Table 3.

Data extracts illustrating prominent codes and initial summarizing themes.

Summarizing themes (Details on included codes)	Data extracts representative of codes
Resource constraints Challenges related to finances, nutrition, travel, family, and staying healthy	“I’d say that the biggest thing for me this year was the travel…we’ll have trips that takes 7 h, 5 h, and you have to drive back, work the night after game, and then have to play the next day. So, just, it messes you up to switch gears a little bit...on the road it’s hard to find the right food because …you are on the bus. So you have to Uber places, it’s definitely a lot harder to get the food that you want, the food that your body might need. There’s been a lot of gas station trips just trying to find any little thing, kinda trying to find nuts or seeds or little fruit cups from there. So yeah, I think the travel and nutrition is just hard to get consistently, consistently good out of those two things.” (player 11)
	“Being able to support and live a comfortable life while playing I think is tough when you get paid what you get paid… it’s hard being away from family and friends. Cuz we are gone all year. Then the time we are home, we have to designate a lot of it to get ready for the next season. Some other challenges, staying healthy is a big challenge, just physically the workload of the schedule. And then being able to perform under the time frame that we have to recover is pretty tough, but I think it’s a part of it. It just comes with the job.” (player 18)
	“I can deal with the shitty fields, hotels, travel schedules, and food. But when I have to get a job just so I can make it through the offseason, it does not sit right with me. Serving steaks should not be my primary focus in the offseason.” (player 12)
	“You’re not making a lot of money. You’re kind of living paycheck to paycheck, kind of even going minus most of the time.” (player 14)
Mental toughness Psychological challenges in professional baseball	“It’s tough because…baseball is a failure sport. You know, you get like, 3 hits out of 10 times and you are the best of the world. But you are a failure seven more times. So you are dealing with that. And those players, you know, it’s tough. I’ve been through that too as a player. And it’s challenging every day to keep your mind tough and just keep moving forward. Even though you went 0 for 4 for the night or 0 for 5 with three strikeouts. Tomorrow’s another day, you know, so you have to be prepared for that day, day by day. So mental part is tough. And I think that’s why baseball is more mental sport than anything else. Because they all got talent, you know, they all that’s the reason why they’re here. …it’s it’s more mental or whoever’s been tougher mentally is going to forward quicker. And that’s the way I see it” (coach 22)
	“Some of the struggles that I see like some of those guys, they on a process to learn how to how... they need to handle themselves when they come to be a professional baseball player, because baseball, not every time things gonna go your way. So you had to keep your mind strong. When those times come when you fail, how to stay strong. And think about, okay, I gotta have a one more day to perform and be a better player...that’s one of the struggles that I see that those guys that... they need to be mental tough.” (coach 20)
	“Some of the setbacks are when you are not doing so well. And you have to keep digging and keep trucking along when, you know, you are not making a lot of money. There’s other things to be doing. So just really sticking through it. The grind, as we all call it, is definitely, it’s rewarding in the end.” (player 16)
Language and cultural barriers Additional challenges unique to non-English speakers and international players	“…coaches pretty much were going to be American, and for them to get the fullness or the full benefit of the coaches, they had to understand English.” (coach 21)
	“…since I work as the pitching coach and work with the pitchers, being able to hit a group message and get that translated, which that does take some extra time, I had to have somebody who’s going to translate, because I can only speak enough to be able to help guys, mainly just pitching types of delivery and stuff. But as far as having a conversation, that’s what makes it a little bit difficult for me. And then having to have somebody translate and go through the filter of that, without my message directly impacting them and getting across the way I want it to get across, having to rely on somebody else that, that makes it a little bit different.” (coach 19)
	“They do they make sure that the guys from other countries are like going to English class and kind of learning our culture, so that they can adapt because obviously, like, we, I feel like we have an easier time adapting to them then they have or they are having to adapt to us, and our culture of how we do things in like America. But I think for the most part, like they do a pretty good job” (player 6)
	“I think going over in to Korea, and being the foreigner really opened up my eyes to some of the challenges that, that, you know, other people might have, I think, you know, like I said, the Latin players coming over, especially at such a young age…I went over to Korea when I was 26 years old, and I, I struggled with the language barrier, and just trying to figure things out and, and I had a translator, and these guys, you know, they do not have a translator, and they are kind of, you know, fending for themselves and trying to figure out how to live in America. And I think that can be extremely difficult for sure. And I think I gained a lot of respect for those guys. And the challenges that they have.” (player 17)
Ingroup and outgroup effects Cliques formed by social identity groups; coaches’ preference for certain players; discrimination experienced	“I’ve seen sometimes they prefer the white guys over the Latin guys… Sometimes, sometimes when, when a Latin guy does something bad… like they’ll yell at them. And then when American guy does the same thing they, like, they’ll do not do anything about it.” (player 8)
	“It’s definitely a double-edged sword, certain things that you can get away with as a White player that you are not allowed to get away with as a Black player.” (coach 24)
	“Um, I would say there are some cliques sometimes between language barriers and things like that, because we have some guys maybe know like 20 words in English. So it’s kind of like they got to stick with the guys that know both. And some, some of us do not know any words like in Spanish. So just kind of stick with the guys that do not know any in Spanish.…” (player 1)
	“...as we get into pro ball, you know, those were the kinda cliques that started….you know it might be more of the Spanish speaking players… they would hang more together, obviously, you know the language, it’s just easier to communicate within their own language….” (coach 25)
	“So, if there’s a coach, who’s Dominican and can relate to the Dominicans on the team, or like the people with different backgrounds... I think they are more inclined to really like, take... to help them out in a way in a sense, like, like give them extra work and really try to teach them rather than um like people like of different backgrounds.” (player 9).
