More than 150 people joined Ohio State’s Sports and Society Initiative for the day-long symposium, “When Sports End.” The event, broken into four sessions, explored the various psychological, sociological and physiological challenges and opportunities athletes face when their sport lives come to an end—no matter what the level.

 

Speakers at the event included former Ohio State student-athletes Greg Oden and Joshua Perry and Monica Velazquez-Stiak, sports psychologist Steve Graef, Prim Siripipat of ESPN, sports psychologist Jennifer Carter, former Buckeye football player Malik Barrow, Jerry Snodgrass of the Ohio High School Athletic Association, former DIII swimmer Madeline Kraft, Derek Cowherd Ohio State SASSO.

 

The event also featured discussions with the Treleavens, Rasors and Turners to discuss how the end of sports impacts families, and the exploration of research on topics including: 

• Transfer of Social Skills Learned in Sport to Real Life by Dawn Anderson Butcher, professor, executive director of Teaching/Research, OSU LiFEsports

• Psychosocial Aspects of Transitioning out of Sport by Ashley Hansen, clinical psychology doctoral candidate, sports psychology consultant

• "When Sports End: Evidence from the National Sports and Society Survey," Chris Knoester, associate professor, sociology

• "Moving On!" to a Healthy Lifestyle, Erin Reifsteck, assistant professor, Department of Kinesiology, UNC Greensboro