College of Education and Human Development

PhD Candidate in CEHD Examines How Club Sports Participation Rates Were Affected by the Pandemic

Ryan Bradshaw

The COVID pandemic had far-reaching impacts on many aspects of collegiate life. Among these was student participation in club sports. Ryan Bradshaw, PhD candidate in the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) at George Mason University, is conducting research to gain a better understanding of how COVID affected participation in club sports on college campuses across the United States.

Bradshaw, who is pursuing a PhD in Education specializing in Higher Education Administration within George Mason’s School of Education, recently received a $5,000 grant in support of his research from the NIRSA Research Grant Program, sponsored by the NIRSA Foundation. NIRSA is a professional organization for collegiate recreation professionals that serves as an advocate for the advancement of recreation, sport, and wellbeing. As part of his research, Bradshaw is focusing on club sports participation during the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 academic years when the pandemic was at its peak. He is also examining the degree to which participation levels in collegiate club sports recovered during the 2022-2023 academic year when normal university operations resumed, compared to pre-pandemic academic years.

Bradshaw’s study will examine how various COVID mitigation measures, such as social distancing, masking requirements, modifications to playing rules, limitations on travel for competition, and other restrictions put in place during the pandemic, may have affected club sports participation. The study will also look at other factors that may have influenced club sports participation including whether a college was public or private; the campus setting (i.e., urban, suburban, town, or rural); the geographic region in which the college was located; party affiliation of state leadership; Carnegie classification of the educational institution; and Minority Serving Institution classification. In addition, the study will assess if participation rates differed depending on the student’s gender or whether they were a first-year or returning student, and the type of sport played (i.e., outdoor sports such as tennis or golf might be more conducive to social distancing than indoor sports such as wrestling).

Originally from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Bradshaw has a strong academic and professional background in intramural and club sports. He completed a Master’s of Science in Education, specializing in Sports Management at Southern Illinois University Carbondale in the United States while working as a graduate assistant for intramural and club sports. Bradshaw then returned to Canada to serve as Assistant Director of Intramural and Club Sports at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta, where he also taught courses in the undergraduate Sport and Recreation Management program and helped with his department’s assessment projects. He soon became interested in pursuing a doctorate in education and was drawn to Geoge Mason because of its excellent academic reputation and the opportunities it offered as a large public university. Bradshaw secured a position as Assistant Director of Club Sports and Assessment with George Mason’s Recreation department, allowing him to take coursework at CEHD toward his doctorate while working full-time with students at Mason.

Bradshaw elaborated on the goals of his research. “My hope,” he stated, “is that this research will not only show whether club sport participation has recovered from potential drops during the pandemic, but that it will also provide a framework for student services and collegiate recreation administrators on how to react to future disruptions to operations.” Such disruptions, he explained, do not necessarily have to be linked to the possibility of another global pandemic but instead could result from more localized situations such as extreme weather events, a terrorist strike, or some other catastrophic incident that could negatively impact an area. Bradshaw emphasized, “Club sports participation across the country is estimated to be over 2 million student participants annually, almost 4 times more than the number of NCAA varsity athletes per year. So, the impact of the pandemic or another event that could disrupt club sport programs across the country is relevant to future operations and student involvement across the country.”

When asked about his future career aspirations, Bradshaw stated, “My long-term professional goals are to oversee recreation and wellness and then student services at a university or college. I believe that the PhD program at George Mason, accompanied by the work experience I gained here on campus, has given me the theoretical knowledge to succeed in these roles.”

The CEHD community at George Mason congratulates Ryan Bradshaw for his outstanding work and accomplishments as reflected in his being selected for this NIRSA Research Grant. For more information on the PhD in Education offered at George Mason, please visit the program website.