LEXINGTON, Ky. — National Girls & Women in Sports Day (NGWSD), observed annually in early February (Feb. 4, 2026), celebrates the achievements of athletes, coaches, and leaders. This week, the UK College of Social Work (CoSW) will be celebrating the faculty and student leaders who work within the CoSW’s Sport Social Work Research Lab (SSW-RL).
Anne Stauffer, CoSW PhD student, sat down with the CoSW to share her experience as a former student-athlete and her involvement in the SSW-RL.
Tell me about your collegiate student-athlete experience and how that impacted your time in college?
My experience as a collegiate student-athlete strongly shaped how I experienced college. While reaching that level was a major accomplishment, I entered already mentally and physically burned out from years of intense training. Balancing academics with the demands of athletics left little room for rest, reflection, or celebrating achievements.
That experience challenged my sense of identity and forced me to confront the pressure of tying self-worth to performance. Over time, it helped me develop resilience, self-advocacy, and a deeper understanding of balance and well-being. Ultimately, being a student-athlete influenced not only how I navigated college, but also the values and career goals that guide me today. While I would not consider my experience as a collegiate student-athlete positive, it was the catalyst to me pursuing a career that helps me become the person I needed back then.
What inspired you to pursue social work and specifically Sport Social Work?
My experiences in high-performance sport exposed me to the mental, emotional, and identity-related challenges athletes often face, especially when support systems focus primarily on performance. Navigating burnout, pressure, and transitions helped me recognize the gap between athletic success and overall well-being. Social work appealed to me because of its holistic, person-centered approach, and Sport Social Work allows me to bridge mental health, identity, and sport culture to better support athletes as whole people, not just performers.
How did you get involved with the Sport Social Work Research Lab?
When I started applying to Ph.D. programs, I did a lot of research on schools and their specific programs that had initiatives or labs dedicated to sports in some capacity. As I continued collecting research on various schools’ programs I was applying to, I set up a meeting with Dr. Natalie Pope to discuss UK’s Ph.D. program. When I mentioned I was interested in sport social work, she told me they had just brought on Dr. Tarkington Newman as faculty who was bringing the Sport Social Work Research Lab to UK. After this meeting, I set up a call with Dr. Newman and I started working in the Lab and the rest is history!
How do the initiatives within the SSW-RL support sports and recreation?
The initiatives within the SSW-RL support sport and recreation by promoting athlete well-being, and access through research, education, and community-based practice. The lab emphasizes holistic development by addressing mental health, identity, leadership, and barriers within sport environments.
SSW-RL initiatives support female athletes by centering research and programming that acknowledges the unique pressures they face. Through advocacy, applied research, and practitioner training, the lab helps create safer sport spaces that empower athletes both within and beyond sport participation.
Why is Sport Social Work important to athletics, specifically collegiate athletics?
Sport Social Work is important to collegiate athletics because it addresses the complex mental health, identity, and challenges student athletes face beyond performance. Collegiate athletes navigate intense academic demands, injury, transition, and pressure within highly structured systems that often prioritize results over well-being.
Sport Social Work brings a holistic, athlete-centered approach that integrates mental health support, advocacy, and education while accounting for power dynamics and access. By supporting student-athletes as whole people, Sport Social Work strengthens well-being, retention, and long-term development both within and beyond college sport.
What is your favorite part of being a member of the Sport Social Work Research Lab?
My favorite part of being a member of the Sport Social Work Research Lab is the sense of purpose that comes from contributing to the creation of safer sport environments that prioritize overall health and well-being, particularly within competitive youth sport settings. The work we do moves beyond simply identifying problems. This work actively challenges harmful norms and helps reshape how sport systems care for the people within them.
Through our research and initiatives, we intentionally expand the definition of success in sport. Rather than viewing success solely through a narrow focus on performance, outcomes, or winning, the Lab examines sport as a powerful social space that can foster community, instill values, support identity development, and create a sense of belonging. Being a part of work that recognizes and elevates these outcomes reinforces my belief that sport can be both competitive and humane, and that athlete well-being should be central, not secondary, to sport participation.
What are your career goals following graduation?
Following graduation, my career goal is to work at the intersection of mental health, sport, and athlete development, with a focus on creating safer, more supportive sport environments. I aim to apply Sport Social Work principles within collegiate and youth sport settings by providing holistic support that addresses mental health, identity development, injury, and transitions out of sport.
Long term, I hope to contribute to change through applied research, program development, and advocacy that prioritizes athlete well-being alongside performance. My goal is to help reshape sport culture so that athletes, especially those in high-pressure environments, are supported as whole people both during and beyond their sport careers.
