Mental Health and Sports: Professional Education Recommendations for Commission on Sport Management Accreditation Principles

Mental health is an important concept that is continuously evolving within athletics. Even with recent initiatives to promote positive mental well-being within multiple levels of athletics, barriers to receiving care still exist. Increasing the number of sports professionals capable of assisting athletes, athletic professionals, and organizational structures with mental health concerns would be beneficial in mitigating impacts at individual, team, and programmatic levels. Leaders within the sport management industry are among those uniquely positioned to advocate and create change for athletes and their mental health; however, due to the lack of educational standards related to mental health in sport management programs, sport management professionals are not provided with the level of preparedness and proficiency needed to be a source of support and leadership. This paper utilizes an ecological framework to discuss how and why the educational standards within the Commission on Sport Management Accreditation manual should include principles and competencies that prepare future sport management professionals on the importance of promoting positive mental health practices within sport organizations and culture.