Publications

Anderson-Butcher, Dawn, Tarkington J. Newman, and Ellen Williams. 2025. “Empowering youth through the power of reflective journaling: Understanding life skills from the reflections of youth.” Youth 5(2):60. 

Armstrong, Ketra L., Brian A. Turner, and Kimberly S. Miloch. 2025. “Sport Marketing.” In P. M. Pedersen & L. Thibault (Eds.), Contemporary Sport Management (8th ed., pp. 373-403). Human Kinetics Publishing. 

Atkinson, Obidiah, Samantha Bates, and Dawn Anderson-Butcher. 2025. “Policy analysis of laws, governance, and oversight of school-based sport in the United States.” LiFEsports at The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. 

Atkinson, Obidiah, Dimetri Brandon, Jacqueline Goodway, Sue Sutherland, Dawn Anderson-Butcher, D., and Samantha Bates. 2025. “Communication strategies for coaches to limit burnout for high school athletes.” Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance 96(4):7-13. 

Atkinson, Obidiah, Jacqueline Goodway, Dawn Anderson-Butcher, Sue Sutherland, Samantha Bates, and Anthony Amorose. 2025. “Ball don’t lie: Exploring competence as a mediator of the relationship between coach communication and athlete enjoyment.” Quest 77(3):323-343. 

Bates, Samantha,and Dawn Anderson-Butcher. 2025. “Evaluating the effects of sport-based positive youth development programs in enhancing social skill development: Findings from a randomized study of LiFEsports.” Online first in Psychology of Sport & Exercise. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2025.103000

Bates, Samanth, Dawn Anderson-Butcher, and Kylee Ault-Baker, K. 2025. “Practical approaches to teaching values and life skills.” In K.T. Koh, T. Newman, & M. Shalleh (Eds.), Coaching values and life skills through physical education and sports: A practical toolkit (pp. 74-88). Routledge.

Bates, Samantha, Dawn Anderson-Butcher, Kylee Ault-Baker, and Emily Nothnagle. 2025. ”Policy requirements and coach mental health training: A mixed methods analysis of online versus in-person modalities.” Frontiers in Sports and Active Living 7:1701426.

Bates, Samantha, and Keith McShan. 2025. “High school student-athlete perspectives on coach behaviors: Insights beyond the Xs and Os.” The Sport Psychologist 39(4):248-259.

Bates, Samantha, and Madeline Multer. 2025. “Teaching social work competencies through the lens of sport.” Journal of Social Work Education 61(1):121-131. 

Beatie, M. A., and Brian A. Turner. 2025. “The impact of athlete-coach fit on the athletic satisfaction of NCAA Division II college athletes.” Journal for the Study of Sports and Athletes in Education, 19, 40-56.

Brancaleone, Matthew P., Laura C. Boucher, Jingzhen Yang, Daniel Merfeld, and James A. Onate. 2025. "Comparing dynamic visual acuity between athletes who are deaf or hard-of-hearing and athletes who are hearing." Journal of American College Health 73(1):27-30.

Cioletti, A., Lower-Hoppe, L. M., & Pastore, D. 2025. “Exploring the factors that influence college students’ participation in group fitness.” Online first in Leisure/Loisir. doi:10.1080/14927713.2025.2578484

Czekanski, W. A., Lower-Hoppe, L. M., & Buning, R. J. 2025. “An exploration of Likert scale development: Measuring purpose, success, and constraints of American collegiate sport clubs.” Online first in Managing Sport & Leisure. doi:10.1080/23750472.2025.2572332

Fischer, Anastasia Noel, Kele Ding, and Jingzhen Yang. "Is the ability to estimate subjective recovery from sports-related concussion associated with recovery time?" Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 57(105):251-252.

Hartlaub, Taylor, Lindsay Sullivan, Vishaka Kalra, Steven Cuff, Despina Stavrinos, and Jingzhen Yang. 2025. “Physicians' Perspectives on Adolescent Return-to-Drive Post-Concussion: A Qualitative Study.” Online first in Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation. doi:10.1097/HTR.0000000000001124  

Hextrum, Kirsten, Knoester, Chris, and James Tompsett. 2025. “Who plays, persists, and stands out in interscholastic athletics? Habitus, parenting, social class and perceptions of athletic merit." Journal for the Study of Sports and Athletes in Education 19(3):290-328.

Knoester, Chris and Chris Bjork. 2025. "Parental involvement in youth sports: Historical trends and links to generational, socioeconomic status, sport culture, and youth sport commitment contexts.” Online first in Leisure/Loisir. doi:10.1080/14927713.2025.2503183

Knoester, Chris, and Chris Bjork. 2025. “The rise of private club and travel teams in the U.S.: Generational changes in youth sports participation and associations with socioeconomic statuses and family and community sport cultures.” Journal of Sport and Social Issues 49(6):487-519.

Knoester, Chris, and Chris Bjork. 2025. “U.S. youth sports participation: Analyzing the implications of generation, gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and family and community sport cultures." Leisure/Loisir 49(4):797-843.

Knoester, Chris, and Kirsten Hextrum. 2025. “Saving women’s sports? The ideological underpinnings of U.S public opinions about trans* athlete rights and sex testing, before widespread politicization.” Sociology of Sport Journal 42(3):325-337.

Lower-Hoppe, Leeann M., W. Andrew Czekanski, Richard J. Buning, and Daniel Springer. 2025. “The role of external partners in shaping the organizational capacity of collegiate sport clubs: A Delphi study.” European Sport Management Quarterly 25(4):642-662. 

Lower-Hoppe, Leeann M., W. Andrew Czekanski, Daniel Springer, Brittani Becher, J. Patrick Marsh, and Richard “RJ” Rathjens. 2025. “Institutional barriers impeding collegiate sport club operational effectiveness.” Journal of Intercollegiate Sport 18(2):116-143. 

