Ogilvie, B.C., & Taylor, J. (1993). Career termination issues among elite athletes. In R.N. Singer, M. Murphey, & L.K. Tennant (Eds.), Handbook of research on sport psychology (pp. 761-775). New York: Macmillan. (To read)

Taylor, J., & Wilson, G.S. (2002). Intensity regulation and sport performance. In J. Van Raalte & B. Brewer (Eds.) Exploring sport and exercise psychology (2nd Ed.). (pp. 99-130). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association. (To read)

Wilson, G., Taylor, J., Gundersen, F., & Brahm, T. (2005). Intensity. In J. Taylor & G.S. Wilson (Eds.) Applying Sport Psychology: Four Perspectives (pp. 33-50). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. (To read)

Jones, M., Taylor, J., Tanaka-Oulevey, M., & Grigson Daubert, S. (2005). Emotions. In J. Taylor & G.S. Wilson (Eds.) Applying Sport Psychology: Four Perspectives (pp. 65-82). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. (To read)

Taylor, J., Ogilvie, B., & Lavallee, D. (2006). Career transition among elite athletes: Is there life after sports? In J. Williams (Ed.), Applied sport psychology: Personal growth to peak performance (5th ed.) (pp. 480-496). Mountain View, CA: Mayfield. (To read)

Taylor, J. & Kress, J. (2006). Psychology of cycling. In J. Dosil (Ed.), The sport psychologist’s handbook: A guide to sport specific performance enhancement. New York: Wiley. (To read)

Taylor, J. (2012). My approach to sport and performance psychology. In Aoyagi, M. W., & Poczwardowski, A. (Eds.) The chronicle of expert approaches to sport & performance psychology: Applied theories of optimal performance. (To read)

CAREER TERMINATION ISSUES AMONG ELITE ATHLETES

Bruce Ogilvie & Jim Taylor

Introduction

Athletic participation is characterized by glorious peaks and debilitating valleys. Furthermore, the range of events and emotions that are experienced through athletic involvement seem to be both numerous and extreme compared to the normal population. Yet, of all the powerful experiences encountered by athletes, perhaps the most significant and potentially traumatic is that of career termination. Moreover, termination from sports involves a variety of unique experiences that sets it apart from typical retirement concerns.

In response to the apparent significance of this issue, during the past 25 years, there has been a small, but steady stream of anecdotal, theoretical, and empirical exploration of career termination among athletes. These considerations have brought attention to the potential difficulties of retirement, attempted to provide explanations for the process, and offered evidence of the nature of the termination process.

The issue of career termination has received considerable attention in the popular press. These writings are typically anecdotal in nature and focus on professional athletes (Hoffer, 1990; Putnam, 1991). Moreover, the focus of these articles vary from depictions of the difficulties experienced by athletes in their post-athletic lives (Alfano, 1982; Bradley, 1976; Elliot, 1982; Jordan, 1975; Kahn, 1972; Morrow, 1978; Plimpton, 1977; Stephens, 1984; Vecsey, 1980) to successful career transitions of athletes (Batten, 1979; White, 1974).

Based on the large proportion of these articles that suggest termination difficulties, it might be concluded that career transition trauma is a widespread spread phenomenon. However, due to the absence of methodological rigor in these investigations, it is impossible to make any conclusive judgments about the prevalence of termination difficulties among athletes.

During this period, commensurate interest in career termination began to grow among the professional community. What resulted was a variety of scholarly, though speculative, articles by noted professionals in sport psychology based upon their own professional experiences dealing with this issue, available research in the area, and literature from related fields (Broom, 1982; Botterill, 1982; McPherson, 1980; Ogilvie & Howe, 1982; Werthner & Orlick, 1982).

These concerns have raised an important question relative to career termination: What is the incidence of athletes who experience significant distress when leaving their sport? Those individuals who have published their concerns about this issue have mainly been sport psychologists who provide services to the more elite end of the athletic continuum. Though the question remains as to whether just the tip of the iceberg is being seen, they are consistent in their concern for what might be the hidden significant number of athletes throughout the sports world who experience difficulties upon career termination (May & Sieb, 1986; Ogilvie, 1982, 1983; Rotella & Heyman, 1986).

The goal of this chapter is to provide an integrative view of career termination among athletes. This objective will be accomplished by considering the following areas: (1) Historical and conceptual issues that will assist in the understanding of the growth of career termination as a meaningful avenue of inquiry; (2) Theoretical perspectives of career termination; (3) The causes of career termination; (4) Evidence of trauma in career termination; (5) Factors that contribute to crises of career termination; (6) Prevention and treatment of career termination distress; and (7) Avenues for future theoretical and empirical investigation into career termination in sports.

The issues that will be considered will focus primarily on the termination crises of athletes who have made sport participation a dominant part of their lives. The term “elite athlete” will be used to distinguish this population that best represents such individuals from the recreational athlete.

Historical and Conceptual Concerns

Career termination received little attention in North american as well as in most countries prior to 20 years ago. This may have been due in large part to the fact that elite athletes were more fully integrated into the basic fabric of society as compared to now. Specifically, due to limited technology they did not receive a high level of media scrutiny. In addition, salaries were not significantly higher than the normal population. Also, elite-amateur athletes typically were either students or held full-time jobs away from their sports involvement. As a consequence, their transition to life as an “average” citizen was not as dramatic (Chartland & Lent, 1987).

In contrast, the schism between elite athletes and the general population has grown wider in recent years. The development of cable and satellite television has brought these athletes into the homes of millions of people worldwide, thus placing them “under the microscope”. In addition, the current financial rewards of elite athletes, whether professional or “amateur”, further separate them from “normal” people (Newman, 1988). These factors then create a lifestyle that is highly discrepant from the one that they might have to adopt following career termination.

The nature of the athlete development system in North America may have also contributed to the lack of concern and study of the post-career adjustment problems experienced by elite athletes. In particular, largely as a function of the socio-political system, athletic development in North America has occurred in a laissez-fair fashion. What this approach emphasizes is the self-responsibility of the athletes in their entrance into the sport, their development during their athletic careers, and, by extension, in their departure from the sport. Additionally, due to the large population of the United States, there was constant influx of talented athletes that replaced those at the end of the their careers, thereby drawing attention away from the career termination of other athletes.

The participation of the sport psychologist at the elite level also inhibits our ability to provide for the career termination needs of elite athletes. Until recently, the team psychologist associated with a national governing body, collegiate team, or professional organization rarely had the opportunity to develop an extended relationship with team members. In fact, even at present, few sport psychologists have the chance to establish and maintain on-going relationships with the athletes with whom they work. For example, typical involvement of a sport psychologist consists of two weeks of contact at a training camp or being called upon for some form of performance or crisis intervention (Ogilvie & Howe, 1986). This type of contact rarely presents an opportunity for the sport psychologist and athletes to communicate about issues related to career termination. Also, sports organizations often do not want the sport psychologist to address career termination and life after sport for fear of distracting the athletes from their competitive focus.

In contrast to this approach used in North America, the Eastern European nations were accepting more responsibility for preparing their national athletes for life after sport. This greater awareness would be expected because team psychologists often had long-term relationships with their team members. These professionals frequently established contact with the athletes at the inception of the structure selection process that is common in these countries. Thus, relationships were initiated as early as pre or early teens and often endured until the athlete’s middle thirties (Ogilvie & Howe, 1982). Moreover, education and vocational counseling were an integral part of the athletes’ developmental process (Chartland & Lent, 1987). It was also true that a significant number of these athletes were studying in areas that were related to their sports participation. Specifically, coaching, motor learning, exercise physiology, and physical therapy often became their areas of major interest and, subsequently, their chosen careers following termination of their athletic careers. Because the discrepancy between athletic and post-athletic careers was relatively small and the athletes were able to combine their love of sport with a post-athletic career, it seems reasonable to suggest that they would be less likely to exhibit problems of adaptation to a life as a non-competitor (Beehr, 1986; Pawlak, 1984).

Another factor that might attenuate the traumatic effects of career termination on Eastern European athletes is that the average age of their competitors is significantly above that of U.S. elite athletes. This fact may be due in part to the limited pool of talent from which they have to draw. Most of these countries do not have the vast talent pool that emerges from our university and club programs. It might then be expected that these highly select athletes would compete longer, receive more attention throughout the duration of their careers, retire at a later age, and make the transition to non-competitor more easily.

As a consequence, in clarifying the factors that contribute to difficulties in career termination, it would be valuable to examine alternative systems such as the Eastern Europeans. This knowledge would enable us to consider differences that might explain the divergent responses to career termination as a function of the country which they represent and the nature of the system in which they developed.

It should also be noted that as salaries, prize money, and appearance fees continue to escalate, age differences between nations will begin to lessen. When marginal professional athletes and world-class amateur competitors are able to earn a living in their sport longer, their incentive to stay in the sport will remain high, thus easing the pressure to terminate their athletic careers prematurely. However, it should be noted that Haerle (1975) reported that professional baseball players who competed longer tended to have more difficulty in finding a second career. As a result, simply being able to stay in a sport longer will not necessarily ease the transition process. Rather, the ability of athletes to make an effective career transition may be related the length of the career, the reason for staying in the sport, and the level of financial security that results.

Over the past 15 years, there has been an increasing awareness of the need for preretirement planning and counseling outside the sports domain (Kleiber & Thompson, 1980; Manion, 1976; Rowen & Wilks, 1987). Similarly, in recent years, there has been a growing concern about career termination on several levels of elite sports. For example, in 1989, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) developed a manual designed to assist elite athletes in understanding important issues related to career termination and guide them in devising a plan for their post-competition careers (USOC, 1988). In addition, the USOC implemented career counseling training seminars for interested national athletes that were very well-received (Murphy, 1989; Petitpas, Danish, McKelvain, & Murphy, 1990) and many sport psychologists currently working with U.S. Olympic Teams provide services related to career termination and planning (Gould, Tammen, Murphy, & May, 1989; May & Brown, 1989).

The professional sports in the U.S. also appear to be responding to this need as well (Dorfman, 1990). Specifically, both the National Football League Players Association and the National Basketball Association Players Association have, in recent years, developed similar programs for players who’s careers are terminated (Ogilvie & Howe, 1982). Lastly, a survey of collegiate athletic advisors indicated that a portion of their responsibilities involved providing vocational counseling (Brooks, Etzel, & Ostrow, 1987). Unfortunately, there has been no empirical exploration of the extent to which these services have been used by the elite athletes. It may be that, in contrast to years past when salaries were not highly discrepant from the normal population (Andreano, 1973; Blitz, 1973), with average salaries of over $500,000 per year (Cohen, 1989) and the presence of agents controlling finances (Garvey, 1984), many of these athletes may experience a false sense of security which makes career planning a low priority for them (Hill & Lowe, 1974).

