ETAPA I DE LA RED SOCIO-TECNICA (1996-1999).

Throughout many of the interviews, there was an overarching theme associated with using sport to leave or “escape” their community. Many of the student-athletes identified risk factors that caused them to view their community as being unsafe. They also identified obstacles within their communities that threatened to impede on their future success. Risk factors within Ben’s community were a major factor that helped to shape Ben’s development. As described previously, Ben’s community emphasizes the importance of sports at an early age through their recreational leagues, including the Bitty League.

In Ben’s community, the importance of sports is also reinforced through the community’s pride in high school sports. Although there seemed to be resources for developing youth through sports, there were obstacles that could impede on youth’s educational, social, and psychological development, including poverty and crime. There seemed to be a perception that participation in sports is one of the few avenues for youth to use to escape and create better living situations. At the age of fourteen, Ben was told that the only way to escape his community was through playing sports. This perception further embedded the message that sports are an avenue to success. However, this perception also indicated that community members felt a need to leave the community to be successful. While Ben’s community had many characteristics that could be viewed as assets, this perception was a clear threat to the community’s ability to build capacity.

to help youth change their living situation. Larry specifically mentioned that sports can be used by youth as a way to “get out” of their community. This statement highlights his perspective that sometimes youth want or need to escape certain living situations by leaving their communities to increase their chances of being successful. As a result, Larry and his mother decided that it was in his best interest to leave his community and attend a private high school in a different state. This opportunity was made available because of his potential to be a good basketball player.

Larry considered moving away from his family to be one of the major decisions in his life. His participation in basketball played a significant role in making this decision. He had a very close relationship with his mother and other family members such as his grandfather, uncle and cousins. Thus this decision involved Larry leaving his support network. The arrangements involved Larry living with his future high school coach. He viewed this decision as “taking a risk” that was necessary to be able to help provide for his family.

Corey was determined to be the first person in his family to graduate from college. Although basketball became very important in Corey’s life, it wasn’t his major priority until high school. Corey’s major focus was on how to escape his environment, which included adults using and selling drugs. When asked about his top priorities, Corey’s mentioned that he was committed to not using drugs or alcohol, being surrounded by positive people and completing school. Corey demonstrated the resilience to prevent his social environment from impeding on hi s ability to gain access to college. Corey was motivated by wanting to escape the risk factors presented by his family and within his neighborhood.

In contrast, Mike mentioned that basketball is more important than school at this point. He viewed basketball as an opportunity to provide to for his family, particularly his mother and daughter. His top priorities were being a good father and being able to get his family “out of the

hood.” He was interested in helping his family live in a neighborhood that has residents of a higher socioeconomic status in a community that is considered safe. Mike viewed basketball as a tool to provide for his family and accomplish his goals in life. Once again, the student-athletes who live in low socioeconomic communities had the perception that in order to be successful and provide for their families, they need to leave or escape the community in which they were born. Basketball was viewed as a tool to do so.

Kelly was also influenced by his geographic community. He was raised in a community in a nonwestern country. Kelly described how many youth seek sport as a way for upward mobility. Kelly noted that many children in his country play soccer at an early age and migrate to other countries to have an opportunity to develop their skills. They make this decision with the hopes of playing soccer professionally. Many children in his country cannot afford to pay for a quality education. As a result, sports are considered to be very important in various geographic communities in his country as a way for social mobility. K elly decided to play basketball because it would offer an opportunity to live in the United States. Kelly noted that there were limited opportunities to be successful in his country due to corruption.

Utilizing the ecosystems perspective, when the social environment does not provide for the needs of its systems, its causes stress. Systems within a social environment naturally seek equilibrium. The systems interact with each other to achieve their goals. The systems within an environment may have a coping capacity and resilience, but if their needs are not met the systems are at risk of life stress (Lesser & Pope, 2011). The student-athletes in the study, who expressed a need to escape their community, demonstrated that the social environment was not providing for the systems within that community. As a result, the student-athletes felt stress. Although they were able to display resilience and coping capacity to overcome obstacles

presented in their community, the student-athletes believed that basketball could be used as a tool to escape.