Forced Retirement From Elite Football In Australia

Abstract

Retirement from sport poses a major socioemotional threat to elite athletes. The present study builds on a growing body of literature examining the vacuum created in an athlete's life after retirement. Grounded theory was used to construct how elite football players dealt with forced retirement owing to injury and deselection. Recursive in-depth interviews were conducted with 30 recently retired players who had competed at the highest level in Australian Rules football. The data were characterized by a rich array of personal reflections of loss and grief that reflected four themes: loss of identity, perceived control, financial issues, and social support. Interviewees typically told stories that were tinged with shock, regret, bitterness, distress, and perceived loss of status.