The purpose of the present study was to examine the differences in sport-life balance and mental health between student-athletes admitted to the university through sports recommendation admissions and student-athletes who were not. Participants of this study were freshperson athletes who were at a four-year private university, members of the athletic department, and who agreed to participate in the study. Participants were asked about demographic data, sport-life balance (current and ideal balance for each of the temporal and mental aspects), and mental health (subjective happiness, psychological stress, and summarized adjustment of feeling connected to a club). Of the 169 first-year student-athletes, 168 (136 males and 32 females) were included and one student was excluded for not consenting to the survey. Analyses of covariance, with gender, age, and residence status as covariates, showed that the gap between the ideal and current time balance was smaller for student-athletes admitted to the university through sports recommendation admissions. Mental health scores were found to be less favorable for student-athletes admitted to the university through sports recommendation admissions. However, there was no difference between the two groups in terms of psychological stress. Further research and practice should be carried out to develop the concept of “sport-life integration, ” which is a concept that overlaps and integrates athletic and other aspects of life, through achieving sport-life balance.
