Professor Robert Mechikoff spurs lively discussions in new TCL class
Should student athletes be paid beyond scholarships? Is the NCAA a monopoly? Do government figures influence sports? Are performance enhancing drugs ruining athletics? And what about transgender participation in sports?
Queries like these kickstart lively conversations in Dr. Robert Mechikoff’s Sport in American Society course. The Transformative Coaching and Leadership (TCL) class attempts to peel away the veil to expose often invisible and subtle social forces at play in the American sporting landscape. Complemented by analyses of current events, students survey topics including violence in sports, gender equity in competition and global political influence on athletics.
Uniquely, many of Mechikoff’s TCL students are recent or current student athletes. That dynamic, he says, makes for strong opinions when it comes to controversial topics.
Their first-hand experience, he adds, leads to insightful commentary on issues like Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) rules as well as the varying gender inclusivity policies across sports.
“The NIL landscape is evolving day to day,” Mechikoff notes. “And athletes realize there is a great deal of money to be made.”
Though his students laud the new lucrative aspect of collegiate athletics, they also take note of its consequences.
Athletes who once spent time hunting for the best college to play at, now often go searching for prime self-marketing opportunities.
“Students have seen how it changes the dynamic of a team,” Mechikoff adds. “The chemistry aspect can be very fluid because of the constant influx (and efflux) of athletes.”
Thanks to the bustling nature of the NCAA transfer portal, coaches are left reconstructing their programs year after year.
In regards to gender equity and recent controversy surrounding transgender athletes, some students have suggested that there should be an “Open” division to accommodate everyone that wants to compete at a high level.
But one question often leads to another, Mechikoff says.
“How does it filter down to the high school and youth levels?” he’ll ask students. “And when the ideas get flowing on these issues, it’s one revelation after another.”
Utilizing a variation of the flipped classroom, his course features student-led lessons, drawing from the course text, Jay Coakley’s Sports in Society: Issues and Controversies.
An internationally recognized sports scholar, Mechikoff, who earned his Ph.D in Sport History and Philosophy from The Ohio State University, guides discussion and adds insight to the presentations.
The influence of politics on sport is usually the most eye-opening for students, he says:
“They’re fascinated to discover just how much is driven by money when we discuss the political nature of sport, be it the Olympic, professional, regional or even local level.”
The effects of socioeconomic disparities and global political pressures spur lively debates among students.
“These are all extremely relevant topics as Los Angeles prepares to host the 2028 Olympics,” Mechikoff points out. “Who’s going to pay for that? And, in turn, who does that affect?”
Calling attention to the fact that there were no limits on NCAA scholarships back in the 1960s and 70s, Mechikoff finds it interesting that 50 years later, we appear headed back to “the way we were.”
Big schools, he says, were tossing around as many as 100 to 115 scholarships for their football programs alone. Meanwhile, smaller conferences, like the former Pac-8 and Big-8, that didn’t possess that kind of money in the coffers, couldn’t offer unlimited scholarships.
in 2010. Seen here toting a Total Station (a sophisticated piece of surveying equipment), Mechikoff and the group
explored the ruins of an ancient athletic stadium located in modern-day Turkey. Courtesy photo
“Alabama and Texas and some of the other big football schools back in the day had coaches for every single position,” Mechikoff says. “And the programs with the deepest pockets dominated.
“History is repeating itself and it’s going to cost athletic departments dearly if they want to keep up with the Joneses.”
As might be apparent, Mechikoff’s class stimulates deep thinking on social issues in sports that reverberate on society as a whole.
Dr. Mechikoff has taught courses in UCLA’s Transformative Coaching and Leadership program since 2019. Prior to his appointment to UCLA, Dr. Mechikoff served as a Professor in the Department of Exercise and Nutritional Sciences at San Diego State University (SDSU) from 1981 to 2010. He is a Life Member of the International Society of Olympic Historians and longtime member of the North American Society for Sport History (NASSH). Dr. Mechikoff conducted archeological research in Greece and Turkey where he was part of a team that researched ancient Greek and Roman athletic stadiums. He is the author of McGraw-Hill’s History and Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education which is in its 8th edition. He is currently working on the 9th edition.
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