McLeod, Christopher M., and Chris Knoester. 2025. “Parental expectations for children’s future athletic achievement: The roles of socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, gender, and athletic experiences and identities.” Online first in Journal of Sport and Social Issues. doi:10.1177/01937235251392534

Morgillo, Solinda, Emily Nothnagle, and Jacob Heinricher. 2025. “Rolling with the punches: A conversation about sport ethnography.” Omertaa, Journal of Applied Anthropology 1:755-761. 

Newman, Tarkington J., Levone Lee, Fernando Santos, Marta Ferreira, and Dawn Anderson-Butcher. 2025. “Photo-based methods to illustrate the what, where, and how of life skill transfer.” Online first in Research on Social Work Practice doi:10.1177/10497315251342.

Nothnagle, Emily. 2025. “Tackling the everyday: Race and nation in big-time college football: by Canada, T, University of California Press, 2025, 256 pp., $29.95 (paperback), ISBN: 9780520395657." Online first in Leisure Studies. doi:10.1080/02614367.2025.2490545

Nothnagle, Emily A., and Chris Knoester. 2025. “Sport participation and the development of grit.” Leisure Sciences 47(2):225-242.

Peng, Jin, Jiayuan Chen, Changchang Yin, Ping Zhang, and Jingzhen Yang. 2025. "Comparison of Machine Learning Models in Predicting Mental Health Sequelae Following Concussion in Youth." AMIA Joint Summits on Translational Science 1:422-431.

Scheadler, Travis R., Samantha Bates, and Dawn Anderson-Butcher. 2025. “Perspectives from parents of former participants in a sport-based positive youth development program: Long-term life skills transfer.” Sport Social Work Journal 7(1):50-72.

Selhorst, Mitchell, Emily Sweeney, Lisa C. Martin, Jingzhen Yang, Jason Benedict, Madison Brna, and Anastasia N. Fischer. 2025. "Immediate physical therapy is beneficial for adolescent athletes with active lumbar spondylolysis: a multicentre randomised trial." British Journal of Sports Medicine 60(2):125-132

Springer, Daniel, Leeann M. Lower-Hoppe, and Marlene A. Dixon. 2025. “Deconstructing the structure of American collegiate sport club programs.” Managing Sport & Leisure 30(5):900-916. 

Upenieks, Laura, Ford-Robertson, Joanne, and Chris Knoester. 2025. “Religiosity and U.S. adult support for youth tackle football: Risk aversion or playing for the glory of God?” Online firstin Sociology of Sport Journal. doi:10.1123/ssj.2024-0223

Upenieks, Laura, and Chris Knoester. 2025. “Sanctified bets? Religiosity, gender, and sports gambling in the United States.” Forthcoming in Sociology of Sport Journal.

Upenieks, Laura, Ryan, Brendan, and Chris Knoester. 2025. “Better to have played than not played? Childhood sport participation, dropout frequencies and reasons, and mental health in adulthood.” Sociology of Sport Journal 42(1):87-100. 

Valasek Amy E., Enas Alshaikh, Jinzhen Yang J, Katherine Ellee Allison, Brian Focht, and Julie A. Young. 2025. “Comparison of Exercise Vital Sign Screening with Accelerometer Data to Assess Adolescent Physical Activity: A Pilot Study.” Translational Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine 10(3):e000308.

VonDeylen, Olivia, Enas Alshaikh, Krista Wheeler, Robyn Recker, Paola Malerba, Amy Valasek, Keith Owen Yeates, and Jingzhen Yang. 2025. "Sleep quantity and quality during the first week postinjury and time to symptom resolution in youth with concussion." British Journal of Sports Medicine 59(10):698-705.

Wade-Mdivanian, R., Anderson-Butcher, D., Davis, J., & Bates, S. 2025. LiFEsports Annual Report for 2025. Columbus, OH: LiFEsports, The Ohio State University.

Warner, Mariah, and Chris Knoester. 2025. "Does sport bring different racial/ethnic groups together? Examining U.S. adults’ beliefs and the impact of youth and adult sport experiences.” Sociology of Sport Journal 42(4):374-389.

Warner, Mariah, and Chris Knoester. 2025. "Sports-related mistreatment in the U.S.: Retrospective recognitions and connections to social structural locations, childhood contexts, and adult characteristics." International Journal of the Sociology ofLeisure 8:211-240.

Worley, Justin T., Lindsay Sullivan, Ellie Ferguson, Dawn Anderson-Butcher, Sydney Mack, James Houle, and Kylee Ault-Baker. 2025. “Coach mental health literacy: A scoping review.” Online first in International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology. doi:10.1080/1750984x.2025.2575494

Yang, Jingzhen, Guy N. Brock, Danielle L. Steelesmith, Amanda J. Thompson, Elyse N. Llamocca, Jeffrey A. Bridge, and Cynthia A. Fontanella. 2025. "Association between concussion and risk of suicide among youth and young adults." American Journal of Preventive Medicine 70(3):108127.

Presentations

Anderson-Butcher, D., Ault-Baker, K. J., Bates, S., Quick, S., & Atkinson, O. 2025. “Coach Beyond: Coaching for athlete success on and off the field.” Presented at the International Council for Coaching Excellence: Global Coach Conference, Athens, Greece.

Anderson-Butcher, D., Bates, S., Amorose, A., Goldstein, J., Atkinson, O., Ault-Baker, K., & Mack, S. 2025. “LiFEsports to scale: Initial pilot innovations.” Poster presented at the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) Annual Conference, Montreal, Canada.

Anderson-Butcher, D., Bates, S., & Ault-Baker, K. J. 2025. “A gamified intervention on managing stress and pressure for coaches: Implementation and effectiveness” Presented at the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) Annual Conference, Montreal, Canada.

