Chapter 16: The Risks of Being a Student-Athlete Leader in the Midst of Social Unrest

When the topic of leadership arises, most people tend to consider leaders in politics, professional organizations, and community activist organizations. Less often are athletes, let alone collegiate athletes, considered in conversations about leadership. However, when athletes speak out on topics many deem as outside of the realm of sports such as racism, war, discrimination, police brutality, and other social issues based on socially constructed norms of society; they often face harsh realities of the division that permeates through the country. Within the start of the 21st century, we have witnessed an outpouring of professional and collegiate athlete leaders leveraging their engagement in sport as an opportunity to voice their concerns about social injustice as a strategy to promote social change (Kluch, 2020). For some that process has been a successful display of leadership and activism, whereas for others the process has been risky.