This interest has also spread to the coaching ranks as well. Traditionally, coaches have actively avoided career guidance programs based on the belief that such involvement would act as a distraction to the athletes that would detract from their focus on their performances (Taylor, Ogilvie, Gould, & Gardner, 1990). However, this opposition appears to be softening as coaches at both the professional and elite amateur levels are realizing that providing such opportunities to mature athletes can contribute to the ultimate success of the athletic program (Blann, 1985; Ogilvie & Howe, 1982).

Theoretical Perspectives on Career Termination

Since career termination began to attract attention from the sports scientific community, efforts have been made to develop theoretical conceptualizations to explain the process that athletes go through as their careers come to an end. Sports researchers examining this issue have sought formulations from outside of the sports world as a foundation for developing explanatory models for the athletic population (Hill & Lowe, 1974; Lerch, 1982; Rosenberg, 1981).

Thanatology. Rosenberg (1982) suggests that retirement from sports is akin to social death. This concept, not related to biological death, focuses on how members of a group treat an individual who has recently left the group. Social death is characterized as social isolation and rejection from the former in-group. Ball (1976) suggests that a common reaction to an athlete’s release from a team is to ignore the athlete. Furthermore, this reaction by former teammates can cause embarrassment and anxiety (Rosenberg, 1982).

This explanation has received support from anecdotal and fictitious accounts of athletes who have experienced similar reactions upon retirement (Bouton, 1970; Deford, 1981; Kahn, 1973). However, the concept of social death has also received considerable criticism. For example, Blinde and Greendorfer (1985) argue that, though the depictions of athletic retirement as social death are poignant and dramatic, the thanatological perspective may be an excessively negative characterization of career termination. In addition, Lerch (1982) questions the generality of social death beyond the few dramatic anecdotal cases. He bases this concern on data collected from a large sample of former professional baseball players (Lerch, 1981). The findings of this study indicate that not one of the athletes made reference to death of any sort.

Social gerontology. This perspective emphasizes aging and considers life satisfaction as being dependent upon characteristics of the sports experience. It has been suggested that four social gerontological approaches are most appropriate to the study of retirement from sports (Greendorfer & Blinde, 1985).

Disengagement theory (Cummings, Dean, Newell, & McCaffrey, 1960) posits that society and the person withdraw for the good of both, enabling younger people to enter the work force and for the retired individuals to enjoy their remaining years. Activity theory (Havighurst & Albrecht, 1953) maintains that lost roles are exchanged for new ones, so that a person’s overall activity level is sustained. Continuity theory (Atchley, 1980) suggests that, if people have varied roles, the time and energy from the previous role can be re-allocated to the remaining roles. Finally, social breakdown theory (Kuypers & Bengston, 1973) proposes that retirement becomes associated with negative evaluation, which causes individuals to withdraw from the activity and internalize the negative evaluation. Rosenberg (1981) indicates that each of these theories has value in expanding the understanding of retirement from sports.

Despite the intuitive appeal of the social gerontology perspectives, they have been criticized as inadequate when applied to athletic retirement. Greendorfer and Blinde (1985) indicate that there is no empirical support for the relationship between sport-related factors and adjustment to retirement. Specifically, Lerch (1981) tested continuity theory on a sample of professional baseball players and found that continuity factors were not associated with post-retirement adjustment. Similar findings were reported by Arviko (1976) and Reynolds (1981) in their studies of professional athletes.

Termination as transition. Another criticism of both thanatology and social gerontology views is that they consider retirement as a singular, abrupt event (Blinde & Greendorfer, 1985). In contrast, other researchers characterize retirement as a transition or process rather than a discrete event which involves development through life (Carp, 1972; Taylor, 1972). Greendorfer and Blinde (1985) assert that the emphasis from this perspective is on the continuation rather than cessation of behaviors, the gradual alteration rather than relinquishment of goals and interests, and the emergence of few difficulties in adjustment. Furthermore, data collected from former collegiate athletes supports their view of career termination as transition.

The earliest view of athletic retirement as transition was delineated by Hill and Lowe (1974). These researchers briefly applied Sussman’s (1971) analytic model of the sociological study of retirement to termination from sport. Sussman, in his multidimensional conceptualization, asserts that perceptions about retirement will be influenced by the following factors: (1) individual, e.g., motives, values, goals, problem solving skills; (2) situational, e.g., circumstances of retirement, pre-retirement planning, retirement income; (3) structural, e.g., social class, marital status, availability of social systems; (4) social, e.g., family, friends, extended social support; and (5) boundary constraints, e.g., societal definitions, economic cycles, employer attitudes. Schlossberg (1981) offered a similar model that emphasizes athletes’ perceptions of the transition, characteristics of the pre- and post-transition environments, and the attributes of the individual in their roles in the adaptation to the transition.

Hopson and Adams (1977) proposed a seven-step model of transition that is similar to the grieving process: (1) immobilization, i.e., shock from the event; (2) minimization, i.e., negative emotions associated with a loss are downplayed; (3) self-doubt, in which self-esteem is threatened and depression may ensue; (4) letting go, where the individual works through feelings of loss, anger, and disappointment; (5) testing out, when groundwork for a new direction is laid; (6) searching for meaning, where the individual gains perspective on the difficulties of the earlier stages; and (7) internalization, when this insight is accepted and the transition is complete.

Kubler-Ross’s human grieving model. In a similar fashion, the psychosocial process that athletes experience during career termination may be conceptualized within the framework of the human grieving model proposed by Kubler-Ross (1969). She has defined five distinct sequential stages in the grieving process which she found to be almost universal in her grief counseling experience: (1) denial against the initial trauma; (2) anger about the perceived injustice and lack of control; (3) bargaining to delay the inevitable; (4) depression over acceptance of the loss; and (5) full acceptance and a re-orientation toward the future.

Previous research has demonstrated the value of applying this model to employment issues (Winegardner, Simonetti, & Nykodym, 1984). This grieving model has also proven to be a useful means by which the experiences of the terminated athlete may be understood (Ogilvie & Howe, 1986; Wolff & Lester, 1989).

Causes of Career Termination Among Athletes

The causes of termination of an athletic career are found most frequently to be a function of three factors: Chronological age, deselection, and the effects of injury. As these major factors are examined, an attempt will be made to clarify their psychological, social, and physical ramifications in the career termination process. In addition, these factors will be scrutinized in terms of how they interact in the emergence of a crisis in the process of career termination.

Chronological age. Age is typically considered to be a primary cause of career termination. Anecdotal accounts of former elite athletes underscore the importance of age in career termination (Kahn, 1971; Kramer, 1969). Empirical research has also supported this relationship. For example, in a study of former Yugoslavian professional soccer players, 27% indicated that they were forced to retire because of their age (Mihovilovic, 1968). In addition, a study examining retired boxers reported similar findings (Weinberg & Arond, 1952). Also, Svoboda and Vanek (1982) showed that 13% of Czechoslavian national team athletes terminated their careers because of age. Allison and Meyer (1988) found that 10% of their sample of female tennis professionals retired due to age.

The age of the athletes as contributors to career termination have physiological and psychological implications. Perhaps the most significant is the physiological influence of age. In particular, athletes’ ability to compete at the elite level is largely a function of maintaining their physical capabilities at a commensurate level. Relevant physical attributes include strength, endurance, flexibility, coordination, physical composition. Unfortunately, a natural part of the maturation process is the slow deterioration of these attributes (Fisher & Conlee, 1979). Some aspects of this process may be slowed through intensive physical conditioning, experience, and motivation (Mihovilovic, 1968; Svoboda & Vanek, 1982). However, others, such as the ability to execute fine motor skills or changes in body composition, are not considered to be remediable.

These changes have implications for both young and old elite athletes. For athletes engaged in sports such as gymnastics and figure skating, the physical changes that accompany puberty, such as height and weight gain, can literally make it impossible for them to execute skills that were previously routine, thus contributing to the premature conclusion of their careers. It should be noted that, in response to these changes and their debilitating effects on performance, young athletes are most vulnerable to chemical remedies and eating disorders (Thornton, 1990). Similarly, among older athletes, loss of muscle mass or agility may contribute to career termination from sports such as football, tennis, and basketball (Fisher & Conlee, 1979).

Age also has psychological components in its influence on career termination. In particular, as suggested by the findings of Werthner and Orlick (1986), as athletes become older, they may lose their motivation to train and compete, and they may conclude that they have reached their competitive goals. In addition, as the athletes mature, their values may change. Svoboda and Vanek (1982) found that the values of Czechoslovakian world-class athletes shifted their priorities away from a self-focus involving winning and traveling toward an other-focus with an emphasis on family and friends.

Deselection. One of the most significant contributors to the incidence of difficulties in the career termination of athletes is the harsh deselection process that occurs at every level of competitive sports (Svoboda & Vanek, 1982). Unlike other areas of life in which people may continue to function regardless of the level of competence, sports rely on the Darwinian philosophy of “survival of the fittest” that places great value on the individuals who survive, but pays little attention to those who are deselected (Ogilvie & Howe, 1982).

Furthermore, this same Darwinian philosophy prevails throughout high school, university, elite-amateur, and professional sport and the current deselection process is a natural consequence of such a philosophy. The deselection process is clearly illustrated with statistics indicating the reality of attrition factors that operate within the competitive sports world, i.e., the proportion of athletes who successfully ascend succeeding rungs of the competitive ladder. For example, it is estimated that 5% of high school football players received university scholarships and, of these, only 1% have an opportunity to play in National Football League (Ogilvie & Howe, 1986). Similar statistics are found in basketball (Ogilvie & Howe, 1982). Add to this the fact that the average professional career span of basketball and football players is under five years (Ogilvie & Howe, 1986). From this perspective, to represent a career in professional football or basketball as a viable option for any child appears to be the height of deceit. As a result, it is important that the ramifications for those who have been deselected are explored, particularly those who remain committed to participation.

To date, the only study that has specifically looked at the role of deselection among elite-amateur and professional athletes was conducted by Mihovilovic (1968). In his study, 7% of the Yugoslavian professional soccer players polled indicated that they were forced out by younger players. However, as will be discussed later, the theoretical and empirical evidence suggests that career termination difficulties are more likely to occur among these groups of athletes. As a consequence, it may be reasonable to assume that deselection is a significant issue for these athletes at the highest rung of the competitive ladder.