Anderson-Butcher, D., Bates, S., Mack, S., Scheadler, T., & Nothnagle, E. 2025. “Advancing the social work grand challenges through sport: Innovations from the LiFEsports intervention.” Flash talk presented at the Society for Social Work and Research Annual Conference, Seattle, WA, USA.

Anderson-Butcher, D., Bates, S., McAulay, O., Mellin, E., Anderson, C., Barnhart, S., & Chunias, M. 2025. “Leveraging sport to address behavioral mental health.” Presented at the Southeast School Behavioral Mental Health Conference, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. 

Bates, S., Anderson-Butcher, D., Ault-Baker, K., & Nothnagle, E. 2025. “Training coaches to support athlete mental health: Evaluation data from in-person and online trainings.” Paper presented at the Global Alliance for Mental Health and Sport Conference, London, England, UK.

Bates, S., McVey, D., & Ute, D. 2025. “Coach Beyond: Elevating athletic programs for lifelong success.” Presented to the Ohio School Board Association [OSBA]. Columbus, Ohio. 

Chunias, M., Bates, S., Anderson-Butcher, D., & Ault-Baker, K. J. 2025. “Coach Beyond: Managing stress and pressure as graduate students.” Workshop presented at the Midwest Sport and Exercise Psychology Symposium (MSEPS) AASP Regional Conference, Lexington, KY.

Chunias, M., Newman, T., Anderson-Butcher, D., Nothnagle, E., Mack, S., Scheadler, T., Lee, L., & Beasley, I. 2025. “LiFEsports programming and practice: Facilitating life skill development and transfer.” Workshop presented at the Midwest Sport and Exercise Psychology Symposium, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA.

Cioletti, A., Lower-Hoppe, L., & Pastore, D. 2025. “Exploring the factors that influence college students’ participation in group fitness within campus recreation.” Poster presented at the North American Society for Sport Management 2025 Conference, San Diego, California.

Czekanski, W. A., Crandell, M., Morton, J., & Lower-Hoppe, L. 2025. “The impact of NIL on student-athletes: An examination of exchange relationships and outcomes.” Poster presented at the College Sport Research Institute Conference, Columbia, SC.

Czekanski, W., Lower-Hoppe, L., & Buning, R. 2025. “Students vs. staff: Comparing perceptions of American collegiate sport clubs' purpose, success, and constraints.” Paper presented at the Applied Sport Management Conference, Cincinnati, OH.

Ingram, J. & Worthy, S. 2025. “It takes a village: Building community through sport” Poster presented at the Office of Outreach and Engagement Graduate Student Poster Competition, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. 

Klein, A. 2025. "Athletes contributing to their alma mater." Paper presentation for the Sports and Society Initiative Research Working Group, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.

Knoester, C. 2025. “Extant National Sports and Society Survey data and projects, after Wave II initial piloting.“ Presented for the Sports and Society Initiative Research Working Group, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.

Knoester, Chris, Hextrum, Kirsten, and Rachel Roberson. 2025. “Changes in attitudes about trans* athletes’ participation rights, from 2018-2024." Presented at the 2025 North American Society for the Sociology of Sport meetings, Seattle, Washington. (*Awarded 2nd place)

Mack, S., Anderson-Butcher, D., Ault-Baker, K., Bates, S., Farrell, D., Styles, L., Worthy, S., & Nothnagle, E. 2025. “Coach Beyond: Equipping coaches to support mental skill development among student-athletes” Presented at the Alliance of Social Workers in Sports 11th Annual Symposium, New Orleans, LA, USA. 

Mack, S., Anderson-Butcher, D., & Bates, S. 2025. “Considering workforce support on the field, court, mat, or pitch: How stress and burnout influence coaches and youth development.” Poster presented at the 29th Annual Conference of the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR), Seattle, Washington.

Mack, S., Bates, S., Anderson-Butcher, D., Nothnagle, E., Ingram, J., & Scheadler, T. R. 2025. ”Advancing sport social work to address youth development: Innovations and findings from the LiFEsports Initiative” Presented at the Alliance of Social Workers in Sports 11th Annual Symposium, New Orleans, LA, USA. 

Morton, J., Brgoch, S., Czekanski, W. A., & Lower-Hoppe, L. 2025. “Change in academic self-efficacy across gender and year in school for undergraduate sport management students.” Poster presented at The Ohio State University EHE Research Forum, Columbus, OH.

Nothnagle, E., Bates, S., & Anderson-Butcher, D. 2025. “Coach Beyond: Engaging the community through sport social work”. Paper presented at the Social Work and Sustainability Spring Institute, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.

Nothnagle, E., Bates, S., & Anderson-Butcher, D. 2025. “Coaches as colleagues: Including the college coach in college athlete mental health.” Presented at the Alliance of Social Workers in Sports 11th Annual Symposium, New Orleans, LA, USA.  

Nothnagle, E., Bates, S., & Anderson-Butcher, D. 2025. “Where school social work meets school-based sport: Preparing coaches as colleagues to support holistic student-athlete development.” Poster presented at the Society for Social Work and Research Annual Conference, Seattle, WA, USA.

Nothnagle, E., & Knoester, C. 2025. “Patterns of sport participation and violence over the life course.” Paper presented at the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport Annual Conference, Seattle, WA, USA.

Nothnagle, E., & Knoester, C. 2025. “Sport participation and violence over the life course.” Paper presented for the Sports and Society Initiative Research Working Group, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.

Pastore, D. L., Rydinger, L., Turner, B. A., Samad, M. 2025. “Reducing faculty burnout and rejuvenating careers.” Presented at the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM) Conference, San Diego, CA.

