Does High-Performance Sport have an Obligation to Help Former Athletes with their Career and Life Transition?

Abstract

The popular press is filled with articles chronicling the challenges that many elite athletes encounter while adapting to life after completing their playing days. Do their organizations and leagues owe them a duty of care and help to ensure they can transfer effectively to a different life and career once their competing days are finished? This paper reviews the literature surrounding this transition. The authors examine the recent literature surrounding high-performance athletes’ challenges during and after their sporting careers end. In addition to documenting the potentially adverse experiences, and in the spirit of providing contextual balance, the authors highlight some of the positive outcomes related to high-performance sport involvement and the leadership qualities that can be honed and tempered through the experience. The authors conclude the paper with a series of recommendations to assist future players, team and league officials, and players unions to help reduce the problem. Keywords: high-performance sport, career and life transitions