Abstract:

Post-secondary institutions strive to actively engage students in their learning while simultaneously developing a robust university sport system. Growth in student development and university sport can be enhanced through strong university-community relationships, sport alumni relations, and maximizing experiential learning opportunities for students within the community and/or private sector. Experiential learning is not just recognized for its resultant knowledge acquired through doing, but also for its role in building participants’ confidence to learn in different settings, to make critical connections in their curricula learning, learn from local communities, and build greater self-efficacy and self-awareness through critical thinking, reflection, and emphasis on students as partners.

While the resources and relationships invested in university-community collaborations are extensive, it is important to remain attentive to potential disconnect among stakeholders. Community partners, university administrators, and professors may be unaware of the additional roles and responsibilities of a student-athlete and neglect to consider their realities in the design, supervision, and evaluation of experiential learning placements. This gap can result in missed mutual learning opportunities, community development and networking, and require the student to choose between university sport or participating in experiential learning such as COOP or an internship. This paper identifies challenges in the student–university-community-sport partnership and discusses student-focused models to enhance capacity for student learning and engagement, including students who are actively involved in university sport.

Keywords:

Experiential learning, student athletes, teaching and learning, work-integrated learning, student-focused models.