Quick, S., Anderson-Butcher, D., Bates, S., & Ault-Baker, K. 2025. “Training coaches in sport coach education programs: An international collaboration.” Paper presented at the15^th International Council for Coaching Excellence Global Conference, Athens, Greece. 

Data Collection Efforts 

Bates, S., Anderson-Butcher, D., & Ault-Baker, K. J. 2025. Status of coaching study: State-wide survey of Ohio coaches [data collection in progress]. Funded by Susan Crown Exchange.

Bates, S., & Anderson-Butcher, D. 2025. LiFEsports summer surveys.

Knoester, Chris, Lower-Hoppe, Leeann, Anderson-Butcher, Dawn, Bates, Samantha, and 

Brian Turner. 2025. The National Sports and Society Survey Wave II Initial Pilot Study, Phase 2 (NSASS W2IPP2). [Dataset]. The Center for Human Resource Research at The Ohio State University [Distributor]. In preparation for public release. *PI work involved 1.5 years of study design, survey instrument creation and testing, and monitoring of data collection. Data collection from 513 new respondents via a 15 min. online survey, modelled after the W2IPP1 and aspects of the 2018-19 NSASS, completed.

Springer, D. (PI), Lower-Hoppe, L. M. & Lee, W. 2025. Bridging borders: A US-Canada comparison of sport club models to inform transferable strategies for collegiate club success. [data collection in progress]. Funded by NIRSA: Leaders in Collegiate Recreation. *IRB approval received, after mapping out the study, and now proceeding to actual data collection from survey experts in collegiate and community sport clubs.

Positive Sport Organizational Behavior Lab & Lower-Hoppe, L. M. 2025. Gen Z sport employee well-being. [data collection completed]. *Conducted focus groups with 17 sport employees representing three generational cohorts to explore how Gen Z sport employees experience subjective well-being at work and how these experiences are perceived and supported by older-generation colleagues.

Lower, Hoppe, L. M., Mortin, J. & Western Kentucky University colleagues. 2025. NIL and collegiate-student-athletes’ well-being and sport experience. [data collection completed]. Surveyed 80 collegiate student athletes. 

Research Forum Contributions

Sports Analytics Conference

The OSU Sports and Society Initiative and Ohio State’s Sports Analytics Association, with support from Sumer Sports, hosted a fifth annual Sports Analytics Conference on March 28-29. Sports Info Solutions ran our first integrated Hackathon, the Department of Economics contributed financially, and the Fisher College of Business made the space freely available. The conference was organized with a help from alumnus Neil Johnson and current students: Naveen Elliot, Matt Kendig, Natalie Thatcher, Gaurav Law, Marshall Benton, and Julian Zapata-Hall. The virtual component of the conference included appearances by Madeleine Want (VP Data Fanatics), Adam Vonder Haar (Sr. Director of Football Analytics SumerSports), and Ben Alamar (data science manager, Apple). Featured panelists included James Weaver and Alex Vigderman (Sports Info Solutions), Michelle Rock (Cleveland Cavaliers). Seth Brugler (Chicago Cubs), Emily Vatne (OSU), Matt Vatne (OSU), Quinn Maclean (SumerSports), Todd Worly (former CFL scout), Ben Nissim (Esports Engine), John Price (OSU), Charlie Cavallaro (OSU), Stacy McGranor (San Jose Sharks), Gareth Jobling (Cleveland Cavaliers), Grace Morris (Columbus Blue Jackets), and Peter Fleming (VP of Football Strategy, Dropback). We had over 144 virtual attendees and 111 people attend the conference in-person—from 14 different colleges. 

There were student presentations and hackathon entries, including those that were a part of our integrated 7^th annual SSI Undergraduate Research Fair. A total of 29 student presentations were made. A list of the student presentations is available here: List of Student Presentations. Awards were given to seven outstanding student presentations, but the all of the students’ work was impressive. Tejas Rama and Sam Cowan from Boston University were recognized as outstanding virtual Hackathon presentation. Kevin Wang and Henry Lu were recognized for outstanding in-person Hackathon entry. Jake Berard (OSU) was recognized for an outstanding business analytics presentation and Adam Gehr from Robert Morris University was recognized for the best sports analytics presentation. William Sorg (OSU) and Luke Snavely (Robert Morris University) were recognized for outstanding posters.  

Research Working Group

The Sports and Society Initiative Research Working Group came together for five formal independent sessions, and helped support and boost attendance at several other SSI-linked forums, which included presentations, collaborative discussions, research news and updates, and fellowship. About fifteen people attended each formal independent session. Now in its 4th year, the SSI Research Working Group was designed by the SSI Research Committee to offer new encouragement and opportunities for research-active scholars, and others who are interested in sports and society research, to come together to share their projects, ideas, requests for collaboration, and support for one another. The goal has been to enhance our sports and society research productivity, collaborations, connections, and impact. The activities, and group itself, have been primarily targeted for the benefit of OSU sports and society research-active folks (i.e., faculty, grad students, perhaps high-achieving undergrads doing research theses) and designed to enable brainstorming/sharing/supporting/collaborating. But, more generally, the group has been created for folks who are interested in learning about, doing, and collaborating on sports and society research. In 2025, the SSI Research Working Group collaborations markedly and uniquely enhanced the receipt of grant funding, data collection efforts, and the mapping out and further development of collaborative research projects, particularly surrounding the National Sports and Society Survey Wave II Initial Pilot and Phase II Pilot.

Other SSI-supported research forums included the addition of a new featured sports and society research book webinar presentation each semester and the continuation of an in-person series that focuses on bringing in external speakers to speak to topics that are of public interest, research-based, and meaningful to undergraduate students and the general public. In addition, a variety of research forum events were offered and promoted to undergraduate students, faculty, and the general public. 

