of change in terms of employment and indicates that becoming a professional referee also involves aspects other than purely financial ones. Excepting match fees, the referees need financial stability throughout the year, for times when there are no games or they are not appointed to any. Moreover, insurance in case of injuries as well as retirement pensions are also important for them. Only when all these requirements are met will referee professionalism become a reality. In conclusion, although refereeing is not recognized as a profession in Romania, half of Romanian elite referees are active only in soccer, in what could be easily recognized as shamateurism.

Figure 2: Trends in the Professions of Elite Soccer Referees

MONOPSONY

In becoming a profession, refereeing has had to find its place on the professional sports labor market. Monopsony is a familiar theoretical concept in major professional sports (e.g., baseball, American football, basketball, and ice hockey) in America that could also be applied to soccer refereeing. Robinson (p. 215, 31) defined ‘monopsony’ as a “market with a single buyer.” Most scholars have taken a purely economic approach to monopsony, especially focusing on the clubs’ and leagues’ power over the players’ salaries. This study, however, focuses more on the socio–economic particularities of monopsony.

Soccer refereeing is not yet fully considered a profession in Romania, although a significant number of Romanian elite referees identify themselves with this profession. Thus, this study tries to identify whether the monopsony concept can also be applied to Romanian refereeing. A characteristic typical of monopsony is that the sport leagues and governing bodies are the sole employers of referees for professional games, giving these bodies significant control. In this case, the sport league is the Romanian FA and the governing body is the Romanian Referee Committee. The monopsony’s main features are related to earnings, working conditions, job security, and labor relations between the referees and decision makers (i.e., the Romanian FA and Committee). Each of these features will be treated separately below.

EARNINGS
Referees are socially acknowledged for their sports careers, giving them not only social status but also consistent financial benefits. Table 4 presents the data on match fees in the Superliga and the average net earnings in Romania. Any referee appointed to more than two matches per month earns more than the average net earnings in Romania. This analysis does not take into account match fees from international matches. FIFA referees earn more than other referees due to their international appointments. It is sometimes the case that non-FIFA referees also travel abroad as fourth officials or assistant video assistant referees.

Table 4 – Romanian Superliga Match Fees and Average Earnings in Romania

The income from refereeing guarantees a decent standard of living:
If you’re a top-ten referee in the Romanian league, you might officiate at around 20 games per season. The match fee is around EUR 1200, less accommodation, travel, and tax. Basically, you earn around EUR 900 to 1000 after each game. We should also not forget the new opportunities offered by VAR. So, referees can earn EUR 2500 to 3000 per month if they don’t make mistakes. As you know, each mistake means there’s no game the next week or in the coming weeks. (Referee 3)

The second group of referees comprises maybe ten referees who officiate at 10–15 games per season, plus at games as VAR and fourth officials, which can earn them a monthly income of around EUR 2000. The last group of referees, who officiate at under ten games per season, would earn a monthly income of around EUR 1500:

There are huge financial benefits compared with what other Romanians earn. I think all Superliga referees earn more than EUR 2000 per month, which is a good wage for Romania, with the possible exception of people who work in IT, or entrepreneurs. (Referee 6)

Trifan and Berceanu (32) compiled statistics on referees’ incomes after the regular Superliga season (30 match days in nine months), not taking into account the last ten match days (playoffs and playouts). This only concerned Superliga appointments as a referee, fourth official, and VAR referee, without taking into account international or Liga 2 appointments. It was the first season in which VAR was used in Romania, and 24 referees were appointed to the Superliga matches. As the referees revealed in the interviews, the statistics indicate that the top-ten referees earned EUR 2500–3350 per month, the next seven EUR 2100–2450 per month, and the last seven EUR 1510–1955 per month. This shows that being a referee in the Superliga offers a decent standard of living for a country like Romania.
To be paid by the Romanian FA, soccer referees must be registered as sole proprietors/self-employed. The referees also have to pay taxes and travel expenses, including food and accommodation, from their match fees, which is an unusual practice.

WORKING CONDITIONS
Refereeing at the highest national level is a demanding activity. Being a referee is not just about the match but is also about careful match preparation. The Romanian Referee Committee has certain requirements for its match officials. Preparing for a match has several aspects that should be taken into consideration by top referees. The most important aspect is physical preparation, followed by mental and tactical preparation. All six referees confirmed that they trained every day and that they had to submit monthly reports on their training to a fitness coach who works for the Committee. Moreover, their appointments are influenced by the level of their physical preparation:

I train for around two hours every day. I also focus on recovery after a match, which includes a massage or a sauna. (Referee 3)

Tactical preparation has become increasingly important. The Romanian Referee Committee offers different learning platforms that keep elite referees updated on the most recent information regarding their interpretation of the Laws of the game. FIFA Red and Perception4perfection are two e-learning tools, both of which are very useful for offline referee training; they also help with VAR training by providing the most recent incidents from European soccer. Elite referees also have a platform that features all the matches from the Romanian Superliga. This gives them the opportunity to prepare for their next games in terms of game tactics and players. Refs.sportsmatrix.com is also used by the chair of the Romanian Referee Committee to provide educational video clips from Romanian Superliga games after every match day in order to give the Committee guidelines for upcoming matches.

