story by Claire Miller
Collegiate and professional athletes can face a range of challenges in their careers: The constant pressure to win. Difficult relationships with coaches and fellow players. Being in the public eye. Sustaining physical injuries that could impact their career trajectory.
And they’re not alone. Staff members working in sports – many of whom are former athletes themselves – also internalize the pressures their organizations face to operate at the highest level.
“In this culture with high expectations, we can see major performance outcomes but some negative impacts on mental health,” said Lauren Beasley, assistant professor of sport administration in Georgia State University’s Department of Kinesiology and Health. “We've started to see a shift coming from elite athletes like Michael Phelps and Simone Biles having conversations about mental health, which mirrors a general shift in culture more broadly. But I think there’s still a long way to go. How do we meaningfully create environments where mental health is prioritized, not just discussed?”
To meet these challenges head-on, Georgia State University has developed a new Sport Social Work graduate certificate program, which prepares students to address the mental health and well-being of athletes and other sports professionals at the individual and organizational levels.
Beasley, a licensed social worker with a doctorate in sport administration, and Nicholas Forge, a clinical professor in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies’ School of Social Work at Georgia State, came together to create the certificate program, which will officially launch in spring 2026 with a mix of online and in-person classes.
Their goal was to create an interdisciplinary certificate that incorporates knowledge and skills from both sport administration and social work, giving students in each discipline the chance to learn from one another’s field of study. Sport administration students learn best practices to prioritize mental health and well-being in sport organizations, and social work students learn to provide culturally responsive care for athletes and staff working in sport.
“Some of the most impactful innovations in social work come from multidisciplinary collaboration,” Forge said. “By integrating social work knowledge into sport administration, organizations can create healthier, supportive environments for both athletes and employees.”
The graduate certificate is the first of its kind in the nation to be jointly developed by social work and sport administration faculty, according to Beasley and Forge. And Georgia State’s location in downtown Atlanta gives students access to several collegiate and professional sports teams where they can put what they learn into practice.
Beyond preparing them to support individual care, the program provides the knowledge and tools to address mental health at the organizational level, leveraging integrated care, training, education and policy reform to create substantive structural change. With these skills, certificate holders are positioned to drive the transformation of sports organizations, embedding mental health into their structure, culture and daily operations.
“I hope students learn to apply best practices in designing and delivering support services with empathy and cultural humility. The social work process is inherently collaborative — meeting the athlete where they are — and emphasizes building mutually agreed-upon goals,” shares Forge. “Through this approach, my hope is for students to learn how to activate strengths, address challenges and ultimately equip athletes with the tools they need to not just focus on their athletic performance, but also on their overall well-being.”
The graduate certificate program is open to current Georgia State graduate students and is currently accepting applications for its spring 2026 launch. Students will be admitted on a rolling basis during fall, spring and summer semesters. Questions can be directed to Lauren Beasley at [email protected] or Nicholas Forge at [email protected].