Team cohesion and shared goals Efforts to learn from one another, grow together, and build team chemistry	“For instance, a lot of the college guys, I mean, we all get along together, I think the one thing that like separates a little bit is, you know, if there’s like Dominicans on the team, to Americans, I think that’s, there’s like a little bit of a like a, like a separation between the two. But everyone kind of gets along. And I.. it kind of feels like a team, rather than you are playing for individual self, which I definitely like, love, playing it on a team rather than a bunch of individuals who are just trying to outperform each other... does not really feel like that, which is good.” (player 9)
	“Just because everybody knows that we are all trying to make it to the Big Leagues. And there’s not, there’s not too many spots up there. So we know that we are competing for the spot, but at the same time it helps you, I’ve noticed just with myself, whenever I try to help somebody else, it helps me get a better understanding of what I’m trying to do. If I’m trying to, teaching, if I’m showing somebody maybe that they need to catch the ball more out of front, I’m helping them out. But at the same time, I’m reminding myself that I need to do the same thing.” (player 11)
	“We tell them a lot of times, ... you win the game in the clubhouse before you before you even go out and feel the team chemistry and stuff like that… ... we try to get our Latin American players as well as our English players to interact with each other, and, you know, learn about each other’s countries and upbringings and stuff like that. So and I’m sure in the clubhouse in there where they develop team chemistry they do that.” (coach 27)
	“I would say it’s easier for guys who speak the same language to, you know, gravitate towards each other just because it’s easier communication. I mean, the [team name] are doing a good job though, they have like English class Spanish class pretty much every week. So they are doing a good job to try and mix those groups up. But I think language is the main one… I mean, guys show interest in like, trying to learn Spanish like here, I would say it’s probably like half ‘n’ half. So you got like guys, that speak only English trying to learn Spanish, Spanish guys trying to learn English. So that kind of builds that team chemistry as I was talking about.” (player 7)
	“It’s kind of cool knowing people who come from other countries, other cities, and getting to know each other and share being teammates here…they are looking at the same goals, just to make it to the Big Leagues” (player 13)
Positive attitudes toward diversity Coaches adapting to the needs of players; acknowledgement of the importance of support for players from diverse backgrounds	“I was actually talking to a guy about this yesterday, if I worked with the Latin pitcher different than, say, a college pitcher. And I said yeah, I mean sure you do. Because the level that they are, they are on it, we are pitching at the same level, but as far as... typically, they are a little bit younger. So working with them, and giving them a more simpler task, because most of them did not go to college. So, they did not have 4 years to be able to pitch and learn what they needed to do. So, keep it simpler.” (coach 19)
	“And then we try and teach English to the guys like during the game like… we try to like give them a phrase every day to try and learn. So it’s just been fun. I’ve had fun with just being able to learn their culture, how they work, because it’s a totally different world, where they are from.” (player 6)
	“There’s a lot of players from Latin America. And for me, it’s been really cool to get to know them and understand their lives away from baseball, as well as in baseball. It’s something I would never have experienced before. And I’ve gotten to know them personally and really enjoyed their friendship…camaraderie, throughout baseball, it’s cool, it’s opened my eyes and kind of opened my world a little bit more than it would have been before.” (player 16)
	“Our coach spoke both languages. So he’d say everything in English, then he would say everything in Spanish right after. So both groups can understand it. And some guys I’d say do not speak English, or do not speak Spanish. And that was really helpful to have everybody on the same page. Again, it was annoying if you had to repeat yourself, but that’s something that they do. Meals will be like... try to cook what people prefer, you know, there will be like a large percentage of guys from the Dominican Republic…they made meals that were like Dominican meals. That was cool. Just inclusion, inclusive stuff like that.” (player 4)
	“Having like a language barrier between some people can kind of can make it like people will group together but I think like you try and learn the other languages and I think that that helps. And they have like in Florida, they’ll have us take, like, Spanish classes, where you can try and like kind of break that barrier….Well, here… the Spanish guys have to still take English class and we do not have to. But I think I think obviously a lot of them want to learn more because it helps to stay in America and be able to, like, be on their own. So I think that’s it’s definitely like a motivating factor for them. Then for us, it’s motivating so you can [hangout with] your friends and be able to talk to them more.” (player 2)
	“I feel like if you come in here with a mindset that like it’s different, and like you do not understand anything, like you are gonna be in trouble. But if you have an open mind, and you just you work to understand them and understand where they are coming from, that it just makes you adapt and get used to it.” (player 3)
	“I think it only hurts people if they are not open to learn or trying to get on the same page. That would be it... but I took Spanish in high school, and I’m not fluent, but I know enough to communicate on the field, that it’s kind of second nature for them... But I know enough Spanish where we can communicate on the field… You can just learn enough either way, which is not asking much, then it’s really not a hindrance. (player 5)