Parents’ perceptions of parental involvement in emerging adults’ intercollegiate athletic careers: Policy, education, and desired outcomes

ABSTRACT Parent involvement is an integral, but potentially problematic, aspect of the transition to intercollegiate athletics. In building on past research that targeted administrator and coach perceptions of parent involvement, the present research was designed to address parents' perceptions of their own involvement across NCAA divisions. Thirty-two parents of student-athletes from NCAA Divisions I, II, and III took part in one-on-one, semi-structured interviews. Data were synthesized using a previous grounded theory from Dorsch and colleagues', of parent involvement in NCAA athletics. Results highlight multiple types of negative parent involvement, policy considerations for NCAA administrators, design elements of programmatic education for parents across NCAA divisions, barriers to achieving positive parent involvement, as well as desired student-athlete outcomes. Integrating parents' voice with those of administrators and coaches bolsters efforts toward evidence-based education for parents of NCAA student-athletes. Recommendations of considerations for institutions wishing to implement campus-level educational programming for parents involved.