Injury. National figures have estimated that, in any given year, between three and five million recreational and competitive athletes experience a sports-related injury (Kraus & Conroy, 1984). Due to the dramatic incidence of injury, there has been a significant increase in psychosocial research directed at gaining greater insight into causal factors associated with injury (Andersen & Williams, 1988). Some of the most important contributions have come from seeking answers to such questions as: Are there injury-prone athletes?; what is the relationship between injury and other life crises?; what can the study of injuries contribute to our understanding of adherence issues in rehabilitation?; and, finally, what role does injury play in the career termination of athletes? The quest for answers to these and other important questions is providing an increased understanding of the complexity of the problem of sports injuries (Duda, Smart, & Tappe, 1989; Henschen, 1986; May, et al., 1989; Rotella & Heyman, 1986).

A variety of writers have suggested that injuries may result in serious distress manifested in depression, substance abuse, and suicidal ideation and attempts (Ogilvie & Howe, 1982; Rotella, 1984; Werthner & Orlick). Furthermore, it is believed that career-ending injuries may cause athletes to experience identity crises (Elkin, 1981), social withdrawal (Lewis-Griffith, 1982), and fear, anxiety, and loss of self-esteem (Rotella & Heyman, 1984). Research has shown that injuries are a significant cause of career termination. In particular, Mihovilovic (1968) reported that 32% of the Yugoslavian professional soccer players questioned indicated that sport-related injuries were the cause of their career termination. Additionally, Werthner and Orlick (1986) found that 14% of a sample of 28 Olympic-caliber Canadian athletes were forced to retire due to injury. Also, Svoboda and Vanek (1982) in their study of Czechoslovakian national team members, indicated that 24% retired because of injury. Similar findings were reported by Weinberg and Arond (1952) and Hare (1971) in their investigations of former world-class professional boxers. In addition, 15% of the female tennis professionals studied by Allison and Meyer (1988) stated that they were forced to retire due to injury.

Perhaps the most significant factor related to injury to elite athletes that affects career termination is that elite athletes perform at such a high level that even a small reduction in physical capabilities may be sufficient to make them no longer competitive at that level. As a consequence, an injury need not be serious to have dramatic impact on athletes’ performances and, in turn, their careers. Moreover, when serious injury does occur, the considerable time and effort required for rehabilitation acts as a contributor to career termination (Feltz, 1986; Heil, 1988; Samples, 1987). This process not only affects the athletes’ return to their previous level, but also inhibits the normal improvement that occurs during the course of an athletic career. This event further increases the likelihood that the injury will be career-ending.

Free choice. An oft-neglected cause of career termination is that of the free choice of the athlete (Blinde & Greendorfer, 1985; Coakley, 1983). The impetus to end a career freely is certainly the most desirable of the causal factors. Reasons why athletes might freely choose to retire may be a function of personal, social, or sport-related issues. On a personal level, athletes might wish to assume a new direction in life (Werthner & Orlick, 1986), seek out new challenges and sources of satisfaction in other areas of life, or have a change in values (Greendorfer & Blinde, 1986; Svoboda & Vanek, 1982). Socially, athletes may want to spend more time with family and friends, or immerse themselves in a new social milieu (Svoboda & Vanek, 1982). In terms of the sport itself, athletes might simply find that sports participation no longer provides the enjoyment and fulfillment that it once did (Werthner & Orlick, 1986).

There is some empirical evidence for this particular cause of career termination. In their interviews with Olympic-caliber Canadian athletes, Werthner and Orlick (1986) indicate that 42% of the ex-competitors retired for reasons that were within their control. However, in the Mihovilovic (1968) study, only 4% of athletes freely chose to end their careers. No research has examined this issue among scholastic and collegiate populations.

Other causes of career termination. In addition to causes discussed above, which have been found to be the predominant reasons for career termination, other factors have been either suggested or reported to also contribute to retirement. These causes include family reasons (Mihovilovic, 1968), problems with coaches or the sports organization (Mihovilovic, 1968; Werthner & Orlick, 1986), and financial difficulties (Werthner & Orlick, 1986).

Evidence of Trauma in Career Termination

Despite the extensive amount of literature on the issue of career termination, there is still considerable debate about the proportion of athletes who experience distress due to retirement and how the distress is manifested. Some early writers such as Sussman (1972) believed professional athletes did not experience difficulties because they knew their sports careers would be short and they prepared appropriately. In addition, he asserted that most professional athletes were assured of second occupations upon retirement. Some more recent researchers, both within and outside or sports, draw similar conclusions. For example, outside of sport, Atchley (1980) and George (1980) suggest that retirement seems to have little influence on personal adjustment and self-identity, and most people possess the necessary coping skills to overcome any problems that arise.

In the sports domain, others make similar arguments (Blinde & Greendorfer, 1985; Coakley, 1983; Greendorfer & Blinde, 1985). These investigators base their judgments predominantly on research at the scholastic and collegiate levels. In fact, substantial research has found little evidence of distress due to career termination among these athlete populations. Specifically, several studies of high school athletes indicate that, compared to nonathletes, they are more likely to attend college, obtain undergraduate and graduate degrees, achieve greater occupational status, and earn higher incomes (Otto & Alwin, 1977; Phillips & and Schafer, 1971). In addition, Sands (1978), in a study of outstanding male scholastic athletes, found that the importance of sports to these athletes declined following high school and they defined their sports participation as a passing phase of life. Sands concluded that these athletes’ departure from scholastic sports was not accompanied by trauma or identity crises.

Less clear findings were reported from research involving collegiate athletes. Snyder and Baber (1979) found that there were no differences between former athletes and nonathletes in terms of life satisfaction, attitudes toward work. Also, the former athletes effectively altered their interests and activities upon graduation. As a result, their results do not support the argument that disengagement from collegiate sports is stressful for former athletes. Greendorfer and Blinde (1985) also judged that there were few adjustment difficulties among a large sample of male and female ex-college competitors. In support of their position, they indicated that 90% of the respondents looked forward to life after college and about 55% were very or extremely satisfied when their athletic careers ended. However, the authors de-emphasize the finding that one-third of their sample indicated that they were very or extremely unhappy with their retirement and that 38% of the males and 50% of the females responded that they very much or extremely missed sport involvement.

Curtis and Ennis (1988) found few indications of distress among a sample of junior-elite Canadian hockey players and a matched sample of nonathletes. Specifically, there were no differences in life satisfaction, or employment or marital status. Moreover, though 50% of the athletes indicated that retirement was difficult and 75% experienced a feeling of loss after leaving hockey, these perceptions did not appear to significantly impact the athletes at a practical level including educational, occupational, and family pursuits. Based on these results, the authors conclude that these finding reflect “a brief lament at having to give up hockey, and an occasional longing to relive the competition, camaraderie, and excitement” (p. 102).

Coakley (1983), in a review of relevant literature, states that “the transition out of intercollegiate sport seems to go hand-in-hand with the transition from college to work careers, new friendships, marriage, parenthood, and other roles normally associated with early adulthood” (p. 4). He further argues that the perception that distress is common is based upon the biased sampling of male professional athletes participating in spectator sports (Greendorfer & Blinde, 1985) and accounts in the popular media (Coakley, 1983).

At the same time, another group of researchers have developed an opposing view. Specifically, career termination may cause distress that manifests itself in a wide variety of dysfunctional ways. The majority of those who hold this view have focused on elite-amateur and professional athletes. Anecdotal accounts of athletes with psychological difficulties include financial difficulties and drug abuse (Newman, 1991), attempted suicide (Beisser, 1967; Hare, 1971; Vinnai, 1973), and criminal activity (Hare, 1971; McPherson, 1980).

At a scholarly level, it has been asserted that retiring individuals experience a loss of status, identity crisis, and a loss of direction and focus (Ball, 1976; Pollack, 1956; Tuckman & Lorge, 1953). In addition, Ogilvie and Howe (1982) report experiences of working with athletes suffering from alcoholism and acute depression.

There is also some empirical evidence for the occurrence of distress. For example, Mihovilovic (1968) reported that the coaches and management of Yugoslavian professional soccer players believed that retired players drank excessively, resorted to illegal activities, were in a serious psychic state, and had significant fears about the future. In questioning the players themselves, he found that 38% smoked cigarettes more and 16% drank more after their careers ended. Arviko (1976) also found alcoholism to be present in his study of former professional baseball players.

In addition, Hallden (1965) found that 45% of retired Swedish athletes who were interviewed were concerned about their emotional adjustment following the end of their careers. Also, Weinberg and Arond (1952) reported that retired professional boxers experienced severe emotional distress after leaving the boxing world. Unfortunately, neither study specified the nature of the emotional difficulties experienced by the athletes.

However, as indicated previously, one criticism of this research is that it is biased toward professional male athletes in team sports. In response to this issue, Allison and Meyer (1988) studied the effects of career termination on a sample of 20 female tennis professionals. Their findings indicate that 50% of the athletes perceived retirement as a relief, an opportunity to re-establish more traditional lifestyles, and felt a sense of satisfaction about their competitive careers. Furthermore, it should be noted that 75% remained actively involved in tennis as coaches or in business. The authors conclude that, rather than the social death concept suggested by Rosenberg (1984) and Lerch (1984), retirement may be considered social rebirth (Coakley, 1983). However, the researchers pay little attention to the finding that 30% of the athletes expressed feelings of isolation and loss of identity upon retirement and 10%, who retired unexpectedly due to injury, felt that they had failed to achieve their competitive goals.

Factors Contributing to Crises of Career Termination

In considering the potential for a crisis following career termination, it is important to note that ending a career will not necessarily cause distress (Coakley, 1983; Greendorfer & Blinde, 1985). Rather, there are a number of factors that make individuals, including athletes, more vulnerable to difficulties in the transition process (Rosenkoetter, 1985).

Elite athletes, when faced with the end of their careers, are confronted by a wide range of psychological, social, and financial/occupational threats. The extent of these threats will dictate the severity of the crisis they experience as a function of their career termination.

Self-identity. Most fundamental of the psychological issues that influence adaptation to career termination is the degree to which athletes define their self-worth in terms of their participation and achievement in sports (Greendorfer, 1985; Ogilvie & Howe, 1982; Svoboda & Vanek, 1982). Elite athletes who have been immersed in their sport to the exclusion of other activities will have a self-identity that is composed almost exclusively of their sports involvement (McPherson, 1980; Strieb & Schneider, 1971). This notion is derived from the early work of the Ego Psychologists (Ausubel & Kirk, 1977) and the more recent considerations involving self-esteem and self-identity (Wolff & Lester, 1989). Furthermore, without the input from their sport, these athletes have little to support their sense of self-worth (Pearson & Petitpas, 1990).

