Studies such as those done by media marketing company Nielsen have made it apparent that social media has no doubt allowed for significant expansion of access to information. This access allows people to connect with some of their more niche hobbies. Not only are these sports becoming more popular but it also attracts more growth strategies such as more sponsorships. 

TikTok has been a successful conduit for this access to information. People will become interested in topics they have never heard of before because the algorithm just happened to show them a video on the subject. There have been two major revelations from TikTok regarding niche sports. The first is that there are sports that I have never heard of, like Professional Face Slapping. The second is the significant expansion of previously niche sports, like Esports. 

Face slapping, originating in Russia, involves two competitors taking turns slapping each other across the face until one person surrenders or is knocked out. While the sport has generated controversy due to its violent nature, it has also gained a loyal following online and now has its own world championship event.

Esports, or competitive video gaming, has exploded in popularity in recent years. Millions of people tune in to watch professional gamers compete in games like League of Legends, Fortnite and Dota 2. Esports has become a legitimate industry, with tournaments offering millions of dollars in prize money. Professional teams and players can even find sponsorship deals with major brands.

Niche sports also serve as a way to preserve traditions and history. For example, jousting, rooted in medieval times, may seem like a relic of the past. However, jousting is still alive and well today thanks to a dedicated community of enthusiasts who compete in tournaments around the world.

In the end, niche sports remind us of the limitless potential of human creativity and ingenuity. They allow us to push the boundaries of what we believe is possible and inspire us to discover new worlds and experiences. So, the next time you are looking for something new and exciting, consider trying a niche sport – you never know what you might discover.

In recent decades, the importance of mental health and taking care of the intangibles has become a major point of focus for schools at all levels in the United States’ education system. Across the country, a wide range of social and institutional factors serve as stressors for young people. The current statistical rate for symptoms of depression found in adults age 18-29 is approximately 21% according to the CDC;  suicide is the third leading cause of death in young adults and  college athletes.  

The Sport Science Institute, in partnership with the NCAA, set out to create a survey that would gauge the mental health of athletes. In the study, 65% of women’s sports athletes and 58% of men’s sports athletes reported that mental health was a serious concern among their teammates. In fact, constant mental exhaustion was the most commonly reported concern among the student-athletes with the symptom impacting 38% of women’s sports athletes and 22% of men’s sports athletes. However, only 49% of women’s sports athletes and 55% of men’s sports athletes reported that they felt mental health was taken seriously by their college or university’s athletics department. Overall, the data shows a gap in the attention that the mental health of college students needs. 

Improving mental health is no doubt a difficult problem to tackle as there isn’t exactly one true solution. The problem could lie in the balance between the physical and mental demand of a sport on top of academic and social commitments; however, many student-athletes rely on academic and sports scholarships with little room to breathe. Some college organizations emphasize creating more educational resources for college students regarding mental health, as well as  having therapists on standby, but that raises questions about funding.

Researchers Sabrina Weigland, Jared Cohen and Daniel Merenstein attempt to explain one potential cause: collegiate athletes tend to feel a loss of personality once their time being on the field comes to an end because they have spent the majority of their lives as an “athlete.” In layman’s terms, this can be related to the idea of how coaches can subconsciously instill that the majority of an athlete’s focus and time should be towards their respective sport, and not so much of a balance of other academic and social commitment. 

At one institution, Trine University uses a variety of academic reports to explain the importance of the topic at hand in their article, “Prioritizing Mental Health in College Athletes,” stating that “This idea has created a culture that values athletic performance over things like academic success or mental health. Today, a coach’s success is determined solely by the performance of their athletes, regardless of their relationship with the athlete or the athlete’s well-being.”

Overall, students at any college deserve to have help in any form for the anxiety that the world may bring on each day. For students involved in  time-consuming extracurriculars, avoid the overemphasis on perfection that will inevitably sacrifice your mental health. As Bobby McFerrin once said, “Don’t worry, be happy.”

