Sarah Stokowski, who teaches sport management at the University of Arkansas, and Amanda Paule-Koba, her colleague at Bowling Green State University, saw the need for an academic journal that focuses, not on the business of sports, but on athletes and the issues they face, both personally and professionally.

So, the two women proposed a new peer-reviewed academic journal, found a partner in the Professional Association of Athlete Development Specialists and took on the role of editors.

Stokowski, an assistant professor of recreation and sport management, and Paule-Koba, an associate professor of sport management, put out a call in August for papers for the inaugural issue of the Journal of Athlete Development and Experience. The biannual, online, open-access publication is housed at Bowling Green.

Athletes face many issues, Stokowski said.

"We know if we focus on athletes as individuals and ensure they have a great experience, they will perform better on the field," she said. "There is not one journal practitioners and scholars can go to for research and programming implications for just the athlete population. As such, JADE became a reality."

Stokowski said she was very grateful for the support of Bowling Green State University.

"The Journal of Athlete Development and Experience was born out of our desire to publish and promote work that focuses on athletes and not just the business around them," Paule-Koba said. "We want to promote research that puts people before profits. After hearing from many colleagues across the country that felt the same way, we decided to take action and create JADE. The response has been fantastic and we are thrilled to see where JADE goes."

The journal's goal is to give new voice and insight to the athletic experience from a variety of perspectives and methodologies. A long list of potential topics include nutrition, healthy eating and disordered eating; injury and recovery; substance use and abuse; mental skills for athletic performance; career development for elite and professional athletes; financial education and literacy; and race, gender, identity, culture and sports.

The Professional Association of Athlete Development Specialists (PAADS) is partnering with the journal editors. Global partners of the organization include the Premier League, the National Football League (NFL), and the Women's Sports Foundation.

"JADE also has an amazing review board that consists not only of academics but also practitioners working with population," Stokowski said. "Dr. Eric Wood — an Arkansas alumnus — who's the deputy director of athletics at Central Florida and Dr. Nate Bell, the associate director for athletic academic support at Vanderbilt are just a few of the practitioners on the JADE review board. I think JADE has a real opportunity to be the ultimate destination for any and all literature related to enhancing the athlete experience. Most importantly, we want JADE to set the standard for practical-based research that can be interpreted and adapted by the industry."

Research published in the journal will be both practical and theoretical in nature, and cross-disciplinary submissions are encouraged. Preference will be given to scholarship that involves intercollegiate and professional sport.

The first issue of JADE is available now.

Manuscript guidelines are available on the journal's website.