Athletes who are so heavily invested in their sports participation may be characterized as “unidimensional” people, in which their self-concept does not extend beyond the limits of their sport (Ogilvie & Howe, 1982). Moreover, these athletes often have provided themselves with few options in which they can invest their ego in other activities that can bring them similar satisfaction and ego-gratification (McPherson, 1980). In support of this position, Erikson (1959) and Marcia (1966) suggest that the search for self-identity requires the examination of many potential alternatives as adulthood approaches. However, the structure of elite sports seldom provide athletes with sufficient time or opportunities for exploring options.

Athletes in this situation typically experience career termination as something very important that is lost and can never be recovered (Werthner & Orlick, 1986). Furthermore, the finality of the loss seems impossible to bear and herein lies a significant source of the distress associated with career termination.

Perceptions of control. Exacerbating this distress is the profound lack of control that athletes have with respect to the end of their careers (McPherson, 1980). Consideration of the three primary causes of career termination discussed above, i.e., age, deselection, and injury, indicates that all are occurrences outside the control of the individual athlete. As a result, this absence of control related to an event so intrinsically connected to athletes’ self-identities creates a situation that is highly aversive and threatening (Blinde & Greendorfer, 1985; Szinovacz, 1987).

Strong empirical evidence supports the importance of control in career termination. Mihovilovic (1968) reports that 95% of the athletes attributed causes to the end of their careers that were beyond their control and 52% retired suddenly. Additionally, 29% of the Olympic-caliber Canadian athletes experienced a decrease in their sense of personal control following retirement (Werthner & Orlick, 1986). Similar results were found by Svoboda and Vanek (1982).

Though this issue has not been addressed extensively in the sports literature. there is considerable research from the areas of clinical, social, and physiological psychology that demonstrates that perceptions of control are related to many areas of human functioning including sense of self-competence (Deci, 1980; White, 1959), the interpretation of self (Kelly, 1967) and other (Jones & Davis, 1965) information. In addition, perceptions of control may influence individuals’ feelings of helplessness (Friedlander, 1984-85), motivation (Wood & Bandura, 1989), physiological changes (Tache & Selye, 1985) and self-confidence (Bandura & Adams, 1977). Also, control has been associated with a variety of pathologies including depression (Alloy & Abramson, 1982), anxiety (Garfield & Bergin, 1978), substance abuse (Shiffman, 1982), and dissociative disorders (Putnam, 1989).

Social identity. It has been suggested that retired individuals who experience the most doubt and anxiety are those who feel that they are no longer important to others (Sheldon, 1975). Pollack (1956) and Tuckman and Lorge (1953) also associate retirement with a loss of status and social identity. Certainly, due to the high profile of elite athletes today, this issue is a significant concern for them (Gorbett, 1985). McPherson (1980) suggests that athletes define themselves in terms of their popular status. However, this recognition typically lasts only a few years and disappears following retirement. As a result, athletes may question their self-worth and feel the need to regain the lost public esteem.

Only one study to date addressed this issue specifically. Arviko (1976) found that former professional baseball players who had a substantial number of social roles during their competitive careers were better adjusted. It is also possible to infer support for this contention from other research. Specifically, Haerle (1975) reported that professional baseball players who continued their educations or held meaningful jobs during the off-season had better occupational adjustment following career termination. In addition, Mihovilovic (1968) reported that if the athletes did not plan for another career following termination, the experience could be painful. Similar findings were described by Werthner and Orlick (1986). This educational and occupational pre-retirement planning may be considered other social roles for the athletes. As a result, they possessed roles that they could assume upon career termination.

Social support. Due to the total psychological and social immersion in the sports world, athletes’ primary social support system will often be derived from their athletic involvement (Coakley, 1983; Rosenfeld, Richman, & Hardy, 1989). In other words, the vast majority of their friends, acquaintances, and other associations are found in the sports environment and their social activities revolve primarily around their athletic life (Botterill, 1990; Svoboda & Vanek, 1982).

When the athletes’ careers end, they are no longer an integral part of the team or organization. As a consequence, the social support that they received previously may no longer be present. Moreover, due to their restricted social identity and the absence of alternative social support systems, they may become isolated, lonely, and unsustained socially, thus leading to significant distress (Greendorfer, 1985; McPherson, 1980). In support of this notion, the findings of Remer, Tongate, and Watson (1978) suggest that a support system based entirely in the sports setting will limit athletes’ ability to acquire alternative roles and assume a non-sport identity.

The smoothness of the career transition process may also depend on the amount of social support the athletes receive (Coakley, 1983; Svoboda & Vanek, 1982). Werthner and Orlick (1986) report that those Olympic-caliber Canadian athletes who received considerable support from family and friends had an easier transition. In addition, the athletes who had the most difficulties indicated that they felt alone as their careers ended and expressed the desire for support during that period.

Mihovilovic (1968) also demonstrated that social support was an important part of the career termination process. Specifically, he found that, according to the Yugoslavian soccer players they surveyed, 75% of their friends were from their sports club. Also, 60% of the athletes indicated that these friendships were maintained, but 34% said that the friendships ended after they retired. Moreover, 32% of the respondents stated that their circle of friends diminished following career termination. Additionally, Reynolds (1981) reported that, among a sample of retired professional football players, those athletes who received support from close friends and relatives demonstrated the highest level of satisfaction in their current jobs.

Gorbett (1985) also recommends that, in addition to emotional support from family and friends, athletes must receive institutional support. However, in one study (Svoboda & Vanek, 1982), the athletes expressed considerable dissatisfaction over the support they received from their organization during the retirement process. Schlossberg and Leibowitz (1980) found that employer support was critical for the transition to retirement outside of sport. Furthermore, Schlossberg (1981) and Manion (1976) suggest that institutional and interpersonal support can best be provided through pre-retirement counselling programs.

Pre-retirement planning. A common theme that emerges from the literature on retirement outside of sports is the resistance on the part of individuals to plan for their lives after the end of their careers (Avery & Jablin, 1988; Chartland & Lent, 1987; Rowen & Wilks, 1987; Thorn, 1983). This type of denial may be even more threatening for elite athletes since the immediate rewards are so attractive and the discrepancy between their current lifestyles and that which might occur upon career termination is significant. As a consequence, any acknowledgement or consideration that their athletic careers might end would be a source of significant anxiety, thus warranting avoidance of the issue altogether. Yet, it is likely that this denial of the inevitable will have serious, potentially negative, and extended implications for the athletes.

It has been widely asserted that an essential component of effective career transition is sound post-athletic career planning (Coakley, 1983; Hill & Lowe, 1974; Pearson & Petitpas, 1990). Substantial research is supportive of this position. Haerle (1975) reported that 75% of the professional baseball players he surveyed did not acknowledge their post-career lives until the end of their careers. He also found that the level of educational attainment, which may be considered a form of pre-retirement planning, was a significant predictor of post-athletic occupational status. Arviko (1976) and Lerch (1981) reported similar findings in their studies of professional baseball and football players, respectively.

Svoboda and Vanek (1982) showed that 41% of the Czechoslovakian national team athletes admitted that they had paid no attention to the reality that their career would end and 31% began to consider the future only immediately before termination. Similar comments were expressed by the Olympic-caliber Canadian athletes interviewed by Werthner and Orlick (1986).

In addition, research on former world-class professional boxers found a high incidence of difficulties following retirement (Hare, 1971; Weinberg & Arond, 1952). The authors conclude that, since the majority of their sample came from lower socioeconomic status environments, they lacked the education and experience to plan for the end of their careers.

Other contributing factors. The above factors have received substantial and consistent attention as potential causes of distress during career termination. In addition, a number of other factors have been suggested to contribute to this process. These variables include socioeconomic status (Hare, 1971; Weinberg & Arond, 1952), financial dependency on the sport (Lerch, 1981; McPherson, 1980; Werthner & Orlick, 1986), minority status (Blinde & Greendorfer, 1985; Hill & Lowe, 1974;), post-athletic occupational potential (Hill & Lowe, 1974; Haerle, 1975), health (Gorbett, 1985; Hill & Lowe, 1974), and marital status (Svoboda & Vanek, 1982).

Prevention and Treatment of Crises of Career Termination

The phenomenon of career termination from sports can best be understood as a complex interaction of stressors. Whether the stressors are physical, psychological, social, or educational/occupational, their effects on athletes may produce some form of distress when athletes are confronted with career termination.

The evidence to date indicates that crises due to career termination occur less often among retiring scholastic and collegiate athletes (Greendorfer & Blinde, 1985; Otto & Alwin, 1977; Phillips & Schafer, 1971; Sands, 1978) and with a greater frequency among elite amateur (Werthner & Orlick, 1986) and professional athletes (Mihovilovic, 1968; Weinberg & Arond, 1952). However, appropriate intervention will decrease the risk that athletes at any level will experience distress following career termination.

The prevention of crises of career termination is a task that is not left to a few people at a particular level of competitive sport. Rather, it is the responsibility of individuals involved at all levels and in all areas of sports including parents, educators, coaches, administrators, physicians, and psychologists (Werthner & Orlick, 1986). Moreover, participation of these people in fulfilling their roles in this process can range from the earliest stages of sports participation to the termination process itself (Pearson & Petitpas, 1990).

Early development. The often single-minded pursuit of excellence that accompanies elite sports participation has potential psychological and social dangers. As discussed above, these risks involve the development of a “unidimensional” person. The personal investment in and the pursuit of elite athletic success, though a worthy goal, may lead to a restricted development.

Though there is substantial evidence demonstrating the debilitating effects of deselection upon self-esteem among young athletes (Orlick, 1980; Scanlan, 1984; Smith et al., 1979), little consideration has been given to changing this process in a healthier direction. Most organized youth programs still appear to place the highest priority on winning.

It is important that the indoctrination of a more holistic approach to sports development begins early in the life of the athlete (Pearson & Petitpas, 1990). This perspective relies on a primary prevention model that emphasizes preventing problems prior to their occurrence. Considerable research indicates that primary preventive measures are a useful and efficient means of allocating resources (Conyne, 1987; Cowen, 1983). As a consequence, the first step in the prevention process is to engender in parents and coaches involved in youth sport a belief that long-term personal and social development is more important than short-term athletic success (Ogilvie, 1987). This view is especially relevant because it has been asserted that developing athletes must often face issues that are unique and separate from the normal requirements of development (Remer, Tongate, & Watson, 1978).

