Mentoring Students in Sport Social Work
Sport Social Work is a needed, burgeoning, and exciting specialty of social work practice. Social work students across the world are increasingly interested in current best practices of sport social work, and strive to connect with professors of sport social work to explore and build necessary research and skills for optimal success. These mentoring connections develop strong practitioners who through the sport social work lens, positively impact individuals, families, teams, and ultimately entire communities. An important professional collaboration for faculty and students is the Alliance of Social Workers in Sports.
The Alliance of Social Workers in Sports (ASWIS) is a professional organization with the mission to " promote individual and community well-being through partnerships between the profession of social work and the field of athletics. We focus on partnerships in practice, research, and policy, with involvement and awareness in all areas where social work and sports systems intersect".
The vision of ASWIS is "to lead the integration of social work practice into all realms of sports with the goals of individual and community well-being". The multi-spoked work of ASWIS focuses on raising awareness for the needs of athletes to enhance the athletes' well-being and effective functioning. ASWIS provides knowledge on how athletic competition influences athletes across the lifespan, and helps to identify the strengths of athletes and how these strengths can help promote an athlete's safety and well-being, all the while promoting awareness of the significant challenges that are placed on athletes, which may include mental health difficulties. The goal is to also help athletes destigmatize mental health needs, recognize how athletic competition can expose life skills that will promote their success outside of sport, and advocate for athletes as true global citizens. The ASWIS hosts an annual symposium, an ideal occasion for faculty and students to showcase research and projects they have worked on throughout the year and to expand their sport social work networks.
The 2018 October/November ASWIS Newsletter details the hugely successful 2018 symposium held in Orlando, Florida, and highlights my sport social work mentoring work with University of Southern California Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work students Stephanie Rosado and Serita Robinson.
More info on ASWIS can be found here, and a link to where you can join me and others in membership.
#sportsocialwork #socialworkersinsport #socialworkfaculty #mentor #ASWIS @ASWIS @USC #fighton @USCSocialWork
CSP Senior Clinical Social Worker
5 年This is great!
Mental Health Therapist at Ellie Mental Health
5 年So cool. I feel that this could be a match for me!
Social Worker since 1997
5 年Interesting. Love how our profession covers such a wide range!
Specialities ???: Global Organizational Development | Change Management | Learning Management | Differentiators ??: Relationship Management, People & Resource Connector, Facilitator Extraordinaire, People Developer
5 年Interesting. I didn’t know this was a thing. Definitely needs all kinds of mental health service and supports in sports.