Abstract
The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the academic achievements of 200 talented athletes in 1992/1993 and 200 in 2006/2007, aged 14–16 years. When compared with the national average, the athletes in 2006/2007 attended pre‐university classes more often (χ2 = 57.001, p<.05). Of the 2006/2007 athletes, a higher percentage participated in pre‐university programs compared with that of athletes in 1992/1993 (χ2 (1, n = 400) = 32.003, p<.05), whereas the national averages showed stability (χ2 = .325, p>.05). Investigating self‐regulation appears relevant, as talented athletes may have developed a high sense of self‐regulation in sports, which may enable them to optimally profit from their self‐regulatory skills in their academics.
Acknowledgements
This study has been supported by a grant of the NOC*NSF (the Netherlands Olympic Committee and Sports Federation). The authors thank all talented athletes, sports federations, teachers, and schools for their participation. Our sincere appreciation is expressed to the Stichting LOOT for their cooperation. Furthermore, the authors wish to thank Natasja de Weerd for her assistance in collecting the data.