On July 1, 2021, the NCAA made it legal for all collegiate athletes to receive endorsement, or Name, Image, and Likeness (NLI) deals, while still maintaining eligibility as a student-athlete. Activities such as product partnerships, social media deals and autographs were previously against the rules, but now serve as incentives for high school graduates looking to take things to the next level. 

As a part of the student body, it should be noted that both Division II and III athletes can still accept such deals if they were to be offered, but endorsements are typically more associated with Division I programs. USA TODAY lists dozens of high-market Division I teams that gross hundreds of millions in annual revenue, with some achieving growth rates of over 100% year after year. With a lot of cash to throw around, the student’s decision to join the team is likely to be influenced, as Pierrick Gould of the Georgetown Men’s Soccer team stated in an interview on the NPR podcast, “Planet Money.” 

“You are just selling yourself,” Gould further explained. “Like, ‘Yeah, I play for the No. 1 men’s soccer team in the country [and have] this many followers on Instagram, and I love your product.’ Sometimes it hits. Sometimes it doesn’t. I have a few friends on the team that work with this one taco shop near campus. They get free food, and they get paid to post each month. So that’s a pretty good deal.”

As far as some of the biggest deals go, Nick Saban, head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide, said that Quarterback Bryce Young reached about a million dollars in total revenue from NIL deals according to an article on Bleacher Report. Auburn, North Carolina, Miami and Oregon have offered similar deals to similar calibur athletes in the NCAA. 

However, these deals are criticized by some for the unfair playing field they may create. Joe Weber from Girls Soccer Network stated that one of the cons that can arise from this is creating an unfair playing field, not only between schools but within teams as well. Schools with bigger endowments and merchandise sales have a distinct advantage over other schools, and not every student athlete necessarily receives the same amount of cash in their respective deals. As Weber states, he believes that this will destroy senses of unity and teamwork within teams. A final notable con Weber mentions is the possibility that prospective student athletes would follow the highest bidder rather than the highest quality of education. 

However, Weber also states that the deals ultimately create more opportunities for those that wouldn’t have them. This includes all sports but especially more niche communities of different sports throughout the United States. California governor Gavin Newsome pledged his support to specifically pay respect to the physical toll that athletes’ bodies take in the course of their respective season. 

The larger ramifications surrounding the bill are to be seen in the coming years. Sources from Front Office Sports urge all athletes to remain socially conscious, especially on Social Media, as one bad post can affect one’s chances of a deal. 

As the spring semester begins, William Jewell College’s athletic teams are increasing COVID-19 testing as they begin in-season practices and events. Tom Eisenhauer, director of athletics, explained the protocols and processes for this semester. 

Eisenhauer shared that Jewell’s athletic policies for COVID-19 are based on the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Sports Science Institute’s requirements for schools taking part in athletics this year. In August, the Board of Governors and the NCAA provided member institutions with specific directions. 

Despite some student impressions that the increased testing for the spring semester is a reaction to Jewell’s experiences with COVID-19 in the fall, the policies for the spring have been planned since August – though some plans have changed as a result of NCAA recommendations. 

“If [member institutions] were going to conduct athletics, they had to meet very specific requirements and that included different levels of testing based on risk categories [that] the Sports Science Institute identified and then also different measures or different protections for student-athletes which included an opportunity to opt-out. So any student-athlete could opt-out from participation for COVID-related reasons and not have to worry about their scholarship being revoked or anything like that,” Eisenhauer said. 

Most athletic teams were not in season for the majority of the fall semester, so most teams were following out-of-season protocols. These protocols include testing 25 percent of athletes every two weeks. Jewell fulfilled this requirement by testing a portion of each team every week so that 25 percent of the team would be tested over two weeks of testing. 

Some exceptions to this process in the fall included the testing of the entire cross country team roster before attending conference championships. Cross country was the only sport to have a conference championship in the fall.

Basketball started their season around Thanksgiving, and 100 percent of the basketball roster has been tested every week since that time. 

