The study investigates the sports management practices and the effectiveness of athletic development initiatives in selected State Universities and Colleges (SUC’s) in Region IV – A Philippines. The objectives aim to assess the implementation of sports management practices currently employed with regards to sport governance, sports awareness, sports accessibility, sports institute, sports facilities development, and sports linkages; assess the athletic development being implemented with regards to innovative management strategies, resource allocation, facility infrastructure and maintenance, and academic support and student services; determine the sports management practices influence the strategies for development of student – athletes; identify the experiences and level of effectiveness of coaches and student – athletes sports management and athletic development in their institution; and propose to enhance management and development of athletics programs in SUC’s at Region IV – A. The convergent parallel mixed – method design was employed to administrators, coaches, and student – athletes with a total of 397. This study concludes that while sports management systems are formally established across SUCs in Region IV-A, their effectiveness lies not in procedural compliance but in how well they are operationalized to enable athlete-centered development. Therefore, SUCs in Region IV-A should shift from policy-driven compliance toward development-oriented sports management by institutionalizing monitoring and accountability mechanisms that directly support coaching quality, training consistency, and holistic athlete welfare.