A soccer match nearly always requires a referee to make three to four decisions every minute, and some of these decisions might be difficult close calls based on ambiguous situations, and referees also have to deal with pressure, both physical and mental. Referees are usually emotionally drained after each game:

A referee is physically exhausted after a game and very tired mentally. On the pitch, they have to control 22 personalities [i.e., players], plus coaches, and are in charge of everything that’s going on, including pressure from the fans, coaches, and the media. When you finally get home, you’re really worn out. So, in order to recover mentally, it’s important to go for a walk or go and see a movie. Isolated and quiet places help me to relax. Psychological recovery is very important for me because a massage may take care of your physical needs, but mental recovery is essential because refereeing requires a huge mental commitment. (Referee 4)

As previously mentioned, the referees pay their own travel and accommodation expenses. It seems that Romanian referees are the only referees in Europe who have to pay such expenses themselves. In most other European countries, it is standard practice for these expenses to be paid by the clubs through the FAs. All Superliga games are televised, the first game of the match day being on Friday, while the last game is on Monday, with the matches usually kicking off at either 19.00 or 21.00. The amount of time spent traveling and the poor infrastructure create problems for referees:

We have to travel long distances to matches and we can’t always travel by plane. In terms of holding down a job, you have to find one where people understand your passion for refereeing, or you must run your own business. This means we’re always in a hurry after matches, driving all night to get home or go to work. (Referee 1)

Figure 3 shows Romanian Superliga soccer clubs and the geographical distribution of referees. As can be noted, the Bucharest area has the most clubs (four) and referees (ten). This is followed by Craiova, with two clubs and three referees. Cluj-Napoca also has two clubs, but only one referee. Four towns each have one club and one referee: Arad, Galaţi, Ploieşti, and Sfântu-Gheorghe. There are also towns that only have referees: two each in Satu-Mare, Piteşti, and Râmnicu-Vâlcea and one each in Braşov and Târgu-Mureş. Finally, Botoșani, Iaşi, Sibiu, and Constanţa have clubs but no referees.

Figure 3: Superliga Clubs and Referees, 2023–2024 Season: Geographical Distribution

The analysis is important from the appointment perspective. The rules of the Romanian Referee Committee allow referees from Bucharest to officiate at matches involving clubs from Bucharest even if they are a home or an away team, whereas the remaining referees cannot officiate at matches involving clubs from their hometown. Moreover, the rules of the Romanian Referee Committee recommend that the whole referee team should be accommodated in the same hotel before matches and that they should not leave a city or town if a match finishes after 23.00.

Although these are the rules, it is common for referees to go directly to a stadium if it is near their hometown, especially when they are a fourth official or VAR. Most referees leave directly after a match, regardless of whether they live in the same city or town or have to travel by car for several hours. The referees act in this way because they are responsible for booking and paying for the hotel accommodation, which is sometimes challenging and time consuming. The Romanian FA and the Referee Committee are responsible for nothing in terms of covering these expenses. Obviously, referees from Bucharest, Ploieşti, and Piteşti have an advantage over other referees from an economic perspective as long as they do not spend too much on food and accommodation if their appointments are near their hometown. The most disadvantaged referees are from Satu-Mare, Oradea, Arad, and Galaţi because they have to pay higher travel and accommodation expenses. In conclusion, referees from southern Romania are economically advantaged by the actual Committee rules.

LABOR RELATIONS BETWEEN REFEREES AND GOVERNING BODIES

Soccer refereeing is characterized by two aspects that are the most important for anyone involved in the game:

Let’s not waste time talking about it. In refereeing, the only things that matter are appointments and promotions. This is all we’re interested in and nothing else matters. (Referee 2)

This study focuses on the top league only, where the only thing worth discussing is appointments. A referee’s income is determined by the appointments made by the Romanian Referee Committee. There used to be clear rules about the appointments, but discretionary rules have recently been introduced that have created conflict and confusion among referees:

I expect all of us to be treated equally. There were times when I had a good game but I wasn’t offered any appointments for the next five consecutive match days, whereas other referees who had made clear mistakes were appointed on the next match day. We also need predictability, to know when we’re going to be appointed or how many match days we’re going to miss if we make a mistake. Some of us also have other jobs and need to know, or maybe want to take our families on holiday. (Referee 4)

There was a timid attempt to establish a referee union over ten years ago, but the union was not officially recognized by the Romanian FA and Referee Committee. These bodies continuously discouraged the union, as a powerful one would decrease their monopsonic power over referees (33). Moreover, no referee wanted to assume the leadership role because it could affect his career, since the referees were used to acting on their own behalf rather than as part of a collective. Nowadays, Romanian referees are not represented by any union and have no representative in the Romanian Referee Committee to advocate for their rights. Consequently, the decisions are influenced by the subjectivity of the Referee Committee.

JOB SECURITY

By far the most controversial subject for referees was medical emergencies that stop them from officiating at matches. All the interviewed referees agreed that there was only one reason they would give up refereeing:

At the moment, there’s nothing that would make me give up refereeing, unless I got ill. I am a Superliga referee, and I enjoy every single moment on the pitch whatever I’m doing: training or refereeing. (Referee 5)

Recently, five referees could not referee for extended periods for health reasons. In these situations, the referees were responsible for their own circumstances without any financial support from the soccer bodies, although in two situations the injuries occurred during the fitness test organized by the Referee Committee. In 2017, FIFA referee Radu Petrescu had brain surgery and could not officiate for a whole season (34). In 2019, Florin Marcu ruptured his Achilles tendon during a fitness test in which I also took part. Consequently, he could not officiate for a whole season. Although he returned to the pitch, he retired in 2021 at the age of 44, even though there is no longer any age limit in Romanian refereeing. In 2021, I witnessed another injury when Cătălin Buşi suffered the same Achilles injury in the same circumstances and could not officiate for a whole season (35). In March 2022, Ovidiu Haţegan, the best Romanian FIFA referee at the time and a candidate for the 2022 Qatar World Cup, suffered a heart attack and had heart surgery (36). He returned to the pitch after a season although he was appointed to the Superliga as a VAR after six months. The last case concerns Sorin Costreie, who was also involved in the UEFA CORE program and suffered a back injury in the summer of 2022. He was off the pitch for six months after having an operation and was only appointed as a VAR. In the summer of 2023, he had a relapse and had another operation, which might affect his presence on the pitch, although he was again appointed as a VAR referee (37).

