Abstract

Summary
The purpose of this work was to develop a model of sport retirement management. The study participants consisted of the retired athletes (N = 11) and sports experts (N = 4). Semi-structured interviews were used for data gathering, and the data obtained was analyzed using the thematic analysis. A total of 78 sub-categories were obtained, and were classified into 7 main categories. These main categories formed the two themes of pre-retirement management and post-retirement management.  By determining and creating a network between the themes and the categories and considering the two elements (athletes and sports organizations) that were involved in managing of sport retirement, a model for the sport retirement management was developed (Figure 1). According to the proposed model, there should be a proper interaction and cooperation between the athletes and the sports organizations before and after retirement in order to achieve a successful managing of sport retirement.
Introduction
Retirement from professional and elite sport is often a difficult and challenging transition. Studies has shown that it comes with psychological distress and costs to well-being for up to 39% of athletes, a figure that is almost double that associated with retirement from general workforce (1). It means that there is a higher probability of sport retirement turning into crises rather than other careers. The sport retirement literature shows that about 20% of the athletes experience the athletic retirement crisis. This crisis manifests itself as difficulties in the psychological, sociological, vocational, and economical aspects complemented by inability to adjustment to retirement (2, 3). An athlete facing a retirement crisis requires assistance and intervention, and therefore, it is necessary to manage sport retirement to prevent the incidence of crisis retirement and help the athletes who are in crisis.
Methodology and Approach
This study has an exploratory and applied nature, a participatory and constructivist paradigm, and an inductive approach that has been done qualitatively with the thematic analysis method. The study participants consisted of the male retired athletes and male sports experts. They were selected based on a combination of snowball, purposive, and criterion sampling methods.
The inclusion criterion for the retired athletes was that they had either retired from a professional or an elite level, and in line with the previous research, the time after their retirement would not be less than 6 months (that would give them time to experience the retirement course). To get a richer data, the retired athletes were selected from the following different groups: a) Athletes who were unemployed (N = 4), b) Athletes who were employed in the non-sport related jobs (N = 4), c) Athletes who were employed in the sport-related jobs (N = 3). These 11 retired athletes were between 29 t0 46 years of age, and had retired from the team (volleyball, handball, and water polo) and individual (badminton, karate, and wrestling) sports.
Using criterion and purposive sampling, 4 sports experts participated in the study. The sports experts were those who had a master or PhD degree in physical education and sport sciences. The inclusion criteria for sports experts was that they had either played at the professional or elite level, had done research in the field of sport retirement, and had a coaching background in the professional level. These participants were between 38 t0 53 years of age, 3 of them had a PhD degree and 1 of them had a master degree.
Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were used for data gathering, and continued until theoretical saturation. 15 interviews (11 interviews with the retired athletes and 4 interviews with the sports experts) were conducted, and the data obtained was analyzed using the thematic analysis method (4). Throughout the study, several methods such as prolonged engagement and persistent observation, peer debriefing, member checking, and investigator triangulation were used to ensure analytic rigor (transferability, dependability or credibility, confirmability, and trustworthiness) (5).
Results and Conclusion
The data analysis resulted in obtaining 78 sub-categories that were classified into 7 main categories. The main categories formed the two themes of pre-retirement management and post-retirement management. The main categories including career planning, financial planning, prevention and treatment of sports injuries, and athlete preparation formed the theme of pre-retirement management. All of these categories aim to develop the athletes’ ability and knowledge to encounter the sport retirement phenomenon, effectively. The nature of these programs is mainly predictive and preventive, so they could be helpful in order to prevent the negative consequences of retirement.
On the other hand, the main categories include supportive programs, interventional programs, and counselling and training forming the theme of post-retirement management. These programs have a therapeutic and supportive nature. Thus these programs could be fruitful when an athlete has a specific problem that could not be solved by him (her) self.
It should also be noted that the athletes and sports organizations are the two main elements of sport retirement management. Finally, by determining and creating a network between the themes and the categories and considering the two elements (retired athletes and sports experts) that are involved in managing of sport retirement, a model for the sport retirement management was developed (Figure 1). The model offers strategies, solutions, instructions, and recommendations elicited by the retired athletes and sports experts to help deal with the transition process, positively.

Keywords

• Pre-retirement management
• Post-retirement management
• Retired athletes
• Thematic analysis