Revista de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales
© 2022. Universidad del Zulia
ISSN 1012-1587/ ISSNe: 2477-9385
Depósito legal pp. 198402ZU45
Portada: Allí estás!
Artista: Rodrigo Pirela
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Técnica: Mixta sobre tela
Año: 2011
Año 38, Regular No.97 (2022): 47-78
ISSN 1012-1587/ISSNe: 2477-9385
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7486097
Recibido: 14-12-2021 •Aceptado: 20-01-2022
The Career Continues: The Perception of Former
Athletes Regarding Life After Competitions
Eliza Pinto Narciso Saltarelli
1Federal University of Lavras – Brazil
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0538-6139
eliza.narciso@ufla.br
Mônica Carvalho Alves Capelle
2Federal University of Lavras – Brazil
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0095-3405
edmo@dae.ufla.br
Denise Aparecida Hipólito Borges
3Federal University of Lavras – Brazil
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5083-0916
denisehipolito@yahoo.com.br
Fernanda Junia Dornelas
4Federal University of Lavras – Brazil
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7140-051X
fernanda.dornela@estudante.ufla.br
Abstract
The objective of this study was to understand how the career
transition process of high-performance athletes occurs. A career in sport
is seen as the occupation in sports activities carried out in a practical and
constant way, reaching high levels of performance. The retirement of
athletes is understood as a time of change and transition. The research
corpus was based on the transcription of interviews with former team
sports athletes, explored using the content analysis technique. The post-
transition moment is seen as new possibilities to continue working
professionally and dedicating themselves to sport in different ways.
Keywords: Careers; Athetes; Transition;Professional sport
La carrera continúa: la percepción de los exdeportistas con
respecto a la vida después de las competiciones
Resumen
El objetivo de este trabajo fue comprender cómo ocurre el
proceso de transición de carrera de los atletas de alto rendimiento. La
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carrera deportiva es vista como la ocupación en actividades deportivas
realizadas de manera práctica y constante, alcanzando altos niveles de
rendimiento. El retiro de los deportistas se entiende como un momento
de cambio y transición. El corpus de investigación se basó en la
transcripción de entrevistas con exatletas de deportes colectivos,
exploradas mediante la técnica de análisis de contenido. El momento
post-transición se ve como nuevas posibilidades para seguir trabajando
profesionalmente y dedicándose al deporte de diferentes formas.
Palabras clave: Carreras; Athetes; Transición; Deporte
profesional.
1. INTRODUCTION
Career studies have focused on traditional concepts within the
field, which are usually associated with organizational structures. In other
terms, the concept of a career has been restricted to those who expect to
make steady advancements within a respectable profession, with a
preestablished structure and a sequence of jobs reinforcing the link
between positions and careers in organizations (BARLEY, 1989).
The greatest problem with this theoretical approach to careers is
that it excludes other professions that do not fit within this traditional
framework, and therefore, authors such as CARVALHO (2015) argue
that individuals can embrace the existence of a career for themselves,
without necessarily being linked to organizations. Consequently, “the
career may encompass the individual’s experiences in the specific context
of the work environment but is not confined to it.” (CARVALHO,
2015:33).
As an example, we can examine a career in sports. This career can
be understood as an occupation involving sports activities performed in a
practical and continuous manner within a sport or sports activity
throughout an athlete’s life, with the objective of achieving high
performance levels in one or several sporting events. It is constructed
from the moment the individual begins to practice sports and continues
until their retirement as an athlete (DOS SANTOS et al, 2015;
TENENBAUM et al, 2007).
However, the term “retirement” for athletes with a sports career
has been the focus of academic discussions. According to COSTA et al
(2009), retiring means stepping away from work and the career, which is
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not always the case with former high-performance athletes, who often
choose to continue in sports, pursuing other related activities.
For authors such as MACIEL (2015), DOS SANTOS et al (2015)
and Ferreira Junior and Rubio (2017), although this moment is treated as
the end of high-performance sports activities, it also represents the
possibility of beginning a new activity, i.e., it is a moment of transition.
Thus, considering retirement as a defining moment in the life of high-
performance athletes, symbolizing the transition from one phase of
sports to another, this study was carried out to answer the following
research question: what transition occurs in an athlete’s sports career
following the end of high-performance activities? Based on the
assumption that athletes understand the moment of their “retirement”
from competitions as a milestone and transition, rather than the end of
their career in sports, and seeking answers to that question, the central
objective of this article was to understand the career transition process
for high-performance athletes.
