The role of social workers in sport: shared values, interprofessional collaborations, and unique contributions

Abstract

Sport is often utilized as a hook to captivate the attention of the public, a medium that represents a microcosm of societal issues, a platform to advocate for awareness of social justice issues, and a tool that can be used to promote the wellbeing of individuals and groups. Due to the diverse nature of sport, change agents from a variety of professions have become vested partners. Two such professions with the potential to create change through interprofessional collaborations are sport psychology practitioners and social workers. The current manuscript demonstrates how change agents from these two service-based professions are well-equipped to meet the diverse needs of athletes through interprofessional collaborations. Specifically, the manuscript illustrates how social workers are capable of engaging in collaborative opportunities with sport psychology practitioners to address a range of societal issues, advocate collectively for change, and better support athletes in multiple sport settings. Further, the unique role of social workers within the context of sport is advocated for, which is a growing area within social work.

Keywords:

• Social work
• sport psychology
• interprofessional collaborations