The biggest issue we have to face is that there’s no financial support for us as referees if we get sick or are injured. If you only work as a referee and you need brain or back surgery, you’re on your own, nobody cares about you and, from being a top referee, you end up in dire straits without any income. (Referee 1)

Referee 6 continued:
There’s no stability in refereeing. If I happened to return home after the interview and fell down the stairs and broke my neck, my refereeing days would be over. Most types of work are more stable than refereeing and have a certain degree of predictability. (Referee 6)

Thus, health is one the most important considerations for referees, and most referees are concerned about getting injured or becoming sick and the financial consequences of their inability to officiate.

In conclusion, the Romanian FA and Referee Committee have monopsony power over referees in that the referees have almost no influence. There is no referee union or representative to advocate for their rights. No negotiations regarding the match fees take place, and the referees are merely informed if there are any changes. Moreover, promotions to the Elite group or to the FIFA list are made solely by the Referee Committee without clear and transparent criteria, and the Committee members retain full power. No investment in training is offered to referees, the full responsibility being on referees.

CONCLUSIONS

THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS

This study extends our knowledge of the professionalization of European football refereeing, demonstrating that this incremental process has been influenced by several factors. The technological development in soccer of VAR, the increased number of matches per season, and the high level of commercialization have all impacted referees. This study proves that there is a link between the league revenues and the income from selling TV rights. The leagues with lower economic potential cannot offer contracts to the referees, even if they apply a professional approach. The financial rewards offer them a good standard of living, even though refereeing is an unpredictable activity. Overall, refereeing in countries like Romania is characterized by shamateurism.

Throughout this analysis, the professionalization of top-level referees has been treated as an incremental process consisting of three stages, i.e., serious leisure, shamateurism, and professionalism, as presented in Figure 4. Refereeing had been a serious leisure activity until the 1990s, when referees had become highly respected and started forming a subculture in soccer. Refereeing was characterized by shamateurism until the 2010s, because referees continued working in their side jobs but had become top athletes as the physical demands of refereeing mounted ever higher. In the last decade, refereeing has become a profession, and an increasing number of soccer bodies are offering contracts, although each country has its own particular approach.

Figure 4: Professionalization Process in European Soccer Refereeing

The soccer leagues with low revenues and insignificant TV rights contracts can hardly offer career opportunities to referees. Refereeing is a serious leisure activity for the referees in these leagues, the main reasons for their involvement in the game relating to social motivations and love for the game, with the financial rewards being less significant.

One contribution of this study is that it has developed the shamateurism concept in the soccer refereeing context. The Romanian league does not offer any formal employment terms even to its elite referees and does not officially recognize refereeing as a profession. TV rights revenues are closely connected to refereeing development, so that Romanian referees could have a good standard of living based solely on match fees. After the interviews, I was able to verify that the responses of the four experienced referees were direct and that they were not afraid to give straight answers to critical questions. There could be two reasons for this: first, they are part of an elite group and have to deal with similar situations and, second, they have a certain status and are ready to talk openly about the ‘dark’ side of elite refereeing. However, the responses of the two ‘talents’ (i.e., less experienced referees with good potential to reach the FIFA list) to critical questions were ‘politically correct’ because they were concerned that honest responses could have negative consequences if any decision maker were to find out, which is a typical reaction in a monopsony. Consequently, a significant number of Romanian elite referees prefer to focus only on refereeing or to be involved in regional associations and not to have a regular refereeing job. A limitation of this study is its lack of data from other countries about match fees, due to the lack of transparency of national FAs, to compare with Romanian fees.

The most profitable European soccer leagues have recognized refereeing as a profession. There are 26 countries worldwide, 15 being in Europe, that provide formal employment to their referees. The professionalization of referees has taken an irreversible path toward elite soccer refereeing being recognized as a profession. A clear distinction should be made between elite and grassroots refereeing, which should retain its amateur status. The introduction of VAR is only the starting point of technological involvement in elite soccer, and the relationship between soccer refereeing and technology will become increasingly close. Gottschalk et al. (38) have studied the possible implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in soccer refereeing, and its implications. The rapid development of AI suggests that it would be integrated into VAR technology, but there is always a ‘grey area’ in the Laws of the Game that require human decision making and interpretation that cannot be replaced by technology, an aspect that should not be neglected (39). There is a need for further research that takes into account the fact that FIFA and UEFA are aiming to achieve consistency in the decisions made by referees. Furthermore, I suggest that future research into soccer refereeing should focus on national committees’ policies and the profiles of referees from their own perspectives.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS IN SPORT – The Romanian Case

Despite the different professionalization stages and employment models around Europe, soccer refereeing as a profession deserves a place on the sport labor market. In connection with this, Romanian soccer refereeing was analyzed, and it was concluded that refereeing is characterized by monopsony. To address the Romanian FA’s monopsonic position, several steps should be taken by the Romanian Referee Committee. The first step would be for referees to have a representative on the Committee who would work in the interests of their colleagues. Second, there is a need to establish a referee union that would represent the interests of referees, negotiating with soccer bodies for better conditions for all Romanian referees, regardless of the league.