It has been further argued that high school and college athletic programs restrict opportunities for personal and social growth (Remer, Tongate, & Watson, 1978; Schafer, 1971). Significant issues in this area include the development of self- and social identities, social roles and behaviors, and social support systems. Moreover, examples of this balance not being fostered include the low graduation rates of collegiate basketball and football programs (Sherman, Weber, & Tegano, 1986). Early intervention of these areas will decrease the likelihood that the factors related to crises in career termination such as those mentioned above will contribute to distress due to career termination later in their lives.

It is also important to emphasize that these two issues, i.e., sports participation and development, are not mutually exclusive. Sports participation may, in fact, become a vehicle through which general “life” skills may be learned (Scanlan, Stein, & Ravizza, 1989). In addition, sports may be the foundation upon which children may develop the ability to take psychological and social risks in other areas of their lives. Thus, a healthy sports environment may assist athletes to become more fully integrated personally and socially, thereby enabling them to function in a more diverse variety of situations.

Prior to and during career termination. In addition to the values, beliefs, and skills that can be instilled in developing athletes, there is much that can be done with the athletes who attain elite status and are currently in the midst of elite athletic careers. As discussed earlier, recognition of the inevitability of career termination and subsequent action in preparation for that eventuality are the best courses of action (Haerle, 1975; Pearson & Petitpas, 1990; Werthner & Orlick, 1986).

Pre-retirement planning that involves reading materials and workshops (Kaminski da Rosa, 1985; Manion, 1976; Thorn, 1983; USOC, 1988) are important opportunities for elite athletes to plan for and work toward meaningful lives following career termination. In addition, effective money management and long-term financial planning will provide athletes with financial stability following the conclusion of their careers (Hill & Lowe, 1974). It should also be noted that organizational support of this goal is critical to the comfort and commitment experienced by the athletes (Gorbett, 1985; Pearson & Petitpas, 1990; Schlossberg & Leibowitz, 1980).

Therapeutically, sport psychologists may assist athletes in clarifying their values, interests, and goals. Also, they may aid the athletes in working through any emotional distress they may experience during career termination (Kubler-Ross, 1969). Specifically, they may provide the athletes with the opportunity to express feelings of doubt, concern, or frustration relative to the end of their careers (Gorbett, 1985). Also, the professional may help the athletes to explore ways of broadening their social identity and role repertoire (Ogilvie & Howe, 1982), thus taking on new, non-sport identities and experiencing feelings of value and self-worth in this new personal conception (Shaffer, 1985). Additionally, athletes may be encouraged to expand their social support system to individuals and groups outside of the sports arena (Beehr, 1986).

On a manifest level, the sport psychologist may help the athletes cope with the stress of the termination process (Gorbett, 1985). Traditional therapeutic strategies such as cognitive restructuring (Garfield & Bergin, 1978), stress management (Meichenbaum & Jaremko, 1983), and emotional expression (Yalom, 1980) may be used in this process.

Outside of sport, Brammer and Abrego (1981) offer an interactive model of coping with transition adapted from Moos and Tsu (1977). This model posits the need to intervene at a variety of levels including the appraisal process, social support systems, internal support systems, emotional and physical distress, and planning and implementing change. In addition, within sport, Wolff and Lester (1989) propose a three-stage therapeutic process comprised of listening/confrontation, cognitive therapy, and vocational guidance to aid athletes in coping with their loss of self-identity and assist them in establishing a new identity.

There has been little empirical research examining the significant factors in this process. Outside of sport, Roskin (1982) found that the implementation of a package of cognitive, affective, and social support interventions within didactic and small-group settings significantly reduced depression and anxiety among a high-stress group of individuals composed partly of retirees.

Within sport, Svoboda and Vanek (1982) studied the ability of their sample of Czechoslovakian national team members to cope with the practical and psychological stress of adjustment to their new professions. Their results indicated that 30% were able to meet the new practical demands immediately and 58% were able to adjust within three years. However, psychological adjustment took much longer: 34% adapted immediately, but 17% had not adjusted at all. These researchers also explored the predominant means of coping with career termination. They found that social support was the most important factor. Specifically, 37% indicated their family most often, followed by colleagues in their new profession (12%), friends (8%), and their coach (3%).

Avenues for Future Research

Due to the relative scarcity of systematic investigation into the area of career termination, there is considerable room for contribution to the theoretical and empirical literature. As Landers (1983) has argued, there is a significant need in sport psychology for more theory-driven study of important issues. In addition, there is a noticeable lack of empirical data to substantiate the positions held by the leading thinkers in the area. As a consequence, a program of empirical research based on a sound working model of the career termination process should be the goal.

Theoretical development. The first area of research development within the area of career termination should be in the theoretical domain. In particular, there is a need for a conceptual model specific to sports that incorporates many of the relevant issues that have been discussed in this chapter. Though, as discussed previously, attempts have been made to develop a conceptual model of career termination from work done outside of sport (Lerch, 1982; Rosenberg, 1982), these efforts have met with limited success (Blinde & Greendorfer, 1985; Greendorfer & Blinde, 1985).

It is presently suggested that an effective model must fulfill the following criteria: (1) Identify the causal factors that initiate the career termination process, e.g., age, deselection, injury; (2) Specify the factors that differentiate traumatic and healthy responses to career termination, e.g., self- and social identity, perceptions of control, pre-retirement planning; (3) Designate the tertiary factors that might mediate this effect, e.g., coping resources, social support; and (4) Indicate treatment modalities for distressful reactions to career termination.

Empirical development. Based on a conceptual model such as the one proposed above, a systematic program of research may be implemented that would progressively examine and generate data for each phase of the model. Such an organized approach would enable researchers to draw meaningful conclusions from sound theory-driven data gathering.

Pertinent empirical questions that should be considered include: (1) Does the particular cause of career termination influence the nature of the response from the athletes?; (2) What are the underlying factors relative to these causes that differentiate athletes’ responses to career termination?; (3) What are the specific factors that

mediate the nature of the response to career termination?; (4) What preventive measures will moderate the distress of career termination?; and (5) What strategies are most effective in the treatment of distress due to career termination?

In addition, there are other ancillary concerns that would be worth addressing: (1) What issues in childhood development and early sports participation will influence the career transition process?; (2) What types of changes at the development level may mitigate potential trauma in the career termination process?; (3) Are there differences in the type of sport, e.g., individual vs. team, professional vs. amateur, with respect to the athletes’ responses to career termination?; and (4) Are there gender, age, and cultural differences in athletes’ responses to career termination?

Conclusion

The purpose of this chapter was to provide an overview of relevant issues in the process of career termination among elite athletes. In addition, another objective was to discuss the factors that contribute to traumatic reactions to career termination. Lastly, a goal was to demonstrate the importance of further understanding of career termination and its influence on athletes. However, as mentioned earlier, despite its apparent significance, some investigators have challenged its seriousness. For example, Coakley (1983) argues that transition from high school football is similar to other forms of retirement and, as a result, not worthy of special concern. Moreover, Greensdorfer and Blinde (1985) assert that only 17% of their sample of retired collegiate athletes were unsatisfied with themselves after retirement. Furthermore, they question the generalizability of conclusions made about career termination from a sample composed primarily of male professional athletes in spectator sports. As a consequence, they conclude that the magnitude of the problem is over-rated. Eitzen and Sage (1982) further question the wisdom of basing concerns about the trauma of career termination on the 2% of the athletic population who are professionals.

However, it is presently suggested that these contentions do not adequately argue against the importance of understanding career termination. Specifically, Coakley (1983) and Greendorfer et al. (1985) are not drawing from a truly elite sample of athletes. Also, as discussed previously, they downplay their findings which suggest a meaningful number of athletes who indicate that they did experience following career termination. Additionally, termination from high and collegiate sports is still within the normal developmental process and, consequently, should not be generalized to older athletes. As a result, it would not be expected that these athletes would present considerable trauma upon the termination of their careers. In addition, Greendorfer et al. and Eitzen et al. indicate that if only a small portion of the population experience distress, then the issue is not worth considering. To the contrary, fortunately, in our society, provision of study and assistance is not based upon having a “sufficient” number of people suffering. Moreover, as is often the case, the significant visibility of this select group of elite athletes and the exposure of these issues to the general population may have a positive influence on other individuals faced with similar difficulties.

Based on this review, it is clear that career termination is an important issue worthy of study. However, though there has been considerable discussion about career termination among professionals in the field, there has been relatively little systematic exploration of the area. It is hoped that the present integration of current information will act as impetus for future theoretical and empirical inquiry.

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CAREER

TRANSITION AMONG ELITE ATHLETES:

IS THERE LIFE AFTER SPORTS?

Jim Taylor & Bruce Ogilvie

During the course of athletes’ careers, the primary focus of sports administrators, coaches, and sport psychologists is on assisting athletes to maximize their competitive performances. This emphasis is expected since athletes are their responsibilities during their competitive tenures and, when the athletes leave, their attention has to turn to the current athletes under their charge. This system, unfortunately, tends to neglect what happens to athletes when they retire and must make the transition to another career and lifestyle.

Fortunately, there has been a growing interest at many levels of sport and among many groups involved in sport in the issue of what has become known as “career transition” (Baillie & Danish, 1992). Popular accounts of this issue have provided anecdotal depictions of professional athletes adjusting to life after sport (Hoffer, 1990; Putnam, 1991). These have most often recounted difficulties that athletes have had following the conclusion of their careers (Bradley, 1976; Kahn, 1972; Morrow, 1978), with a few exceptions of athletes who had successful transition (Batten, 1979; White, 1974). These accounts suggest that athlete retirement is a pervasive problem, but the accuracy of these observations comes into question as these writings lack the ability to generalize to the larger population of athletes experiencing the end of their sports careers.

HISTORY AND BACKGROUND

It was only two decades ago that the issue of career transition gained the attention of sport psychologists. Leading professionals in the field in Europe such as Miroslav Vanek, Paul Kunath, Ferruccio Antonelli, Lars-Erik Unestahl and John Kane who were consultants for their various national teams began to discuss this issue, describe experiences they had in their work with athletes, and express concern about their adjustment to a life after sport. Additionally, the media (Bradley, 1976; Kahn, 1972; Plimpton, 1977) and early scholarly, though anecdotal, writings (Broom, 1982; McPherson, 1980; Ogilvie & Howe, 1986) brought to light some of the significant concerns associated with career transition among athletes. Soon after these preliminary discussions began, research emerged investigating the issues raised by these professionals (Haerle, 1975; Hill & Lowe, 1974). These researchers studied the impact of career transition on athletes in different sports and at various levels of competition.

