Getting Student Athletes Outside

Student

Zoe Nuñez

College(s)

Mendoza College of Business

Faculty Advisors

Kelly Laneman, Joey Remaeker, and Joanna Cote Thurman

Class Year

2022

Abstract

This project’s aim was to help cultivate a connection between student-athletes and their environment. This connection will hopefully instill some responsibility in the student athletes by introducing even more reasons to respect the environment. In order to build this connection, information about the health benefits associated with spending time outside was presented via social media and marketing materials around athletic facilities. This information took form as fliers posted around the Joyce and Guglielmino athletic facilities informing students of the health benefits associated with spending time outside. These health benefits are followed by a call to action that encourages people to make small choices in favor of the environment so that there may be a big impact over time. The marketing campaign was measured using a preliminary survey to understand student athletes' baseline sentiments and behaviors followed by additional online and ethnographic surveys to analyze the effectiveness of the marketing campaign.

I was able to gain just under 200 survey responses and I connected with 18 student-athletes via ethnographic interviews. There were two findings that surprised me. The first one was that the survey didn't reach as many people as I thought it would. It only reached about 50% of the survey respondents, however, I believe this is due to the fact that there were some display malfunctions in the Guglielmino that will be discussed more in the results section. Next, I was surprised that a significant amount of student athletes were already aware of all or some of the health benefits associated with spending time outside. Nevertheless, once this information was either introduced or once again brought to their attention, they wanted to spend more time outside. The student athletes I was able to have real conversations with through ethnographic research shared with me that they believe spending more time outside will make them more conscious of the impact they make on their surroundings. Therefore, this project shows that building awareness about the health benefits of spending time outside can lead to a shift in the beliefs and behaviors that cultivate a stronger connection with the environment.

Introduction

American society has been approaching our environment from a selfish standpoint for far too long. We have been abusing our environment for our own personal gains without remorse. I believe that instead of asking people to help the environment for the sake of the environment, people may be more receptive to helping the environment for their own sake. This is important because if humans continue to impact our Earth the way that we have been without remorse, there won't be anything for us to appreciate anymore.

The physical, mental, and emotional health benefits of dwelling in the environment are applicable to not only student athletes but also those who aren't actively participating in collegiate athletics. Although this information may be applicable to the larger public, I want to start my project by presenting this information to a smaller group of people that I believe have greater motivation to change their daily habits in order to maximize their health. I also have greater accessibility to the student athlete population on campus so I think that would be a good place to start.

As a student athlete, I know how hard athletes work to maximize their health in order to perform better in their sport. Dedicated student athletes will do almost anything to reach their peak performance, from spending hours in the gym to sitting in ice baths. After all the work that I have put into being in the best shape physically, mentally, and emotionally, in my four years at Notre Dame I was previously unaware of the health benefits that simply dwelling in our natural environment offers. After further investigation through informal questioning of other student athletes across campus, I found that all of the people that I interviewed were also unaware of these health benefits.

This gap offers a great opportunity to bring information to the attention of the student athletes on campus and urge them to spend time in and take care of the environment. This is where my marketing degree intersects with the project because, in order for athletes to become aware and inspired to change, the message needs to be powerful.