Conflicts among stakeholders regarding the new academic system in the Korea University Sport Federation

Abstract

This study examined the conflicts of interest regarding the new student-athlete eligibility system (SES) among diverse stakeholders, including the collegiate sports governance, coaches, student-athletes and parents in the current Korea University Sport Federation (KUSF) system. The new academic regulation requires student-athletes from the KUSF member institutions to maintain an academic Grade Point Average (GPA) of 2.0 (C) on a 4.5 scale to be eligible to compete. This study investigated each stakeholder group’s specific viewpoints and positionalities towards the new academic regulation for student-athletes embedded in the sociopolitical and sociocultural phenomena in South Korea. A total of 25 participants from four different stakeholder groups consisting of (1) KUSF administrators, (2) college coaches, (3) student-athletes and (4) parents were interviewed regarding the conflicts of the SES. Grounded in critical conflict resolution theory and practice, this study indicated that the academic support system for student-athletes needs to be improved, respecting coaches’ job security, solving scheduling conflicts between academics and athletics as well as reducing the overemphasis on winning. Overall, this research provides a new insight into the formation process of conflicts among different conflicting groups in a new collegiate sports system and plausible conflict resolution agendas and their limitations.