| About 2,000 Canadian student-athletes move to the United States for university pursuits annually (Barnes as cited in Falls & Wilson, 2012). The purpose of this study was to garner a better understanding of this migration through analyzing the experiences of Canadian athletes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Interviews with seven former NCAA graduating athletes and five NCAA athletes who returned to Canada without finishing their degree were analyzed utilizing Giddens' (1984) structuration theory. Results revealed that the practical consciousness of the participants in viewing the NCAA as the "gold-standard" of post-secondary sport was unchanged or strengthened following their experience. Participants were pro-active in dealing with dilemmas, including challenging their coaches, balancing other identities in their post-secondary lives, and re-locating to an environment that garnered more attractive resources. This framework provides intercollegiate scholars and university athletic departments with recommendations for improving the autonomy and diversity of university student-athletes. |
