The causes of career termination from sport and their relationship to post-retirement adjustment among elite-amateur athletes in Australia

Abstract

Former athletes (N = 48) from a variety of sports provided information about the primary reason for their athletic retirement and the degree of adjustment required. Content analysis of reasons for retirement indicated that this sample of athletes retired from competitive sport for numerous reasons, including age, injury, deselection, and voluntary career termination. Subsequent comparisons between athletes who retired for voluntary and involuntary reasons indicated that involuntary retirement was associated with significantly greater emotional and social adjustment on career termination. In addition, the former athletes who experienced the greatest adjustment difficulty perceived the least personal control over the reasons for retirement. Implications for professional and applied work in the area are discussed, and suggestions are made regarding future research on career transitions from sport.