Examining barriers and reasons for sport retirement in women's soccer: A qualitative study

Abstract

The present research aimed to 1) examine the barriers that interfere with the progression of women's soccer and 2) analyze adult women's reasons for abandoning the practice of federated soccer. For this purpose, a qualitative methodology, with 14 semi-structured interviews of female national category soccer players, was used. The results of the inductive content analysis suggested that the players' main reasons for quitting sports were incompatibility or lack of time, lack of group cohesion within the sports context, and individual demotivation. Knowledge of these results may be of great interest to the sport environment. Thus, the people in charge could promote different strategies to improve sports and personal situations.