Research Blog #8: Interview/Primary Source Material

For my primary source, I have conducted an interview with an old friend and student-athlete at the University of Louisville. I asked questions to see which aspect student-athletes put their focus on more, athletics or academics, and how the university's attitudes towards its athletic program affect their direction of motivation.  Because of the recent scandal(s) at this specific university, I was asked to keep the student-athlete's identity anonymous.  

When asked if student-athletes tend to focus more on succeeding in academics or their sport, the student-athlete answered "I personally tend to focus more on my academics, but I would have to say that 90% of my team primarily focuses on sport."  

The student-athlete followed this up by saying "I think managing my time is one of the hardest things for me. Balancing the 20+ hours of athletics, along with commitments through the team surrounding the community and academics is a hard thing to do. I always try to put academics first but sometimes that just isn’t possible."

In regards to one of the greater revenue sports, football, this student-athlete noted that "when I got to school my freshman year" when football players were asked what their majors were "they replied 'football' and that they never planned on fully finishing their degree but rather getting drafted before that happened."