This semester, all sports teams will be in season, so all teams will be undergoing the increased in-season COVID-19 testing protocols. The NCAA Sports Science Institute has designated each sport with a risk level. A sport’s designation dictates how often in-season COVID-19 testing is required.

High-risk sports – football and basketball – will test 100 percent of the roster every single week. Soccer and volleyball were originally categorized as high risk. The Sports Science Institute conducted additional digital research during the fall and downgraded the risk of both sports to an intermediate level. Volleyball’s intermediate categorization is contingent on players wearing masks during the entirety of practices and competitions. 

Indoor track, baseball, softball, and men’s and women’s soccer are testing 100 percent of the roster every two weeks throughout the spring semester. Low-risk sports, including swimming, golf, tennis and outdoor track, will be tested symptomatically – as the general student population is. 

Eisenhauer also discussed the prevalence of COVID-19 among athletes and the efficacy of athletic department COVID-19 restrictions and testing protocols. 

Eisenhauer explained that all testing for athletics is conducted through the same lab that the College used to conduct campus-wide testing. He explained that he has no reason to be concerned about the precision or accuracy of the saliva-based PCR test.

During the first semester, 70 student-athletes tested positive for COVID-19. 

“When you look at the source of transmission or they got it, none of it came from Athletics and so participation in athletics is mitigated very well. Part of it is that we’ve got a lot of people watching a lot of coaches and we’re very strict and enforcing mask policies…,” Eisenhauer said. 

“What the challenge is – and it’s no different from the rest of campus – is it’s the behaviors outside of athletics, outside of the classroom, outside of the dining hall, where we see the risk of transmission of this virus going up…,” Eisenhauer continued. “Social settings where people [are] choosing not to wear masks, they’re choosing to not maintain the appropriate physical distancing. They’re disregarding the basic mitigating measures that we’ve seen to be oh-so effective.” 

Eisenhauer said that athletics is surveillance testing at a higher rate than the general campus. 

“Unless a student who’s not involved in athletics becomes symptomatic, we don’t know that they’re not carrying the virus. But in athletics, we’re more likely to find out because of the weekly testing. We tend to be pretty conservative when it comes to our risk level [regarding] quarantine. There are instances where [we’d] rather be safe than sorry,” said Eisenhauer. 

While the Student Health Center ultimately decides whether to quarantine a student, the athletic department will make recommendations based on the activities taking place for that sport. 

Eisenhauer discussed the athletic department’s plans should there be increases or spikes in COVID-19 cases among student-athletes and coaches.

“Any changes to athletics programming as a result of active COVID-19 cases on campus will be made consistent  with the threat matrix established as part of Operation Safe Campus. At most levels, some type of practice can occur even if it’s modified to only permit masked and distanced activities. Team by team decisions will be made depending on where active cases are identified and the extent they can be contained,” said Eisenhauer.

Despite being generally optimistic about how the athletic department has navigated COVID-19, Eisenhauer mentioned that February may be a particularly difficult month because every sport is in season and the cold temperatures are keeping people inside. 

Eisenhauer concluded by emphasizing the athletic department’s gratitude for all of the work that has gone into allowing student-athletes to participate in their sports during this time. 

“I’m really really thankful for the support of so many people on campus who have worked hard – within the department and outside of the department – to give our student-athletes that opportunity to compete. There are schools across the country that just shut down athletics completely, and I know how disheartening it was for student-athletes and for coaches to completely lose their spring season last year. Then in the fall [there was uncertainty about] whether or not they were going to be able to play and whether they were going to even be able to do their sport,” said Eisenhauer.

“We are where we are today because a lot of people on this campus have supported our student-athletes and really leaned in and helped a lot. I’m grateful, and I know I speak on behalf of all student-athletes and coaches, that we’re thankful that we can do our sports. We recognize the risks involved and take seriously what we need to do to make sure the entire campus community remains safe while having the opportunity to compete. I mean, it’s the least we can do is try to keep everyone safe if we’re allowed to compete,” Eisenhauer said.