Professionals from Eastern Europe were the leaders in these investigations. The nature of their sports organizations made the study of career transition more conducive to this process. Eastern European nations appeared to be accepting more responsibility for preparing their national athletes for a career beyond sport. The team psychologists in these countries typically had long-term relationships with the team members beginning early in their athletic development and enduring throughout their athletic careers.

Also, the centralized structure of the Eastern European sports organizations allowed for educational and vocational training to be an integral part of the developmental process of athletes. Many of these athletes studied in fields that were related to sports participation such as coaching, exercise physiology, and physical therapy, thus enabling them to combine their love of sport with a professional career after retirement.

In addition, European elite athletes typically had a longer competitive history due to population size and the relatively limited pool of talent from which they had to draw. Outside of the former Soviet Union, most of these countries did not have the vast talent pool available in the United States, resulting in European athletes competing longer and retiring at a later age.

The decentralized nature of sports in the United States has made it more difficult to examine the adjustment difficulties of elite athletes and to address them in an organized manner. Unlike other countries which often have national training centers for elite sports preparation, the primary development pools leading to most world-class and professional competition in the United States are the collegiate athletic programs and private sports clubs such those found in swimming, figure skating and gymnastics.

The opportunity to study and address career transition needs of elite athletes has proven to be difficult for a variety of reasons. Typically, trained professionals such as sport psychologists and career counselors have had limited contact with athletes during their competitive careers much less after they leave their sport. Until recently, sport administrators had little concern for athletes after they retire and sport psychologists rarely had the occasion to evaluate the need for such services to elite athletes. Additionally, the contact time that professionals had with athletes was not conducive to exploration of post-career concerns. For example, sport psychologists usually work with elite athletes at training camps and competitions, neither of which provide opportunities for discussion of career transition issues.

Divergent perspectives held by administrators and coaches with respect to career transition may also have hindered further exploration of these concerns. For example, head coaches may sabotage career counseling programs because they interpret them as distracting the athletes from their primary focus of winning.

Only in recent years have the United States Olympic Committee, the individual NGB’s, and Sport Canada established on-going career counseling programs available to all Olympic-caliber athletes (Sinclair & Orlick, 1993; USOC, 1988).

Professional sports teams also appear to be responding to these concerns. The players’ associations of the National Football League (NFL) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) have recently offered career counseling services to their members. However, the extent of use by the athletes is unclear. In fact, research indicates that relatively few elite athlete consider post-athletic career concerns (Arviko, 1976; Haerle, 1975; Lerch, 1981). It may be that the high salaries accorded these athletes may provide them with a false sense of security.

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON CAREER TRANSITION

Since the onset of interest in the area of career transition for elite athletes, attempts have been made to provide a formal conceptualization of this process. Most investigators have drawn upon retirement research outside of sport and tried to apply these models to the concerns of athletes.

Thanatology. Rosenberg (1982) suggested that retirement from sports is akin to social death, which is characterized as social isolation and rejection from the former in-group. This explanation has received support from anecdotal and fictitious accounts of athletes who have experienced similar reactions upon retirement (Bouton, 1970; Deford, 1981; Kahn, 1972). However, the concept of social death has also been widely criticized and there has been little empirical support for this position (Blinde & Greendorfer, 1985; Lerch, 1982).

Social gerontology. This view focuses on aging and considers life satisfaction as being dependent upon characteristics of the sports experience. Four social gerontological perspectives have been offered as most applicable to sports retirement (Greendorfer & Blinde, 1985; Rosenberg, 1982).

Disengagement theory (Cummings, Dean, Newell, & McCaffrey, 1960) posits that the person and society withdraw for the good of both, enabling younger people to enter the work force and for the retired individuals to enjoy their remaining years. Activity theory (Havighurst & Albrecht, 1953) suggests that lost roles are replaced by new ones, so that people may maintain their overall level of activity. Continuity theory (Atchley, 1980) states that, if people have different roles, the time and energy from the prior role may be re-allocated to the remaining roles. Finally, social breakdown theory (Kuypers & Bengston, 1973) proposes that retirement becomes associated with negative evaluation, which causes individuals to withdraw from the activity and internalize the negative evaluation.

Despite their intuitive appeal, these views have been criticized as inadequate when applied to athletic retirement. Specifically, research by Arviko (1976), Greendorfer and Blinde (1985), and Lerch (1982) provides little support for any of the social gerontological approaches.

Retirement as transition. A criticism of both thanatology and social gerontology theories is that they view retirement as a singular, abrupt event (Blinde & Greendorfer, 1985). In contrast, other researchers characterize retirement as a transition or process which involves development through life (Carp, 1972; Taylor, 1972). Greendorfer and Blinde (1985) suggest that the focus should be on the continuation rather than cessation of behaviors, the gradual alteration rather than relinquishment of goals and interests, and the emergence of few difficulties in adjustment. Data collected from former collegiate athletes support their view of retirement as transition (Blinde & Greendorfer, 1985; Greendorfer & Blinde, 1985).

Building on this perspective, theorists have offered models of career transition considering the specific needs and concerns of the athletic population. Hill and Lowe (1974) applied Sussman’s (1971) analytic model to sport which stressed the roles that personal, social, and environmental factors have in the transition process. Schlossberg (1981) offered a similar model that emphasized athletes’ perceptions of the transition, characteristics of the pre- and post-transition environments, and the attributes of the individuals in their roles in the adaptation to the transition. Both Hopson and Adams (1977) and Kubler-Ross (1969) offer models that describe the steps through which athletes progress after leaving their sport with a particular emphasis on the emotional implications of career transition.

CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF CAREER TRANSITION

In order to continue the evolutionary process in our understanding of career transition among elite athletes, Taylor and Ogilvie (1994) developed a conceptual model that attempted to integrate the theoretical and empirical investigations to date by incorporating aspects of prior theorizing, taking into account the findings of previous empirical research, and considering their own applied work with athletes in career transition. What emerged was a model that addresses all relevant concerns from the initiation of career transition to its ultimate consequences.

STAGE 1: CAUSES OF CAREER TERMINATION

The causes for termination of an athletic career are found most frequently to be a function of four factors: Age, deselection, the consequences of an injury, and free choice. These factors influence a variety of psychological, social, and physical issues that contribute to the likelihood of distress due to career transition.

Age

Age, or more specifically, the decline in performance due to advancing age, is a primary cause of retirement. Anecdotal accounts of former elite athletes underscore the importance of age in retirement (Kahn, 1972; Kramer, 1969). Empirical evidence has also shown that a substantial proportion of elite athletes retire because of decreased performance associated with age (Allison & Meyer, 1988; Mihovilovic, 1968; Svoboda & Vanek, 1982; Weinberg & Arond, 1952).

The influence of age on career termination is a function of physiological, psychological, and social factors and has significant ramifications for both young and older athletes. For athletes competing in sports where high-level performance occurs during adolescence, career termination may result while they are still teenagers. This will be particularly evident for those sports such as gymnastics in which puberty, and the accompanying physical changes, can restrict rather than contribute to motor development and performance.

Similar difficulties with older athletes are also evident in sports such as baseball, football, and tennis that require size, strength, and precise motor skills. Athletes performing at the elite level is largely due to their ability to maintain their physical capabilities at a competitive level. Athletes can often compete effectively into their 30’s or later. However, due to the natural physical deterioration that accompanies approaching middle age, athletic performance will decrease commensurately (Fisher & Conlee, 1979).

Age also has psychological influences on retirement. As athletes become older, they may lose their motivation to train and compete, and conclude that they have reached their competitive goals (Werthner & Orlick, 1986). Athletes’ values may also change. Svoboda and Vanek (1982) found that Czechoslovakian world-class athletes shifted their priorities away from a self-focus involving winning and traveling toward an other-focus with an emphasis on family and friends.

Finally, age possesses a social element. “Aging” athletes, particularly those whose performances begin to diminish, can be devalued by fans, management, media, and other athletes. This loss of status further contributes to the difficulties that may arise in the career transition process. Sinclair and Orlick (1993) reported that elite-amateur athletes who retired due to declining competitive performance tended to have the most difficulties with loss of status and a lack of self-confidence.

Deselection

One of the most significant contributors to the occurrence of career termination is the nature of the selection process that occurs at every level of competitive sports. This process, which follows a Darwinian “survival of the fittest” philosophy, selects out only those athletes capable of progressing to the next level of competition and disregards those who do not meet the necessary performance criteria. Organized youth programs still place the highest priority on winning and this same philosophy predominates throughout high school, university and professional sport. Data indicates that only one in five scholastic athletes receive college scholarships and only 1% of those play professionally. Moreover, the typical career length of a professional football, basketball, and baseball player is only 4-5 years (Ogilvie & Howe, 1986).

Injury

The occurrence of serious or chronic injury may force athletes to end their athletic careers. The research to date indicates that 14-32% of the athletes that were studied were forced to retire prematurely because of injury (Allison & Meyer, 1988; Hare, 1971; Svoboda & Vanek, 1982; Werthner & Orlick, 1986). Furthermore, it has been suggested that severe injuries may result in a variety of psychological difficulties including fear, anxiety, and loss of self-esteem (Rotella & Heyman, 1986), depression, and substance abuse (Ogilvie & Howe, 1986).

Injury also has significant ramifications as retired athletes consider post-sport careers. It is not uncommon for elite athletes to leave their sport permanently disabled to varying degrees. These physical disabilities can negatively impact retired athletes, producing a range of psychological and emotional problems. Iinjuries sustained during their athletic careers may also limit them in their choices of new careers.

Free choice

An often neglected cause of career termination is that of the free choice of the athlete (Coakley, 1983). Research has indicated that it is a common cause of retirement among elite amateur and professional athletes (Mihovilovic, 1968; Werthner & Orlick, 1986). The impetus to end a career by choice is the most desirable of causes of retirement because the decision resides wholly within the control of the athlete. Athletes choose to end their careers voluntarily for a variety of personal, social, and sport reasons. Athletes may choose to embark on a new direction in their lives (Werthner & Orlick, 1986). They may experience a change in values, motivations, and the desire to pursue new interests and goals (Greendorfer & Blinde, 1985).

