Understanding NCAA DI Athletic Administrators' Perceptions of and Experiences with Mental Performance Services

The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) mission is to ensure student-athlete well-being and success (NCAA, n.d.). The NCAA advocates for the hiring of a variety of support staff personnel in attempt to achieve its mission (NCAA, n.d.). These support staff personnel are often referred to as an interprofessional team, which involves the cooperation and collaboration between professionals from different backgrounds in order to blend their competencies and skills (Hammick, Ocklers, & Campion-Smith, 2009). The interprofessional team can include but is not limited to: athletic trainers, strength and conditioning coaches, physicians, nutritionists, and mental performance consultants (MPCs). However, not all NCAA Division I (DI) athletic departments employ MPCs full-time as they do other interprofessional team members, such as athletic trainers and strength and conditioning coaches (Bemiller & Wrisberg, 2011). Researchers have suggested there has been a slight growth in the hiring of MPCs in recent years at the NCAA DI level (Connole et al., 2014). One of the professionals influencing the hire of MPCs are Athletic Administrators (AAs), who control athletic department budgets and make decisions on hiring interprofessional team members. Therefore, it is important to interview NCAA DI AAs who employ MPCs full-time in the athletic department about their perceptions of the role of MPCs and potential growth of their services at this level. Ten NCAA DI AAs participated in semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis procedures were adopted to construct themes and subthemes (Braun & Clarke, 2006; Clarke & Braun, 2013). The first author conducted all interviews after completing a bracketing and pilot interview. Assumptions and biases were monitored throughout the research process to ensure that participants experiences and descriptions are accurately represented. This research may help to understand AAs perceptions of the value of MPCs while also aiding the field to find ways to increase visibility in NCAA DI athletics.