Studies such as the one proposed herein are important and
justified, as they help other researchers seek new knowledge on the
subject of careers in sports and contribute to a greater understanding of
that phenomenon.
2. THEORETICAL FOUNDATION
2.1 CAREERS AS A TRAJECTORY
Traditionally, career studies have focused on formal and/or
traditional careers by interweaving the concept of a career and
organizational structures, which is not necessary or obligatory
(BENDASSOLI, 2009; CAMPOS et al, 2017). The earliest concepts
related to careers were focused on positioning individuals within
professions and structures. For example, TOLFO (2002) states that
traditionally, a career is related to an occupation and a profession and has
been associated with success and social advancement.
It would thus be a path to be followed professionally, making it
possible to advance—over time—in the positions held, with a career
being an important indication of the professional development
opportunities that an organization offers to its professionals. It is
important to discuss the extent to which this corresponds to reality, in
order for freelancers, the self-employed, service providers or others with
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a discontinuous career trajectory to be included in the discussion on
professional careers (RIBEIRO, 2009).
Broadening the understanding of what a career is involves
discussing non-careers. Individuals who are not linked to a specific
organizational structure usually fall into the non-career category.
According to RIBEIRO (2009), a career predicts a predefined structure
in which people construct a trajectory, one that depends on their ties to
organizations and institutions, which are the environments in which a
career is created and social legitimacy is achieved. The non-career
category is associated with the world of work in general, referring to a
work trajectory in which professional development cannot be predicted.
CARVALHO (2015) therefore argues the following:
Individuals can embrace the existence of a career for
themselves, without necessarily being linked to
organizations. The career may encompass the individual’s
experiences in the specific context of the work
environment but is not confined to it (CARVALHO,
2015:33).
RIBEIRO (2009) discusses how these implications become a
challenge in contemporary career studies, adding that it requires a
position toward the world that considers both change (movement) and
permanence (essence) because careers reflect the transformations that
have occurred in society, the economy and politics and the way in which
organizations and workers relate to one another, redefining the relations
between capital and labor (BENDASSOLLI, 2009; SILVA et al, 2014).
The understanding that the field of careers is interdisciplinary
corroborates the possibility of studying careers with a broad perspective,
recognizing the contributions and influence of different areas of
knowledge—such as psychology, sociology, social psychology, learning
theories and institutional approaches—in the origin and development of
career studies (MOORE et al, 2007; KHAPOVA et al, 2011).
Understanding the concept of a career as broad and contextualized in
order to demonstrate the sequences of individual experiences over time
can aid in a preliminary understanding of their interdisciplinarity, if we
couple this with the idea that a career is related to individuals and
organizations and is broad, dynamic and incomplete over time and space.
Based on this, it is possible to talk about the dimensions that
comprise a career. BENDASSOLI (2009), RIBEIRO (2009) and
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CARVALHO et al. (2015) present an analytical division that enables a
more complete analysis of the trajectories of individuals in all their
complexity, considering micro and macro levels, personal and
organizational/institutional aspects and objective and subjective
dimensions. It is important to note that this division is only analytical
and problematizing, adopting a perspective that integrates these
dimensions by transcending the duality of the concept; as
CARVALHO et al. (2015) indicate, this vision allows careers to be
addressed through multiple aspects of analysis and experience.
MOREOVER et al (2007) emphasize that career studies can
offer a conceptual bridge between the micro—individual—and
macro—institutional—levels of analysis as well as an intellectual
anchor for phenomena of interest to organizational scholars. Careers
are thus a means for understanding complex and significant social
phenomena, through the idea of the career as a process, embedded in
contexts. The sociohistorical context can signal changes that affect the
planning and configuration of careers for and by individuals
(CARVALHO, 2015). These discussions make it possible to perceive
the development and relevance of contextual factors for career studies
and their growing influences on individual career behavior. This
demonstrates a synchrony between contexts and the individual sphere
within the logic of careers, which influence how they should be
studied.
Accordingly, MAYRHOFER et al. (2007) assert that careers are
always careers in a given context. The authors argue that studies
should be focused on individuals, organizations and society, with
careers situated at the intersection of societal history and individual
biography. As such, they are not confined to the corporate vision of
promotions and structured hierarchies through which the individual
moves throughout their professional life. As indicated by
BENDASSOLLI (2009), the concept of a career is capable of
mediating the different dimensions of human experience involving
labor, in a problem that embraces the individual and the contextual as
central.