Athletes in career transition may wish to spend more time with family and friends or seek out a new social milieu in which to immerse themselves (Svoboda & Vanek, 1982). Lastly, their relationship with their sport may also change, in which athletes may have reached their sport related goals (Sinclair & Orlick, 1993) or found that their sports participation was no longer enjoyable and rewarding (Werthner & Orlick, 1986).

Other Causes of Career Termination

Though less common, other factors have been either suggested or reported to contribute to career termination. These causes include family reasons (Mihovilovic, 1968), problems with coaches or the sports organization (Mihovilovic, 1968; Werthner & Orlick, 1986), and financial difficulties (Werthner & Orlick, 1986).

STEP 2: FACTORS RELATED TO ADAPTATION TO CAREER TRANSITION

Athletes experiencing career transition may face a wide range of psychological, social, financial, and occupational changes. The extent of these changes and how athletes perceive them may dictate the quality of the adaptation they experience as a function of their retirement.

Developmental contributors. The presence and quality of adaptation to career transition may depend on developmental experiences that occurred since the inception of their athletic careers. The nature of these experiences will affect the emergence of self-perceptions and interpersonal skills that will influence how athletes adapt to retirement.

The often single-minded pursuit of excellence that accompanies elite sports participation has potential psychological and social dangers, and this quest is rooted in the earliest experiences athletes have in their youth sports participation. The personal investment in and the pursuit of elite athletic success, though a worthy goal, may lead to a restricted development.

Though there is substantial evidence demonstrating the debilitating effects of deselection upon self-esteem among young athletes (Scanlan, 1984; Smith, Smoll, & Curtis, 1979), little consideration has been given to changing this process in a healthier direction. Most organized youth programs still appear to place the highest priority on winning.

In order to alleviate these difficulties at their source, the indoctrination of a more holistic approach to sports development can be beneficial early in the life of the athlete (Pearson & Petitpas, 1990). This perspective relies on a primary prevention model that emphasizes preventing problems prior to their occurrence (Conyne, 1987; Cowen, 1983). The first step in the prevention process is to engender in parents and coaches involved in youth sport a belief that long-term personal and social development is more important than short-term athletic success (Ogilvie, 1987).

It has been further argued that high school and college athletic programs restrict opportunities for personal and social growth such as the development of self and social identities, social roles and behaviors, and social support systems (Remer, Tongate, & Watson, 1978; Schafer, 1971). Early intervention in these areas will decrease the likelihood that the factors related to the quality of the adaptation in career transition will contribute to distress due to retirement later in their lives.

Self-identity. Most fundamental of the psychological issues that influence adaptation to career transition is the degree to which athletes define their self-worth in terms of their participation and achievement in sports (Blinde & Greendorfer, 1985; Ogilvie & Howe, 1982; Svoboda & Vanek, 1982). Athletes who have been immersed in their sport to the exclusion of other activities will have a self-identity that is composed almost exclusively of their sports involvement (Brewer, Van Raalte, & Linder, 1993; McPherson, 1980). Without the input from their sport, retired athletes have little to support their sense of self-worth (Pearson & Petitpas, 1990).

Athletes who are disproportionately invested in their sports participation may be characterized as “unidimensional” people, in which their self-concept does not extend far beyond the limits of their sport (Coakley, 1983; Ogilvie & Howe, 1982). These athletes often have few options in which they can gain meaning and fulfillment from other activities outside their sport (McPherson, 1980).

It has been suggested that athletes with overly developed athletic identities are less prepared for post-sport careers (Baillie & Danish, 1992), have restricted career and educational plans (Blann, 1985), and typically experience retirement from sport as something very important that is lost and can never be recovered (Werthner & Orlick, 1986). The finality of the loss seems impossible to bear and herein lies a significant threat to healthy adaptation to athletic career transition.

Perceptions of control. The degree of perceived control that the athletes have with respect to the end of their careers can also impact how they respond to career transition (McPherson, 1980). Of the four primary causes of athletic retirement discussed above, namely, age, deselection, injury, and free choice, the former three are predominantly outside the control of the individual athlete. This absence of control related to an event so intrinsically connected to athletes’ self-identities may create a situation that is highly aversive and threatening (Blinde & Greendorfer, 1985; Szinovacz, 1987).

Research examining Olympic-caliber and professional athletes has indicated that the causes of retirement for many athletes were beyond their control (Mihovilovic, 1968) and that they experienced a decrease in their sense of personal control following retirement (Svoboda & Vanek, 1982; Werthner & Orlick, 1986). Though this issue has not been addressed extensively in the sports literature, there is considerable research from the areas of clinical, social, and physiological psychology demonstrating that perceptions of control are related to many areas of human functioning including sense of self-competence (White, 1959) and the interpretation of self (Kelly, 1967) and other (Jones & Davis, 1965) information. In addition, perceptions of control may influence individuals’ feelings of helplessness (Friedlander, 1984-85), motivation (Wood & Bandura, 1989), physiological changes (Tache & Selye, 1985) and self-confidence (Bandura & Adams, 1977). Loss of control has been associated with a variety of pathologies including depression (Alloy & Abramson, 1982), anxiety (Garfield & Bergin, 1978), substance abuse (Shiffman, 1982), and dissociative disorders (Putnam, 1989).

Social identity. The diversity of athletes’ social identities can affect their adaptation to career transition (Gorbett, 1985). Researchers have associated retirement with a loss of status and social identity (Pollack, 1956; Tuckman & Lorge, 1953). McPherson (1980) suggests that many athletes define themselves in terms of their popular status, though this recognition is typically short-lived. As a result, retired athletes may question their self-worth and feel the need to regain the lost public esteem.

In addition, athletes whose socialization process occurred primarily in the sports environment may be characterized as “role restricted” (Ogilvie & Howe, 1986). That is, these athletes have only learned to assume certain social roles specific to the athletic setting and are only able to interact with others within the narrow context of sports. As a result, their ability to assume other roles following retirement may be severely inhibited (Blinde & Greendorfer, 1985). Studies by Arviko (1976), Haerle (1975), Mihovilovic (1968), and Werthner and Orlick (1986) all indicate that athletes with a broad-based social identity that includes family, friendship, educational, and occupational components demonstrated better adaptation following sports career termination.

Tertiary contributing factors. In addition to the above intrapersonal factors, there are personal, social, and environmental variables that may influence athletes’ adaptation to retirement. These factors may be viewed as potential stressors whose presence will likely exacerbate the primary adaptive factors just discussed (Coakley, 1983).

Socioeconomic status may influence the adaptation process (Hare, 1971; Weinberg & Arond, 1952). Athletes who are financially dependent on their sports participation and possess few skills to earn a living outside of sport or have limited financial resources to fall back on may perceive retirement as more threatening and, as a result, may evidence distress (Lerch, 1981; McPherson, 1980; Werthner & Orlick, 1986).

It has also been argued that minority status (Blinde & Greendorfer, 1985; Hill & Lowe, 1974) and gender (Coakley, 1983) will affect the adaptation process due to what are perceived as fewer post-athletic career opportunities (Hill & Lowe, 1974; Haerle, 1975). These factors are likely to be most significant when interacting with socioeconomic status and pre-retirement planning (Weinberg & Arond, 1952). The health of athletes at the time of retirement will further affect the quality of the adaptation (Gorbett, 1985; Hill & Lowe, 1974). Athletes with chronic disabilities incurred during athletic careers may, as a result of the injuries, have limited choices in their post-athletic careers. Also, marital status, as an aspect of social support, will influence the adaptation process (Svoboda & Vanek, 1982). Athlete characteristics including age, years competing, and level of attainment will also influence adaptation in the retirement process.

STEP 3: AVAILABLE RESOURCES FOR ADAPTATION TO CAREER TRANSITION

Athletes’ adaptation to career transition depends largely on the resources that they have available to surmount the difficulties that arise. Two factors that can influence people’s ability to respond effectively to these problems include coping skills (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984; Meichenbaum, 1977) and social support (Cohen & Wills, 1985; Sarason & Sarason, 1986; Smith, 1985). In addition, research indicates that another valuable resource, pre-retirement planning, may significantly influence adaptation to career transition (Coakley, 1983; Hill & Lowe, 1974; Pearson & Petitpas, 1990).

Coping strategies. During the course of retirement, athletes are faced with dramatic changes in their personal, social, and occupational lives. These changes will affect them cognitively, emotionally, and behaviorally. The quality of the adaptation to career transition experienced by athletes will depend on the manner in which they respond these changes. The availability of effective coping strategies may facilitate this process and reduce the likelihood of difficulties. Sinclair and Orlick (1993) reported that finding another focus of interest to replace their sports participation, keeping busy, maintaining their training/exercise regimens, talking with someone who listens, and staying in touch with their sport and friends in their sport were effective coping strategies for facilitating the transition process.

Cognitively, retiring athletes must alter their perceptions related to the career transition process, specifically with respect to self-identity, perceptions of control, and social identity (Bandura, 1977; R.S. Lazarus, 1975). Athletes can use cognitive restructuring (A. Lazarus, 1972) and mental imagery (Smith, 1980) to re-orient their thinking in a more positive direction, self-instructional training (Meichenbaum, 1977) to improve attention and problem-solving, and goal-setting to provide direction and motivation in their post-athletic careers (Bruning & Frew, 1987). These techniques have been used successfully to enhance adaptation in a variety of populations and activities (Labouvie-Vief & Gonda, 1976; Meichenbaum & Cameron, 1973; Moleski & Tosi, 1976; Trexler & Karst, 1972).

Similarly, relevant techniques could be used for emotional/physiological stressors. Specifically, athletes in transition could employ anger and anxiety strategies such as time-out (Browning, 1983), relaxation training (Bruning & Frew, 1987; Delman & Johnson, 1976; May, House, & Kovacs, 1982), and health (Savery, 1986), exercise, and nutritional counselling (Bruning & Frew, 1987) to alleviate these difficulties.

Finally, a regimen of behavior modification could deal with overt manifestations of distress associated with career transition. Techniques such as assertiveness training (Lange & Jakubowski, 1976), time management training (Bruning & Frew, 1987; King, Winett, & Lovett, 1986), and skills assessment and development (Bruning & Frew, 1987; Taylor, 1987) could be effective in overcoming behavioral difficulties caused by retirement.

Social support. Due to athletes’ total psychological and social immersion in the sports world, the majority of their friends, acquaintances, and other associations are found in the sports environment and their social activities often revolve around their athletic lives (Botterill, 1990; Svoboda & Vanek, 1982). Thus, athletes’ primary social support system will often be derived from their athletic involvement (Coakley, 1983; Rosenfeld, Richman, & Hardy, 1989).