• On Feb. 11, for our undergraduate-focused in-person research event, we hosted “Careers in Sport: Roles Working Directly with Athletes and Youth and Leveraging Research for Evidence-Based Practice.” Panelists included sport psychology professional Dr. Dan Gould (Michigan State), sport social worker and LiFEsports Assistant Director of Programming Catelen Ramsey, sport coach and pedagogy expert Dr. Obidiah Atkinson (SUNY Cortland), and Ohio State men’s basketball strength and conditioning coach Dr. Quadrian Banks. There were over 50 attendees. 
• On March 21, SSI organized a panel discussion on changes in college sports, “The ‘Price’ of College Football,” involving journalist Armen Keteyian, economist Andy Schwarz, Matt Brown (Extra Points), and Mark Pantoni (general manager, OSU Football). There were 78 attendees at this event, in-person. 
• Dr. Ryan Ruddy promoted and supported SSI participation in the Columbus Blue Jackets’ Hockey Analytics Conference on April 10. 
• On April 17, acclaimed and influential gender and sport sociologist Michael Messner spoke about his new book, The High School: Sports, Spirit, and Citizens 1903-2024, for our inaugural featured sports and society research book webinar. Over 80 people joined us online.
• On Sep. 8, Dr. Nathan Kalman-Lamb (New Brunswick) and Dr. Derek Silva (King’s University College) presented on their in-depth qualitative research with former college football players in their influential and award-winning book: The End of College Football: On the Human Cost of an All-American Game for our book talk webinar in the Fall. About 80 people joined us online. 
• On Sep. 30, Dr. Ron Yurko (Carnegie Mellon) gave our undergrad-focused research talk for the semester: “Sports Analytics in the Post-Moneyball Era: How technology and machine learning are changing the way professional sports teams evaluate players.” Around 60 people joined us, in-person. Dr. Ryan Ruddy and Dr. Chris Knoester presented on SSI’s research growth, over the past decade, for our SSI 10th Anniversary Celebration on Oct. 5. 
• SSI organized its third “Getting Started on a Sports Research Project” event on Oct. 23 in Thompson Library. The event included Ohio State students speaking about their research experiences, led by third-year statistics student and SSI data analytics intern William Sorg. About 50 students participated in the event. 
• On Oct. 27, SSI hosted: Betting Beyond Your Means: The Cost of Problem Gambling, a public conversation on sports gambling that brought together experts from policy, treatment, research, and community outreach. Resources for taking action were also provided. Panelists included Cory Fox (FanDuel), Dan Umfleet (Kindbridge Behavioral Health), Michael Wohl (Carleton), Derek Longmeier (Problem Gambling Network Ohio), and Randy Livingston (former NBA player).

SSI Assistant Director Ryan Ruddy put together research-focused outings throughout the year.  

• On March 20, he offered a Huntington Park tour, during which students met with business personnel. He also organized research and/or business-linked outings involving the Columbus Clippers (Sep. 11), Cleveland Cavaliers (Nov. 13), and Columbus Blue Jackets (Nov. 17), in the Fall.

Funding 

Funded:

Nothnagle, E. 2025. “2025-26 OSU Sports and Society Initiative Graduate Student Research Grant.” OSU Sports and Society Initiative. ($500).

Sampath, Neil. 2025. "Sports-related serious head injuries, while growing up: A survey data analysis.” 2025-26 OSU Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program. ($6,000) Advisor: Chris Knoester.

Springer, D. (PI), Lower-Hoppe, L. M. & Lee, W. 2025. “Bridging borders: A US-Canada comparison of sport club models to inform transferable strategies for collegiate club success.” NIRSA Research Grant. 2025-2027. ($10,639).

Stafford, M. 2025. “2026-27 OSU Sports and Society Initiative Graduate Student Research Grant.” OSU Sports and Society Initiative. ($500).

Yang, Jingzhen (PI) and Lara McKenzie. 2025. “Make Play Safe: Intervention to increase concussion recognition and reporting in youth soccer.” NIH/NICHD R01HD116730. 8/7/2025- 7/31/2030 ($3,273,716).

Applied (not funded):

Lower-Hoppe, L. (PI). 2025. “Sports Participation Patterns Among U.S. Adults with Disabilities: Exploring Sport Determinants, Experiences, and Outcomes Pre- to Post-Pandemic.” NASSS Eli A. Wolff Memorial Fund for Disability Sport ($3948.19).

Lower-Hoppe, L. (PI), Tanner, K, Knoester, C., Yang, G., Turner, B., Bates, S., & Anderson-Butcher, D. 2025. “The National Disability and Sport Project: A Mixed Methods Study of Sport Determinants, Experiences, and Outcomes Among People with Disabilities.” OSU President’s Research Excellence Accelerator Award. ($49,616).

Knoester, Chris (PI), and John Holden, Dominik Stecula, Leeann Lower-Hoppe, Brian Turner, B, and Ryan Ruddy. 2025.“Changes in Sports Betting Since 2017 and Links to Financial, Behavioral, and Social Patterns among U.S. Adults: A Quasi-Experimental Approach.” Arnold Ventures ($437,656).

Springer, D. (PI), Lower-Hoppe, L, & Lee, W. 2025. “Bridging Borders: A U.S. – Canada Comparison of Sport Club Models to Inform Transferable Strategies for Collegiate Club Success.” The University of Oklahoma Faculty Investment Program ($12,595).

