Bridging The Gap Academic Support For Entering Special-Admit College Athletes

Drawing from a four-week writing intensive course through a Summer Bridge Program (Bridge) for Division I special-admit athletes (athletes with low academic profiles), this chapter examines the impact of this academic-skills intervention on the academic performance of these athletes. Through participant observation and interviews with seven football players and two Bridge staff members, the qualitative data demonstrated the value of academic centers operating as a hybrid space between athletics and academics, expanding what counts as competent participation, and allowing for points of entry into difficult academic material. The findings also revealed the challenge for practitioners to navigate the historic storylines of figurative identities and the subsequent low position of special-admit athletes within the academic domain.