There should be a clear distinction between Superliga referees and national referees. Most European National FAs complain about the lack of referees at the grassroots level. There is a clear need for strategies to attract young people to refereeing. The Romanian FA through the Romanian Referee Committee needs to provide adequate support for the national referees from Liga 2 and Liga 3. Psychological and medical (nutritional) support should be provided to young referees in order to help them develop in a performance environment. The implementation of VAR has created additional positions for referees, but they receive very little personalized feedback. Most European countries have specialized observers for VAR referees who give feedback after each match, but this is not the case in Romania. At the same time, there is a clear need to train accredited VAR referees. Referees learn by doing and through their ability to learn from experienced VAR referees. At the moment, refereeing in Romania is an individual activity with no clear guidelines. The Romanian Referee Committee also needs to be more transparent and inform all referees about its decisions and strategies. There is currently no communication between the Committee and referees, who learn about all relevant decisions through informal channels, creating numerous rumors and conflicts among them.

The transition to professional refereeing in Romania remains a complex challenge due to structural inertia and financial considerations. While refereeing provides substantial income for elite referees, the lack of contractual recognition prevents long-term stability. Future reforms should include structured contracts, financial protections, and referee unions to advocate for fair employment conditions. Due to the international elite soccer refereeing context, my interpretation is that sooner or later, Romanian elite referees will be invited to sign their first contracts and the refereeing activity will be recognized as an profession.

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Troy Palmer2025-05-23T11:26:33-05:00

Efficacy of 12-Week Handgrip Strength Training Program Amongst Older Adults: A Pilot Study 

Troy Palmer2025-05-23T11:26:33-05:00June 13th, 2025|Research, Sport Education, Sport Training, Sports Coaching, Sports Exercise Science, Sports Health & Fitness, Sports Medicine|

ABSTRACT 

Handgrip strength is indicative of overall health and longevity. The significance of a strong grip increases with age as it relates to lower mortality rates and improved functional capacity.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness of a 12-week handgrip strength training program amongst older adults. METHODS: A total of 12 participants (mean age = 82.7 ± 4.8 years; height = 160.7 ± 7.4 cm; body mass = 64.2 ± 13.9 kg; 2 males; 10 females) completed the 12-week exercise intervention. The participants engaged in a twice-weekly, 45-minute suspension training regimen that incorporated a range of exercises targeting upper body strength and stability. Handgrip strength was assessed via a handgrip dynamometer at baseline and post-intervention. A paired samples t-test was employed to assess differences between pre-and post-intervention grip strength. A Bonferroni correction was applied to mitigate the risk of Type I error due to multiple comparisons, setting the adjusted alpha level at p = 0.025. Effect sizes were calculated using Cohen’s d to assess the practical significance of the findings. RESULTS: The analysis revealed a statistically significant improvement in right-handgrip strength, with values increasing from 21.5 ± 1.3 kg in Week 1 to 23.0 ± 1.4 kg in Week 12 (p = 0.006). No significant improvement was observed in left-handgrip strength (20.2 ± 1.2 kg to 21.1 ± 1.5 kg; p = 0.12). The right handgrip strength demonstrated a large effect (d = 0.99), whereas the left handgrip strength exhibited a moderate effect (d = 0.48). CONCLUSION: Findings from this study suggest that the 12-week suspension training and handgrip strength exercise regimen was both statistically and practically effective in increasing HGS in older adults. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Allied healthcare professionals should educate older adults on the importance of HGS and incorporate targeted exercises into their regimens to mitigate age-related functional decline and promote better outcomes.

KEYWORDS: Suspension Training, Longevity, Handgrip Strength

INTRODUCTION 

By the year 2050, the global population of older adults is projected to reach 2.1 billion (10). As this demographic shift occurs, various risks associated with aging, including falls, cognitive decline, and impaired longevity and quality of life, become increasingly concerning (8, 14, 45). A crucial yet frequently underappreciated factor contributing to falls and other age-related risks is diminished handgrip strength (HGS), which impairs an individual’s capacity to stabilize themselves and prevent injuries (16, 19). Research suggests that HGS is representative of overall body strength (1). Handgrip strength is defined as the maximum amount of force the hand generates when gripping an object. Thresholds for HGS required to perform functional tasks in older adults are estimated at greater than 18.5 kg for females and 28.5 kg for males (2). Beyond serving as a measure of physical strength, HGS is also a strong predictor of longevity and overall quality of life, making it especially relevant in the context of aging (1). Comprehending the relationship between HGS and other fitness components is essential for devising effective strategies to preserve functional independence and enhance quality of life, particularly as the global population experiences unprecedented aging trends.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), falls represent the leading cause of mortality among individuals aged 65 years and older. Annually, approximately 36 million older adults experience falls, with 32,000 cases resulting in fatal outcomes (4). Falls impact the quality of life by jeopardizing health, mobility, and independence. Although multiple factors influence fall risk, prioritizing interventions to improve HGS may offer a practical and impactful approach to reducing the incidence of falls among older adults (24).

In 2016, Szulc and colleagues examined 890 men aged 50 and older, assessing appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM), physical function, and HGS (42). Over a 5-year follow-up period, 813 participants aged 60 and above were monitored, of whom 144 experienced multiple falls. Findings from this research investigation revealed that those who sustained Grade 2 or Grade 3 vertebral fractures and multiple fractures had reduced HGS, decreased physical function, and an increased risk of multiple falls (42).

The number of global dementia cases is expected to almost triple from 57.4 million cases in 2019 to 152.8 million in 2050 (17). That said, aging significantly elevates the risk of cognitive decline, potentially leading to a loss of independence and other adverse outcomes. Although many factors are involved in preventing and treating cognitive decline and related illnesses, HGS may play a key role in determining who is at risk for these diseases. Physical impairments, such as diminished HGS, can interact with other factors to amplify the risk of age-related cognitive decline (7, 18). Consequently, investigating the relationship between HGS and cognitive function is essential for addressing the challenges of an aging global population.