Media and Public Scholarship

Akron Beacon Journal Editorial Board. 2025. “Childhood takes another hit with NIL in prep sports.” Akron Beacon Journal, December 5. Summary and analysis of youth sports research by Chris Knoester and Chris Bjork. https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/opinion/editorials/2025/12/05/nil-in-prep-sports-another-threat-to-childhood-name-image-likeness-ohsaa-editorial/87574375007/

Allday, Erin. 2025. “One trans girl’s success in track and field raises questions about he purpose of youth sports.” The San Francisco Chronicle, June 7. Summary and analysis of youth sports research on SES inequalities and of public opinions about trans* inclusion by Kirsten Hextrum and Chris Knoester. https://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/trans-athlete-sport-california-20363780.php

All Sides with Amy Juravic. 2025. “Discussing the ever-changing world of youth sports.” WOSU, June 25. Interviewee: Chris Knoester. https://www.wosu.org/show/all-sides/2025-06-25/discussing-the-ever-changing-world-of-child-sports 

Altamount Enterprise Editorial Board. 2025. “Let’s level the playing field so all kids have a shot at success.” The Altamount Enterprise, August 7. Summary and analysis of youth sports research on SES inequalities by Kirsten Hextrum, Chris Knoester, and James Tompsett. https://altamontenterprise.com/08072025/lets-level-playing-field-so-all-kids-have-shot-success

Anderson-Butcher, D., Cole, N., & Jones, V. 2025. Becoming a Champion [Webinar series]. Coach Beyond…, Columbus, Ohio. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO70wpr3r28

Anderson-Butcher, D., Tevepaugh, R., & Carman, C. 2025. Youth Sport Spring Season Kickoff [Webinar series]. Coach Beyond…, Columbus, Ohio. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ695AHj56c

Baskin, Kara. 2025. “Parents: When you’re eating a ham sandwich on the soccer sidelines at 3pm, is it time to reevaluate your life? Don’t the Sports Gods know that people work?” Boston Globe, May 23. Summary and analysis of youth sports research by Chris Knoester and Chris Bjork on generational and SES changes. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/05/23/lifestyle/parents-when-youre-eating-ham-sandwich-soccer-sidelines-3-pm-is-it-time-reevaluate-your-life/

Bump, Philip. 2025. “Parents invest so much in youth sports. Then came Trump.” The Washington Post, June 4. Interviewee: Chris Knoester. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/06/04/youth-sports-politics-trans-athletes/

Connect with Sarah Crosbie. 2025. “The surge of private club and travel teams in youth sports.” QR Calgary 770AM, September 30. Interviewee: Chris Knoester. https://open.spotify.com/episode/52WdCNxisluFett6lgsk3d

Connect with Sarah Crosbie. 2025. “Will my kid be a pro athlete?” QR Calgary 770AM, November 25. Interviewee: Chris Knoester. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0Rj6jS85GETUQ08qqDQM7E

Dolan, Eric W. 2025. “Religious attendance linked to greater support for youth tackle football, study finds.” Psypost, August 25. Interviewee: Chris Knoester. https://www.psypost.org/religious-attendance-linked-to-greater-support-for-youth-tackle-football-study-finds/

Dolan, Eric W. 2025. “Study finds Americans overwhelmingly believe sports promote racial integration—but reality is more complex.” Psypost, May 2. Interviewee: Chris Knoester. https://www.psypost.org/study-finds-americans-overwhelmingly-believe-sports-promote-racial-integration-but-reality-is-more-complex/

Dolan, Eric W. 2025. “Transgender athletes’ rights was opposed by those who viewed female athletes as undeserving, study finds.” Psypost, January 16. Interviewee: Chris Knoester. https://www.psypost.org/transgender-athletes-rights-was-opposed-by-those-who-viewed-female-athletes-as-undeserving-study-finds/

Drape, Joe and Ken Belson. 2025. “Youth sports are a $40 billion business. Private equity is taking notice.” The New York Times, July 9. Summary and analysis of youth sports research by Kirsten Hextrum, Chris Knoester, and James Tompsett. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/09/sports/football/youth-sports-private-equity.html

Francis, Chris. 2025. “A TBI retired his football dreams at 15. Inside youth sports’ pervasive problem.” Straight Arrow News, Nov. 26. Interviewee: Ginger Yang. https://san.com/cc/a-tbi-retired-his-football-dreams-at-15-inside-youth-sports-pervasive-problem/

Francis, Chris. 2025. “The ‘travel team trap’ that’s sapping parents’ time and bank accounts.” Straight Arrow News, Nov. 29. Interviewee: Chris Knoester. https://san.com/cc/the-travel-team-trap-thats-sapping-parents-time-and-bank-accounts/

Grabmeier, Jeff. 2025. “How family background can help lead to athletic success: Research shows it takes more than talent to make it in sports.” Ohio State News, March 20. Interviewee: Chris Knoester. https://news.osu.edu/how-family-background-can-help-lead-to-athletic-success/

Grabmeier, Jeff. 2025. “Nearly 4 of 10 Americans report sports-related mistreatment. Weight issues the most common reason for abuse.” Ohio State News, March 4. Interviewee: Chris Knoester. https://news.osu.edu/nearly-4-of-10-americans-report-sports-related-mistreatment/

Grabmeier, Jeff. 2025. “Parents spending more time, resources and money on kids’ sports: Study documents change in sports and parenting over 60 years.” Interviewee: Chris Knoester. Ohio State News, June 12.https://news.osu.edu/parents-spending-more-time-resources-and-money-on-kids-sports/

*Picked up and republished by dozens of other outlets, including US News & World Report, Aspen Institutes’s Project Play, MSN, Yahoo, and dozens of digital tv and smalltown newspaper affiliates.

Grabmeier, Jeff. 2025. “A rapid rise of private club and travel teams in youth sports:

Study finds parental education key factor in who participates now.” Ohio State News, September 25. Interviewee: Chris Knoester. https://news.osu.edu/a-rapid-rise-of-private-club-and-travel-teams-in-youth-sports/

*Picked up and republished by a number of outlets, including MSN.

