Maintaining Academic Success and Athletic Activities Together "Under the Shadow of Exam Stress"

Abstract

Background.

The university entrance exam preparation process creates cognitive and physical fatigue and time management challenges for student athletes. For student-athletes, these demands are compounded by the need to simultaneously maintain intensive training and competitive sport participation. From a learning-theoretical perspective, such conditions pose a critical challenge to self-regulated learning processes, including planning, monitoring, and regulation of learning load.

Objectives. This study aimed to explore how high school student-athletes experience and manage the learning process while preparing for the Higher Education Institutions Examination (YKS), with particular attention to difficulties in self-regulation, time management, and psychological control under dual academic and athletic demands.

Materials and Methods. A qualitative phenomenological design was employed. Ten 12th-grade student-athletes (five females and five males) who were actively engaged in school or club sports and preparing for the YKS participated voluntarily. Data were collected through semi-structured face-to-face interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. Data saturation guided sample adequacy, and methodological rigor was ensured through expert consultation and participant verification.

Results. Three interrelated themes emerged: (1) sustaining athletic engagement despite academic pressures, (2) maintaining academic study under severe time constraints, and (3) coping with psychological stress and fatigue. Across all themes, participants reported disruptions in key self-regulated learning mechanisms, including difficulties in planning, monitoring fatigue and concentration, regulating effort, and balancing competing demands. Family expectations and examination pressure further intensified these challenges, often leading to sleep deprivation and reduced learning efficiency.

Conclusions. The findings indicate that difficulties experienced by student-athletes during high-stakes examination periods are closely linked to insufficient support for self-regulated learning. The study contributes to learning theory by demonstrating how dual academic–athletic demands disrupt regulatory learning processes at the secondary education level. Strengthening self-regulated learning skills and providing structured educational and psychological support may enhance students’ capacity to manage learning effectively under conditions of extreme performance pressure.