In 2022, Orchard et al. evaluated both gait speed and HGS as predictors of cognitive decline and dementia (36). The participants were community-dwelling older adults who were cognitively intact at the onset of the study. Researchers assessed each participant’s 3-meter walk time and measured their HGS. A 4.7-year median follow-up was used to gather data on the prevalence of cognitive decline and dementia among participants. Slower walking gait and low HGS were independently related to an increased incident risk of dementia and cognitive decline. When these variables were combined, slow walking gait and low HGS were associated with a 79% increase in the risk of dementia development and a 43% increased risk of cognitive decline (36).

Precursory research has revealed that a culmination of exercise methods, including resistance training, Vitality Acupunch training program, multi-modal training, and suspension training (ST), can impact the HGS of older adults (2, 3, 10, 21, 23, 25, 26, 44). Among these, ST programs, such as total resistance exercise (TRX), stand out as accessible and adaptable methods. Due to the nature of ST, users possess the unique opportunity to train in several different facets of fitness at differing scalable resistances in a single bout of exercise (27). The suspension training system enables individuals to perform strength exercises adapted to their unique capabilities, offering progressive resistance to facilitate individualized strength development (15, 27).

In 2018, Campa, Silva, and Toselli conducted a study to determine the effects of a 12-week ST intervention on the phase angle and HGS of female older adults. Thirty older women were randomly assigned to either a control or training group. Participants in the control group continued their usual activities throughout the study, while those in the training group underwent a 12-week ST program. Both groups were assessed on various fitness parameters, including HGS. At the conclusion of the study, researchers found that ST promoted improvements in HGS in older women (3).

In 2022, Pierle and associates conducted a study to examine the efficacy of a 6-week ST program on a sample of 11 older individuals (37). The fitness parameters of interest were functional reach, overall balance, body fat, body mass, and HGS. While this study demonstrated improvements in functional reach and overall balance, body fat, body mass, and HGS showed no significant changes. These findings suggest that ST may be an effective exercise modality for enhancing certain aspects of fitness in older adults. However, further investigation is crucial to understand its impact on HGS better and determine whether ST can optimize strength outcomes in this population (37).

Against this backdrop, given the dearth of research examining the effects of ST protocols on HGS and the relationship between HGS and fall prevention, further investigation is imperative to elucidate the potential benefits of ST, especially amongst the older adult population. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study is to fill this critical gap by evaluating the efficacy of a 12-week ST and HGS exercise program in enhancing handgrip strength in this population. The apriori hypothesis posits that significant improvements in HGS will be observed between pre- and post-assessment measurements, underscoring the potential of ST and HGS as a targeted intervention to improve strength and reduce fall risk among older adults.

METHODS 

Participants

Prior to participating in this study, participants were screened using inclusionary and exclusionary criteria. The inclusion requirements included participants who currently exercise, are older than 55 years of age, and are independent of assistive walking devices (e.g., walker, rollator, wheelchair, etc.). The exclusionary criteria included participants not having a medical release form on record, being overwhelmed by the exercise routine, specifically, mild increases in heart rate and blood pressure during exercise, or possessing a pacemaker or other internally implanted device. All participants, therefore, were required to have a medical release to participate. This study was approved by the university’s institutional review board and adhered to the practice of ethical research standards.

All participants were recruited from a local retirement community and were required to report to the Wellness Center onsite for 24 sessions over 12 weeks. Flyers were posted, and those interested were instructed to sign up for an appointment with the principal investigator (PI) to complete the protocol requirements. Participants were encouraged to contact the PI or co-PI by phone or email if any question(s) arose or if any of the requirements remained unclear.

Upon arrival for the pre-assessment session, participants read/signed/dated an informed consent form approved by the University’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) for human subject use (IRB#: H24-0565). Ten females and 2 males (Age = 82.7 ± 4.8 years; Height = 160.7 ± 7.4 cm; Body Mass = 64.2 ± 13.9 kg), completed the 12-week exercise intervention.

Protocol

Once the informed consent was obtained, pre-assessment data was collected. All participants were instructed to remove footwear, socks, and stockings before stepping onto the scale. Height (cm) and body mass (kg) were assessed via Seca 217 Mobile Stadiometer (Model Number 2171821009, USA). The participant’s height and body mass results were displayed and recorded via a data collection sheet. Grip strength was assessed via the Smedley Creative Health Products III Analog Grip Strength Dynamometer (T.K.K. 5001, Japan). Participants were instructed to maintain the standard bipedal position during the entire test with the arm in complete extension and to avoid touching any part of the body with the handgrip dynamometer except the hand being measured. Participants comfortably grasped the handgrip dynamometer and were encouraged to exert maximal grip.

Three trials, with brief pauses, were allowed for each hand alternately. The sum of the highest left and right values was recorded on the data collection sheet. The PI was the lead exercise instructor of the 12-week exercise intervention. The PI took attendance, organized, and provided corrective feedback/instructions during each exercise session. A team of fitness instructors at the retirement community and a research assistant also led these classes by providing feedback to participants and keeping each session organized. The exercise intervention required participants to attend two sessions per week for 12 weeks, with each class being 45 minutes. Attendance was recorded at the start of each class to keep track of the adherence rate. Every session consisted of seven strength training exercises in a circuit style (Table 1), followed by a grip strength series consisting of four exercises (Table 2).