**Edited variants also disseminated on Spectrum News and Youth Sports Business Report.

Grabmeier, Jeff. 2025. “Will my kid be a pro athlete? Study finds what parents think: Most parents have realistic beliefs, but a big minority don’t.” Ohio State News, November 19. Interviewee: Chris Knoester. https://news.osu.edu/will-my-kid-be-a-pro-athlete-study-finds-what-parents-think/

*Republished widely and multiple edited versions disseminated, including on NBC4i.com, Columbus, and WISHTV Indianapolis, and many Nexstar affiliate stations.

**Discussed extensively online and in radio and podcast formats, including on the Chad Benson Show and on Mad Dog Sports Radio.

Jilani, Zaid. 2025. “What Vivek Ramaswamy leaves out of his story of South Asian success. The New York Times, January 3. Pointedly references research by James Tompsett and Chris Knoester on the links between sport and non-sport extracurriculars and college attendance patterns. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/03/opinion/vivek-ramaswamy-immigrants.html

The Last Show with David Cooper. 2025. “Harris Hawk in Hertfordshire.” Interviewee: Chris Knoester. https://shows.acast.com/this-is-going-well-i-think/episodes/harris-hawk-in-hertfordshire-may-13-2025

Messina, Ignazio. 2025. “Coaching youth athletes on the playing field – and on life.” Ohio State News, March 31. Interviewees: Dawn Anderson-Butcher and Kylee Ault-Baker. https://www.osu.edu/impact/connected-communities/for-ohioans-lifesports

Newman, Jessie. “Reimagining youth sport: Putting positive youth development first.” Youth Today, August 23. Summary and analysis of coaching and youth development research by Dawn Anderson-Butcher, Samantha Bates, and Tarkington Newman. https://youthtoday.org/2025/08/reimagining-youth-sport-putting-positive-youth-development-first/

Now at Ohio State Podcast. 2025. “Why Kids Quit Sport, and How to Keep them Playing. Interviewees: Dawn Anderson-Butcher and Chris Knoester. https://www.osu.edu/impact/now-at-ohio-state/youthsports 

NYKids Podcast. 2025. “Community Schools and Partnerships: A Conversation with Dr. Dawn Anderson-Butcher.” Interviewee: Dawn Anderson-Butcher. https://ny-kids.org/community-schools-and-partnerships-a-conversation-with-dr-dawn-anderson-butcher/  

Ohio State News video. 2025. “How to ID Fans of the Winning Super Bowl Team.” Interviewee: Brian Turner. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISvQz0_EHx8

*Picked up by over 40 news stations across the country (including Columbus, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Milwaukee, Phoenix, and Washington DC).

Rich, John. 2025. ”An Ohio State University Study says that 27% of parents think it’s likely their child will become a college scholarship athlete.” Barstool Sports, December 16. Summary and analysis of youth sports research by Chris McLeod and Chris Knoester. https://www.barstoolsports.com/blog/3559396/an-ohio-state-university-study-says-that-27percent-of-parents-think-its-their

Soto, Rossy, Grace Wange, and Amaya Manzano. 2025. “Competitive youth sports culture leads to burnout and quitting for many in the U.S.” Youth Today, August 12. Interviewee: Chris Knoester. https://youthtoday.org/2025/08/competitive-youth-sports-culture-leads-burnout-quitting/

Stafford, Margaret. 2025. "How Sakha Cinema Reclaims Indigenous Sports on Screen." https://sportsandsociety.osu.edu/news/guest-column-how-sakha-cinema-reclaims-indigenous-sports-screen

Stum, Haylie. 2025. “The cost of youth sports.” North Texas Television, December 10. Interviewee: Chris Knoester. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTXtr_kBuwA

Thomas, Louisa. 2025. “What’s really behind the House Bill to ban transgender athletes from school sports?” The New Yorker, January 19. Summary and analyses of research on public opinions about trans* inclusion by Chris Knoester and Kirsten Hextrum. https://www.newyorker.com/sports/sporting-scene/whats-really-behind-the-house-bill-to-ban-transgender-athletes-from-school-sports

Vitale, Bob. 2025. “What is behind the hatred toward Ohio? A closer look.” The Columbus Dispatch, January 18. Interviewee: Chris Knoester. https://www.dispatch.com/story/entertainment/columns/2025/01/18/ohio-state-fans-college-football-playoff/77596939007/

Work Supported by SSI Funding 

Publications:

Hextrum, Kirsten, Knoester, Chris, and James Tompsett. 2025. “Who plays, persists, and stands out in interscholastic athletics? Habitus, parenting, social class and perceptions of athletic merit." Journal for the Study of Sports and Athletes in Education 19(3):290-328.

**Project supported by 2019 SSI Graduate Student Research Grant award

Knoester, Chris and Chris Bjork. 2025. "Parental involvement in youth sports: Historical trends and links to generational, socioeconomic status, sport culture, and youth sport commitment contexts.” Online first in Leisure/Loisir. doi:10.1080/14927713.2025.2503183

*Data collection funded by SSI, thanks to the College of Arts and Sciences

Knoester, Chris, and Chris Bjork. 2025. “The rise of private club and travel teams in the U.S.: Generational changes in youth sports participation and associations with socioeconomic statuses and family and community sport cultures.” Journal of Sport and Social Issues 49(6):487-519.

*Data collection funded by SSI, thanks to the College of Arts and Sciences

Knoester, Chris, and Chris Bjork. 2025. “U.S. youth sports participation: Analyzing the implications of generation, gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and family and community sport cultures." Leisure/Loisir 49(4):797-843. 

*Data collection funded by SSI, thanks to the College of Arts and Sciences

Knoester, Chris, and Kirsten Hextrum. 2025. “Saving women’s sports? The ideological underpinnings of U.S public opinions about trans* athlete rights and sex testing, before widespread politicization.” Sociology of Sport Journal 42(3):325-337.

