Retirement difficulties in Spanish athletes: The importance of the career path.

Abstract

Based on the conceptual model of adaptation to retirement among athletes (Taylor & Ogilvie, 1994), the present study aimed to (a) evaluate if perceived difficulties during the retirement transition varied according to the voluntariness of the decision, planning of a postsport career life, satisfaction with the sport achievements, and career path, and (b) analyze if these perceived difficulties varied according to the type of the student-athlete’s dual-career trajectory. In total, 477 elite athletes completed the questionnaire. Multivariate multinomial logistic models were applied to analyze the data. Voluntariness was significantly associated with difficulties related to professional career out of sport, health, and finances. Planning one’s retirement was associated with difficulties in areas such as studies, family, and leisure, whereas satisfaction with sport achievements was associated with difficulties in areas such as social networking, leisure, and finance. The results supported our hypothesis that student-athletes who combined sport and education and gave them the same degree of priority (parallel trajectory) would experience fewer difficulties than athletes who prioritize sport over education (convergent trajectory). The factors proposed by Taylor and Ogilvie’s model were associated with the perceived difficulties in different areas when keeping the other factors in control. Because only a parallel dual-career trajectory seems to protect the athlete from severe difficulties in transitioning out of sport, future research should identify means for assisting student-athletes to maintain their educational commitment.

Analysis of the Athletic Career and Retirement Depending on the Type of Sport: A Comparison between Individual and Team Sports

“…With respect to the type of sports comparisons, the team sports athletes were better prepared for this transition: they had higher education studies, they were in a better economic and working position, and they planned their sport retirement more frequently than the individual sports athletes. Following previous findings [ 16 , 17 , 18 ], team sports athletes have the internal (education and planning) and external (financial) resources to cope with the retirement transition more successfully than individual sports athletes.…”

“…Managing the demands of both careers is not an easy task. While each sphere in life (sport, psychological, psychosocial, vocational, and financial) has its own normative transitions such as entering secondary school, entering the high-performance center, deciding whether to study at university or not, or whether to start working after achieving a degree, athletes create their own paths based on the decisions they make [ 8 , 16 ]. In order to prepare for each normative transition, athletes gather information from their peers/teammates about competition, or a training camp, or even about their skills for managing their studies and planning for their next steps.…”

The Employability Process of Spanish Retired Elite Athletes: Gender and Sport Success Comparison

“…Some retirements are freely chosen by the athletes (voluntary) while some others are forced by circumstances beyond the athletes' control (involuntary). It seems that voluntary retirement increases the perceived control and is related to psychological well-being [8,9] and with a firm sense of self-efficacy [10]. On the contrary, involuntary retirements (through injury or de-selection from a team) are associated with negative emotions [11,12], a sense of betrayal and social exclusion [13,14].…”

“…This results in them possessing higher self-efficacy in relation to their ability to successfully adapt to life after sport [23,24]. Furthermore, not planning may lead to greater difficulties in different spheres of life (family, educational and/or financial) at retirement [8,19,25].…”

Ex-athletes as Parents Promoting Healthy Lifestyles in Their Families: The Nutrition and Physical Activity of Mothers, Fathers, and 6-Year-Old Children

“…Moreover, interestingly Spanish research shows that retired athletes experienced more severe difficulties with family when the end of their sports career was sudden. The career path after sport life was also associated with difficulties in studies and financial areas in this case and results in problem with their family functioning (Barriopedro et al, 2019). The results of the European Perspectives on Athletic Retirement (EPAR) project also show the presence of cross-national differences in the process of sport retirement (Wylleman et al, 2004).…”