Strength training exercises were advanced every 4 weeks, specifically, progressing from 30-second intervals (first micro-cycle) to 35 seconds (second micro-cycle) to 40 seconds (final micro-cycle). The Farmer’s Carry exercise specifically intensified each micro-cycle, starting with holding one dumbbell each set, then holding one dumbbell each set vertically upright by the head of the weight, and finally holding the head of a dumbbell in each hand. The grip strength series progressed throughout the 12-week intervention, starting with one set of each exercise for 15 seconds per hand in the first 4 weeks and followed by 8 weeks of performing each exercise for two sets of 15 seconds. Each session started with a 5-minute warm-up, followed by 35 minutes of exercise, and concluded with a 5-minute cooldown. The 12-week exercise training intervention took place as a group fitness class in the fitness center of a local retirement community, giving participants the advantage of working with partners for each exercise, increasing accountability and motivation. The TRX suspension training (ST) allowed users to exercise in a customizable and scalable capacity that fits their personal specifications, comfort, and intensity levels (27). Additionally, the PI used a timed-circuit style class versus measuring each exercise based on repetition, allowing participants to perform at their own intensified pace.

Statistical Analysis

A paired samples t-test was employed to assess differences between pre-and post-intervention grip strength. To mitigate the risk of Type I error due to multiple comparisons, a Bonferroni correction was applied, setting the adjusted alpha level at p = 0.025. Effect sizes were calculated using Cohen’s d to assess the practical significance of the findings. 

RESULTS 

The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a 12-week exercise intervention on handgrip strength (HGS) in a population of community-dwelling older adults. Sixteen participants were initially recruited; however, four withdrew during the study, resulting in a final sample size of 12 participants (Age = 82.7 ± 4.8 years; Height = 160.7 ± 7.4 cm; Body Mass = 64.2 ± 13.9 kg; 2 males and ten females). Attendance was monitored at each session, yielding an average adherence rate of 83%. The adherence rate remained consistent throughout this study.

A paired-sample t-test was conducted to assess differences between pre- and post-intervention measurements. A Bonferroni correction was applied to mitigate the risk of Type I errors due to multiple comparisons, resulting in an adjusted alpha level of p = 0.025. Effect sizes were quantified using Cohen’s d, with thresholds of 0.2, 0.5, and >0.8 representing small, medium, and large effects, respectively.

The analysis revealed a statistically significant improvement in right-hand grip strength, which increased from 21.5 ± 1.3 kg at baseline (Week 1) to 23.0 ± 1.4 kg post-intervention (Week 12, p = 0.006). In contrast, no statistical improvement was observed for left-hand grip strength (20.2 ± 1.2 kg to 21.1 ± 1.5 kg, p = 0.12). The effect size for right-hand grip strength was large (d = 0.99), whereas the left-hand grip strength demonstrated a moderate effect (d = 0.48). Detailed results are presented in Table 3.

DISCUSSION 

Limited research exists with respect to investigating sustained strength training (ST) programs and handgrip strength (HGS) in older adults (12, 23). Therefore, the primary purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of a 12-week ST and HGS exercise program in a community-dwelling older adult population. The researchers hypothesized a statistically significant improvement in HGS between pre- and post-assessment data. At the conclusion of the 12-week ST and HGS exercise program, right-HGS improved significantly and demonstrated a large effect size, while the left hand showed a moderate but non-significant change. These findings suggest that a 12-week suspension training exercise program may enhance grip strength and potentially improve functional independence and reduce fall risk in older adults. However, additional research is needed to fully understand these effects and any differences between dominant and non-dominant hands.

 In 2018, a research study was conducted by Campa and colleagues in which the participants were divided into two groups: 1) 12-week ST exercise group and 2) control group that maintained their usual daily activity (3). Both groups of participants underwent pre-and post-tests, evaluating several fitness components, including HGS. Findings from the current research study and the study by Campa et al. (3) revealed both shared and contrasting results in how structured exercise interventions affect HGS in older adults. More precisely, both studies reported statistically significant HGS improvements following their 12-week interventions. The current research study observed an increase in right-hand grip strength from 21.5 ± 1.3 kg to 23.0 ± 1.4 kg, equating to an approximate 7.0% improvement. Similarly, Campa et al. (3) reported an increase in dominant-hand HGS from 38.2 ± 9.7 kg to 40.1 ± 9.0 kg, reflecting a significant 4.97% improvement. Both findings confirm the efficacy of a 12-week exercise program in promoting upper-body strength among older adults. Notably, both studies targeted older adults, with the current study involving a mixed-gender cohort (mean age 82.7 years) and Campa et al. (3) focusing on men with a mean age of 67.4 years. Despite this approximate 15-year age difference, the consistency in outcomes underscores the adaptability of exercise interventions across different subsets of older adults. Both research studies spanned 12 weeks, suggesting that this time frame is sufficient to elicit measurable improvements in muscular strength. Given these similarities, improvements in HGS in both studies align with broader health and functional benefits. Because HGS is a well-established predictor of overall physical health (29, 35), these findings highlight the role of resistance-based interventions in enhancing the quality of life and functional independence among older adults.

While both studies displayed shared findings, it was noted that the baseline mean HGS of the current study was strikingly lower (21.5 ± 1.3 kg) compared to Campa et al.’s (3) sample group (38.2 ± 9.7 kg). This discrepancy may be due to the age difference of about 15 years, which more than likely contributed to variations in baseline physical fitness and adaptive capacity. Older adults often experience diminished neuromuscular responsiveness and muscle plasticity (7, 32).

To summarize, the current research study and Campa et al.’s (3) study demonstrate significant improvements in HGS following 12-week exercise programs, reinforcing the utility of structured ST in mitigating age-related strength decline. Both studies provide compelling evidence that targeted interventions can yield functional strength gains in older populations regardless of modality. However, the differences in participant demographics highlight the influence of baseline fitness levels and age on HGS outcomes.