*Data collection funded by SSI, thanks to the College of Arts and Sciences

McLeod, Christopher M., and Chris Knoester. 2025. “Parental expectations for children’s future athletic achievement: The roles of socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, gender, and athletic experiences and identities.” Online first in Journal of Sport and Social Issues. doi:10.1177/01937235251392534

*Data collection funded by SSI, thanks to the College of Arts and Sciences

Nothnagle, Emily A., and Chris Knoester. 2025. “Sport participation and the development of grit.” Leisure Sciences 47(2):225-242.

*Data collection funded by SSI, thanks to the College of Arts and Sciences

Upenieks, Laura, Ford-Robertson, Joanne, and Chris Knoester. 2025. “Religiosity and U.S. adult support for youth tackle football: Risk aversion or playing for the glory of God?” Online first in Sociology of Sport Journal. doi:10.1123/ssj.2024-0223

*Data collection funded by SSI, thanks to the College of Arts and Sciences

Upenieks, Laura, and Chris Knoester. 2025. “Sanctified bets? Religiosity, gender, and sports gambling in the United States.” Forthcoming in Sociology of Sport Journal.

*Data collection funded by SSI, thanks to the College of Arts and Sciences

Upenieks, Laura, Ryan, Brendan, and Chris Knoester. 2025. “Better to have played than not played? Childhood sport participation, dropout frequencies and reasons, and mental health in adulthood.” Sociology of Sport Journal 42(1):87-100. 

*Data collection funded by SSI, thanks to the College of Arts and Sciences

Warner, Mariah, and Chris Knoester. 2025. "Does sport bring different racial/ethnic groups together? Examining U.S. adults’ beliefs and the impact of youth and adult sport experiences.” Sociology of Sport Journal 42(4):374-389.

*Data collection funded by SSI, thanks to the College of Arts and Sciences

**Project supported by 2022 and 2023 SSI Graduate Student Research Grant awards

Warner, Mariah, and Chris Knoester. 2025. "Sports-related mistreatment in the U.S.: Retrospective recognitions and connections to social structural locations, childhood contexts, and adult characteristics." International Journal of the Sociology of Leisure 8:211-240.

*Data collection funded by SSI, thanks to the College of Arts and Sciences

**Project supported by 2023 SSI Graduate Student Research Grant award

Under Review:

Knoester, Chris, and Chris Bjork. "The relative frequencies of playing sports informally versus formally: An analysis of generational and socioeconomic status differences in the U.S." (revise and resubmit at Leisure Sciences)

*Data collection funded by SSI, thanks to the College of Arts and Sciences

Nothnagle, Emily, and Chris Knoester. "Does sport participation deter or encourage violence? Patterns of sport participation and acts of violence over the life course. (revise and resubmit at Sociology of Sport Journal)

*Data collection funded by SSI, thanks to the College of Arts and Sciences

**Project supported by 2024 and 2025 SSI Student Research Grant award

Sigler, J. & Ungureanu, T. “Beyond Moonlighting: differentiating cognitive effects of side-gigs on employee performance.” (revise and resubmit at Management Decision)

**Project supported by 2019 SSI Student Research Grant award

Sigler, J., Yavic, Z., Anand, J., & Ungureanu, T. “Hitting a curveball: Strategic factor markets, uncertainty, and performance.” (revise and resubmit at Strategy Science)

**Project supported by 2019 SSI Student Research Grant award

**Project supported by 2024 SSI Student Research Grant award

Ungureanu, T., Sigler, J., Yavic, Z., & McLeod C. “Do teams value generalized training? Performance, draft position, and compensation in professional baseball.” (revise and resubmit at Journal of Sport Management)

**Project supported by 2019 SSI Student Research Grant award

**Project supported by 2024 SSI Student Research Grant award 

Presentations:

Knoester, Chris. 2025. “Extant National Sports and Society Survey data and projects, after Wave II initial piloting.“ Presented for the Sports and Society Initiative Research Working Group, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.

*Project made possible because of original 2018-19 data collection funded by SSI, thanks to the College of Arts and Sciences

Knoester, Chris, Hextrum, Kirsten, and Rachel Roberson. 2025. “Changes in attitudes about trans* athletes’ participation rights, from 2018-2024." Presented at the 2025 North American Society for the Sociology of Sport meetings, Seattle, Washington.

*Project made possible because of original 2018-19 data collection funded by SSI, thanks to the College of Arts and Sciences

Nothnagle, E., & Knoester, C. 2025. “Patterns of sport participation and violence over the life course.” Paper presented at the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport Annual Conference, Seattle, WA, USA.

*Data collection funded by SSI, thanks to the College of Arts and Sciences

**Project supported by 2024 and 2025 SSI Student Research Grant award

Nothnagle, E., & Knoester, C. 2025. “Sport participation and violence over the life course.” Paper presented for the Sports and Society Initiative Research Working Group, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.

*Data collection funded by SSI, thanks to the College of Arts and Sciences

**Project supported by 2024 SSI Student Research Grant award

Data Collection Efforts:

Knoester, Chris, Lower-Hoppe, Leeann, Anderson-Butcher, Dawn, Bates, Samantha, and Turner, Brian. 2025. The National Sports and Society Survey Wave II Initial Pilot Study, Phase 2 (NSASS W2IPP2). [Dataset]. The Center for Human Resource Research at The Ohio State University [Distributor]. In preparation for public release. *PI work involved 1.5 years of study design, survey instrument creation and testing, and monitoring of data collection. Data collection from 513 new respondents via a 15 min. online survey, modelled after the W2IPP1 and aspects of the 2018-19 NSASS, completed.

*Project made possible because of original 2018-19 data collection funded by SSI, thanks to the College of Arts and Sciences

Previous Research Reports