When the athletes’ careers end, they are no longer an integral part of the team or organization. Consequently, the social support that they received previously may no longer be present. In a sample of athletes with international competitive experience, Sinclair and Orlick (1993) reported that missing the social aspects of their sport was a frequently reported difficulty during career transition. Moreover, due to their restricted social identity and the absence of alternative social support systems, they may become isolated, lonely, and unsustained socially, thus leading to significant distress (Blinde & Greendorfer, 1985; Remer, Tongate, & Watson, 1978).

Research by Mihovilovic (1968), Reynolds (1981), Werthner and Orlick (1986), and Sinclair and Orlick (1993) reported that athletes who received considerable support from family and friends had easier transitions and those who had the most difficulties indicated that they felt alone as their careers ended and expressed the desire for support during that period. Additionally, other researchers (Gorbett, 1985; Svoboda & Vanek, 1982) suggest that athletes also need institutional support during the retirement process, best provided through pre-retirement counselling programs (Manion, 1976; Schlossberg, 1981).

Pre-retirement planning. Of the available resources that are being discussed, pre-retirement planning appears to have the broadest influence on the quality of the career transition process (Schlossberg, 1981). Pre-retirement planning may include a variety of activities including continuing education, occupational and investment endeavors, and social networking. As a result, pre-retirement planning may significantly affect most of the factors previously discussed that are related to the adaptation process. For example, pre-retirement planning would broaden an athlete’s self-identity, enhance perceptions of control, and diversify his or her social identity. As for the tertiary factors, socioeconomic status, financial dependency on the sport, and post-athletic occupational potential would all be positively influenced. Substantial research involving both elite-amateur and professional athletes supports of this position (Arviko, 1976; Haerle, 1975; Lerch, 1981; Sinclair & Orlick, 1993).

Despite these benefits, a common theme that emerges from the literature on retirement outside of sports is the resistance on the part of individuals to plan for their lives after the end of their careers (Avery & Jablin, 1988; Chartrand & Lent, 1987). Yet, it is likely that this denial of the inevitable will have serious, potentially negative, and long-term implications for the athletes. A wide range of difficulties have been reported due to athletes’ resistance to pre-retirement planning (Hare, 1971; Svoboda & Vanek, 1982; Werthner & Orlick, 1986).

Structured pre-retirement planning that involves reading materials and workshops (Kaminski da Rosa, 1985; Manion, 1976; Thorn, 1983; USOC, 1988) are valuable opportunities for athletes to plan for and work toward meaningful lives following retirement. In addition, effective money management and long-term financial planning can provide athletes with financial stability following the conclusion of their careers (Hill & Lowe, 1974).

The incorporation of pre-retirement planning is becoming increasingly a part of collegiate (Brooks, Etzel, & Ostrow, 1987), elite-amateur (Gould, Tammen, Murphy, & May, 1989; Murphy, Abbot, Hillard, Petitpas, Danish, & Holloway, 1989; Petitpas, Danish, McKelvain, & Murphy, 1990; Sinclair & Orlick, 1993; USOC, 1988) and professional (Dorfman, 1990; Ogilvie & Howe, 1982) organizations. The only research clarifying the extent to which these services have been used by the elite athletes indicate that only a small proportion of athletes (27%) take advantage of these services (Sinclair & Orlick, 1993). There is also no empirical evidence of how effective these programs are for athletes in career transition.

STEP 4: QUALITY OF CAREER TRANSITION

Based on the present model to this point, it may be concluded that career termination from sports will not necessarily cause a distressful reaction on the part of athletes (Coakley, 1983; Greendorfer & Blinde, 1985). Rather, the quality of adaptation to career transition by athletes will depend upon the previous steps of the retirement process. It is at the present juncture that the athlete’s reaction to career transition will become evident. There are a variety of psychological, social, and environmental factors that will determine the nature of the response. Specifically, the presence or absence of the contributing variables described in the early steps of the model will dictate whether athlete undergo a healthy transition following retirement or experience distress in response to end of their competitive career.

The question is often raised as to the incidence of those individual athletes who exhibit some form of distress when forced from their sport. In fact, the extant literature has not produced widespread evidence of transition difficulties at all levels of sports participation. Notably, there is little evidence of distress in athletes concluding their scholastic and collegiate careers (Blinde & Greendorfer, 1985, Coakley, 1983; Greendorfer & Blinde, 1985). This may be due to the fact that the completion of high school and college athletic careers as dictated by eligibility restrictions may be seen as a natural part of the transition to entering college or the work force, respectively (Coakley, 1983).

At the same time, another group of researchers assert that career transition may cause distress that manifests itself in a wide variety of disruptive ways. Sinclair and Orlick (1993) reported that about one-third of a sample of elite-amateur athletes experienced fair to serious problems with missing the social aspects of their sport, job-school pressures, and finances. In addition, 11% felt dissatisfied with their lives since retirement and 15% felt that they did not handle the transition well.

Other researchers including Arviko (1976), Hallden (1965), Mihovilovic (1968), and Weinberg and Arond (1952) reported more serious manifestations of transition difficulties consisting of incidences of alcohol and drug abuse, participation in criminal activities, and significant anxiety, acute depression, and other emotional problems following retirement. The emergence of distress among elite-amateur and professional athletes is likely due to the significantly greater life investment in their sports and their commitment to their sports participation as a career into adulthood.

STEP 5: INTERVENTION FOR CAREER TRANSITION

Career transition may be characterized as a complex interaction of stressors. Whether the stressors are financial, social, psychological or physical, their effects may produce some form of distress when athletes are confronted with the end of their careers. Despite the best efforts made in the prevention of career transition distress, difficulties may still arise when the reality of the end of an athletic career is recognized. The experience of career transition crises may adversely affect athletes cognitively, emotionally, behaviorally, and socially. As a result, it is important to address each of these areas in an active and constructive manner.

Unfortunately, as discussed earlier, there are significant organizational obstacles to the proper treatment of career transition difficulties. In particular, the limited participation of sport psychologists at the elite level, where problems are most likely to occur, inhibits their ability to provide for the career transition needs of athletes. Also, the team psychologist typically associated with national governing bodies, collegiate teams, or professional organizations rarely have the opportunity to develop an extended relationship with team members. This limited contact rarely presents an opportunity to discuss issues related to career transition. Also, since retired athletes are no longer a part of a sports organization, treatment of the athletes may not be seen as within the purview of the organization’s psychologist.

The retiring athletes themselves may also present their own obstacles to intervention. A survey of former world-class amateur athletes indicated that they did not perceive personal counseling as a useful coping strategy during the career transition process (Sinclair & Orlick, 1993).

The treatment of distress related to career transition may occur at a variety of levels. As discussed previously, the changes that result from retirement may detrimentally impact a person psychologically, emotionally, behaviorally, and socially. As a consequence, it is necessary for the sport psychologist to address each of these areas in the intervention process.

Perhaps the most important task in the transition process is to assist athletes in maintaining their sense of self-worth while establishing a new self-identity. The goal of this process is to adapt their perceptions about themselves and their world to their new roles in a way that will be maximally functional. The sport psychologist can assist them in identifying desirable non-sport identities and experiencing feelings of value and self-worth in this new personal conception.

Also, sport psychologists can aid athletes in working through any emotional distress they may experience during retirement (Kubler-Ross, 1969). Specifically, they can provide the athletes with the opportunity to express feelings of doubt, concern, or frustration relative to the end of their careers (Gorbett, 1985).

On a manifest level, the sport psychologist can help the athletes cope with the stress of the transition process (Gorbett, 1985). Traditional therapeutic strategies such as cognitive restructuring (Garfield & Bergin, 1978), stress management (Meichenbaum & Jaremko, 1983), and emotional expression (Yalom, 1980) can be used in this process. Also, athletes can be shown that the skills they used to master their sport can be used as effectively in overcoming the challenges of a new career and lifestyle (Meichenbaum & Jaremko, 1983).

Finally, the professional can help the athletes at a social level. This goal may be accomplished by having athletes explore ways of broadening their social identity and role repertoire (Ogilvie & Howe, 1982). Additionally, athletes can be encouraged to expand their social support system to individuals and groups outside of the sports arena. The use of group therapy and the articulation of the athletes’ potential social networks can be especially useful in aiding them in this process. Wolff and Lester (1989) propose a three-stage therapeutic process comprised of listening/confrontation, cognitive therapy, and vocational guidance to aid athletes in coping with their loss of self-identity and assist them in establishing a new identity.

Intervention at the organizational level can also be a useful means of facilitating the career transition process. As indicated earlier, many elite-amateur and professional organizations offer some form of pre-retirement and career transition assistance. Reece, Wilder, and Mahanes (1996) suggest that such programs should emphasize the transferability of skills from sport to a new career. They further highlight the importance of identifying specific transferable skills and successful role models, and clarifying interests, values, and goals that will promote an effective career transition.

Sinclair and Orlick (1993) also support intervention at the organizational level as having a positive impact on career transitions of elite athletes. They recommend that sports organizations can facilitate the transition process by continuing financial support for a short time following retirement, encourage sports organizations to stay in contact with retired athletes, offer seminars on career transition issues, and establish a resource center for athletes in transition. Additionally, retired athletes should be provided with opportunities to stay involved in their sport and shown how mental skills training can be used in their new pursuits.

CONCLUSION

This chapter has reviewed the relevant literature pertaining to career transition among athletes. From this overview, several conclusions can be drawn. First, the extant research suggests that career transition difficulties are more likely to emerge with elite-amateur and professional athletes than scholastic or collegiate athletes. This finding appears to be due to the greater ego-involvement and personal investment of the former group of athletes and that transition from world-class and professional sports participation typically occurs outside of the normal developmental process. Second, distress due to career transition will not necessarily occur. Rather, the emergence of difficulties is due to a variety of developmental, psychological, and social factors including early life experiences, coping strategies, perceptions of control, self and social identities, social support, and pre-retirement planning. Third, addressing career transition issues can begin at the earliest stages of sports participation. This process involves having parents, coaches, and youth sports administrators create an environment that will enable young athletes’ sports involvement to be a meaningful vehicle that will engender healthy personal and social development. Finally, despite the best efforts to eliminate distress that may arise due to career transition, it may still occur when athletes fully recognize that their sports careers are over. This distress can manifest itself psychologically, emotionally, behaviorally, and socially. It is important that each of these areas is addressed directly and constructively by a trained professional.

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