The results from a study by Gaedtke and Morat (16) also revealed results like those of the current study. Eleven older adults (Mean Age = 66.0 ± 4.0 yrs) participated in a 12-week TRX-OldAge training program, composed of seven exercises progressing through multiple stages of difficulty. The intervention method utilized TRX equipment, shared by Gaedtke and Morat (16) and the current study. Both studies also had similar sample sizes and durations, spanning 12 weeks. The results displayed within Gaedtke and Morat’s (16) research study share thematic similarities with the current research in demonstrating improvements in HGS. Both studies emphasize the potential of targeted programs to enhance functional strength, which is critical for maintaining independence and reducing the risk of falls in aging populations. Specifically, the current research reported a 7.0% increase in right-hand grip strength, showcasing the tangible benefits of a 12-week intervention. Similarly, participants in Gaedtke and Morat’s (16) study subjectively reported strength gains as the most notable improvement following the TRX-OldAge program. However, Gaedtke and Morat (16) did not provide quantifiable pre- and post-assessment metrics for HGS, which limits direct comparisons. While participant feedback highlights strength improvements, the lack of quantifiable data undermines the ability to assess the efficacy of the intervention, specifically on grip strength. This limitation in Gaedtke and Morat’s (16) study underscores the importance of incorporating quantifiable assessments in future investigations to validate self-reported outcomes and to draw more substantial comparisons with similar studies. Regardless, given the vast similarities between the two research studies, it is evident that a TRX-related exercise regime conducted for 12 weeks does enhance muscular strength in older individuals.

In a study conducted by Skelton et al. (41), a 12-week progressive ST intervention was implemented to assess its effects on the strength, power, and functionality of women aged 75 and older (41). The intervention included three exercise sessions per week, with two sessions conducted at home and one in a group setting. The additional day of exercise, as well as the inclusion of home exercise sessions, differs from the current study, which took place twice a week in a group fitness class setting. While the exercises did not mimic the functional tests entirely, each session was tailored to work the specific muscles relevant for functional tasks. Exercises were performed in three sets of four to eight repetitions, using rice bags and elastic bands for resistance. An assortment of pre- and post-assessments were conducted, including a HGS test, resembling the current study.

Despite these methodological differences, Skelton and colleagues (41) demonstrated increases in HGS, which aligns with the improvements observed in the current research study. In Skelton et al.’s (41) 12-week progressive resistance training program, participants experienced a significant 4% increase in HGS, from a pre-training mean of 21.6 ± 3.4 kg to a post-training mean of 22.3 ± 3.9 kg. This outcome parallels findings from the current research study, whereby a significant 7% improvement in HGS was observed. This supports the notion that 12 weeks of functional resistance training may improve HGS amongst a sample of older individuals.

A potential explanation for the greater improvement in HGS observed in the current study may be the focused, grip-specific training regimen utilized. Skelton et al.’s (41) training program, while progressive and resistance-based, did not include exercises that mimicked or directly engaged the musculature required for grip strength improvement. Instead, the program targeted broader functional movements, such as knee extensors, elbow flexors, and other large muscle groups. This specificity likely contributed to the larger improvement in grip-related performance observed in the current study.

Because the current study partially mimicked and addressed some of the limitations of Pierle and colleagues (37), detailed comparative results will be described. Pierle et al. (37) evaluated the efficacy of a 6-week ST intervention on multiple fitness components of older adults (37). This intervention consisted of 1-2 sets of 8 ST exercises performed twice a week. At the conclusion of this study, participants showed improvements in several fitness and functional areas. In contrast to the current study, Pierle et al. (37) did not observe improvements in HGS.

In the current study, participants demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in right-HGS following a 12-week intervention. Pre-assessment HGS for the right hand was 21.5 ± 1.3 kg, which increased to 23.0 ± 1.4 kg, reflecting a 7.0% improvement and a large effect size (d = 0.99). Conversely, left-hand HGS exhibited a smaller, non-significant increase from 20.2 ± 1.2 kg to 21.1 ± 1.5 kg (4.5% improvement, d = 0.48). Comparatively, Pierle et al. (37) observed no statistically significant changes in HGS, with pre-assessment values averaging 22.4 ± 1.9 kg and post-assessment values averaging 22.8 ± 1.8 kg. The effect size (d = 0.03) was minimal, indicating negligible gains in grip strength.

The differences in duration and intervention may explain this disparity in findings. For instance, the intervention in Pierle et al.’s (37) study lasted for 6 weeks, with two sessions per week, totaling 12 training sessions. This short duration may have limited the time available for participants to experience significant neuromuscular adaptations, such as improved motor unit recruitment and muscle hypertrophy, which are crucial for strength gains (6, 33). In contrast, the current study required participants to exercise for 12 weeks, providing twice the intervention time, therefore allowing for a more progressive overload and adaptation. The longer program likely facilitated more robust changes in muscle strength, particularly in the dominant hand. Previous research documents that strength improvements, particularly in older adults, rely on consistent and prolonged exposure to resistance-based stimuli to elicit meaningful neuromuscular adaptations (9, 20).

Another potential reason for the difference in findings is the modality and specificity of exercises. Pierle and colleagues’ study (37) focused on general ST, which emphasized functional movements, overall balance, core stability, and flexibility but did not prioritize grip-intensive exercises. In contrast, the current study employed targeted resistance and isometric exercises specifically designed to enhance HGS, ensuring a more direct focus on grip-related adaptations. Previous research has shown that exercise modality plays a critical role in the specificity of adaptations (15, 21). The lack of direct HGS training in Pierle et al.’s (37) protocol likely limited the magnitude of HGS improvements compared to the current research study.

The current study displayed a statistically significant improvement in right-HGS. While no statistically significant improvement was observed in left-HGS. While said findings were unanticipated, previous research investigations have displayed similar asymmetrical findings (22, 30, 43). In 2008, Thomas & Sahlberg recruited 41 college-aged males and females to complete an 8-week resistance training protocol with the aim of enhancing HGS. Data revealed by Thomas and Sahlberg (2008) align closely with the current investigation in demonstrating significant improvements in right-hand HGS, while no significant changes were observed in the left-hand HGS. In Thomas and Sahlberg’s (43) study, participants in the training group exhibited a statistically significant increase in right-hand HGS (32.9 ± 8.6 kg to 35.5 ± 7.6 kg) over an 8-week general resistance training intervention. However, the left-hand HGS showed no significant changes (30.7 ± 8.4 kg and 30.2 ± 6.0 kg). Similarly, the current research reported a statistically significant improvement in right-hand HGS (21.5 ± 1.3 kg to 23.0 ± 1.4 kg) but observed no significant change in left-hand HGS, which increased only marginally from 20.2 ± 1.2 kg to 21.1 ± 1.5 kg.

The consistency between these studies highlights the tendency for dominant-hand HGS to exhibit greater responsiveness to resistance training interventions. Both studies emphasize the role of hand dominance in determining training outcomes, with dominant hands showing significant strength gains due to frequent daily use and greater neuromuscular efficiency (5, 39). Conversely, the non-dominant hand may require more targeted stimuli to achieve comparable improvements, as evidenced by the lack of significant HGS gains in the left hand in both studies (13, 40). These findings emphasize the importance of tailoring training programs to address asymmetries and maximize bilateral strength development.

In 2019, Labott and colleagues conducted a comprehensive meta-analytical review to evaluate the effects of various exercise interventions on HGS in older adults. The review analyzed 24 research articles involving 3,018 participants with a mean age of 73.3 years (22), focusing on interventions ranging from resistance training to multimodal programs. While the findings revealed small but statistically significant improvements in HGS overall, the results emphasized a common trend across studies to the extent that greater responsiveness in right-hand HGS compared to the left-hand HGS. These authors concluded that task-specific and multimodal training interventions often yielded measurable gains in dominant hand strength, as this hand benefits from more frequent use and neuromuscular efficiency in daily activities. In contrast, left-hand HGS frequently displayed minimal or no significant change, reflecting the need for targeted stimuli to elicit comparable adaptations in the non-dominant hand. The review highlights this asymmetry as a recurring observation in HGS research, reinforcing the importance of tailored interventions to address disparities between dominant and non-dominant hand strength (5,22).

Although no statistically significant improvement was observed in left-hand HGS among participants in the current study, the practical implications of the findings should not be overlooked. A mean increase of 1.1 kg (4%) represents a meaningful real-world difference, particularly within aging populations. For older adults, even modest improvements in HGS can translate into enhanced functional capacity, better mobility, fall mitigation, greater independence in activities of daily living, and improved overall quality of life (11, 22, 28, 31, 38, 46). Moreover, from an applied perspective, a 4% increase in left-hand HGS may provide critical support in scenarios requiring quick reflexive actions, such as maintaining balance or catching oneself during a fall (28, 34). This seemingly minor improvement could make a significant difference in preventing injury and maintaining mobility, highlighting the value of targeted interventions to enhance HGS, even in cases where statistical significance is not achieved.

There were several limitations to this study that may have impacted the results. The small sample size (n = 12) and the low male participation in this study may have stifled the results from reaching their full expression. Future studies would benefit from a larger and more gender-balanced sample to enhance the generalizability of findings. Additionally, an increased sample size would allow for a control group to be utilized, bolstering the findings of future studies. Adherence to the 12-week intervention proved difficult as it slowly declined by 17% throughout the study, as many participants had busy schedules and prior commitments that interfered with consistent session attendance. Future studies may consider methods to improve adherence, such as scheduling flexibility or at-home modifications. Longer intervention durations may yield more robust findings, as 12 weeks might not have allowed the intervention to reach its full potential. Confounding variables, such as diet, sleep, and baseline activity levels, were not accounted for and may have influenced the results. Tracking these variables in future studies could provide additional insights into their potential impact.

As individuals age, their priorities often shift toward improving quality of life, extending longevity, and maintaining functional independence. Because HGS directly impacts these aspects of healthy aging, its maintenance, or better yet, improvement, should remain a priority in interventions targeting older adults. The intention of this study was to discover the efficacy of a 12-week ST exercise intervention on the HGS of older adults and underscore its importance for healthy aging. The current study revealed a statistically significant improvement in right-HGS, whereas no significant improvement was observed in left-HGS. Future research should evaluate asymmetrical HGS, as this was not an anticipated finding. Additionally, further research should investigate ST in older adult populations, addressing the limited existing evidence on its efficacy in this demographic.

CONCLUSION 

Findings from this study suggest that the 12-week ST and HGS exercise regime was statistically and practically effective in increasing overall HGS in older adults. These findings may serve as valuable guidance for fitness instructors, physical therapists, and other allied healthcare professionals working with older adults. Integrating ST exercises and HGS-specific exercises results in improved HGS, an essential component of maintaining functional independence as individuals age. Utilizing the TRX system for this intervention provided unique advantages, as the exercises were simple to perform and customizable to each participant.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Implementing an exercise program focusing on HGS has broader implications, as HGS correlates with improved quality of life, longevity, and reduced risk of falls. Allied healthcare professionals working with older adult populations should educate their patients on the importance of HGS and adopt intentional HGS-focused exercises into their regimens. In doing so, they can help mitigate age-related functional decline and promote better outcomes for aging individuals.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author would like to personally thank the health and wellness team at Carolina Bay at Autumn Hall: Shannon Hardy and Madison Norris.

The author would also like to thank the Center for the Support of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships for their generous contributions.