The understanding of careers as a broad phenomenon with no
exclusionary predefinitions, the exploration of how societal structures
shape people’s behaviors and lives, and the way people who challenge
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the social order live and experience the social world are important
factors to consider. Based on a vision of a career that understands it
as a person’s trajectory in time and space, the stabilities and
instabilities that compose it, it is possible to obtain a better
understanding of individuals, their lives and perspectives, and the
(de)organization of society.
This perspective will be used to analyze the career of high-
performance athletes, particularly in terms of the transition to retirement.
To proceed with this contextualization, the sports career will be
presented in the following section.
2.2 SPORTS CAREER
Based on the perspective of careers presented, the sports career of
the high-performance athlete is discussed below. There have been
discussions about considering sports as a profession, job and,
consequently, career because it does not have characteristics based on
classic models but does have specificities in terms of the beginning,
development and end of the sports career (DOS SANTOS et al, 2015;
CAMPOS et al, 2017). This paper intends to transcend those discussions
by considering the trajectory of the individual, thus addressing all the
stages and dimensions.
A sports career can be considered an occupation involving sports
activities performed in a practical and continuous manner within a sport
or sports activity throughout an athlete’s life, with the objective of
achieving high performance levels in one or several sporting events. This
career is constructed from the moment the individual begins to practice
sports and continues until his or her retirement as an athlete (DOS
SANTOS et al, 2015; TENENBAUM et al, 2007). Its duration is defined
according to the specific characteristics of each sport. Typically, the
sports career begins in childhood and ends in adulthood, before the age
of 40 (Comitê Olímpico Brasileiro - COB, 2014).
DOS SANTOS et al (2015) indicate that practicing sports involves
a number of different factors, such as motivation, life history and certain
facilitators and constraints that may occur during a life trajectory. It is
also important to consider that athletes experience different situations
throughout this process, involving phases and transitions at the athletic,
psychological, psychosocial, academic and vocational levels, from when
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they start to when they achieve high-performance and then to when they
end a competitive career (DOS SANTOS et al, 2015).
MARQUES et al (2009) present transitions in the sports career as
a focus of their study, namely, entry into sports and building a
foundation; investment in training for competitions; participation in
more significant competitions, such as regional and state events; high-
level competitions, i.e., national and international events, as well as
playing for large clubs, becoming a sports professional; and finally,
retirement from practicing sports. For the authors, it is important to
consider the social support at the end of this career and the range of
influences throughout career development.
The participation of the coach and family at the beginning of a
sports career is particularly significant (MACIEL et al, 2008). VERARDI
et al (2008) indicate that families who understand the importance and
value of sports or a love of practicing sports usually support their
children’s sports careers, i.e., influence their sports career. CAMPOS et al
(2017) emphasize the social context as a major influence because it
includes aspects that impact an athlete’s decision, maintenance and
continuity in sports.
This context is also affected by sports. The sociocultural nature of
sports as an integral element of social and economic values is particularly
noteworthy because sports activity can also be seen as a source of income
by athletes, coaches, managers and others and by organizations linked to
the image of sports, i.e., sports brands, products related to sports and
others that use athletes’ image to generate economic profit. When these
issues are analyzed from the athletes’ perspective, high-performance
sports can be considered as work because they demand consistent effort
to build a foundation, there is a financial return, beyond what the
athletes’ individual achievements and renown represent, and athletes are
examples in the sports they practice. Moreover, relating individual
interests to the expectations and needs of their environment, practicing
sports must be contextualized with the reality of sports (PIRES, 2007;
MACIEL et al, 2008; CAMPOS et al, 2017).
This study was carried out with athletes who played team sports
and participated in high-performance competitions. The focus was
defined at a specific moment of the sports career, namely, the end of
their participation in competitions, which will be addressed in the
following session.
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2.3 RETIREMENT FROM THE SPORTS CAREER: A
TRANSITION MOMENT
The sports career begins in childhood, with high-performance
activities as a youth or young adult, and it is common to stop
participating in competitions around the age of 35 (IBGE, 2013); it is
thus a career with specific characteristics: an early beginning and early
retirement, here called a transition. It is therefore important to recognize
and understand the factors involved in the transition to a new
professional and personal stage.
Retirement in the context of sports careers involves a cognitive
restructuring process following the end of a stage, representing the end
of the pursuit of personal goals and achievements in the high-
performance sports environment (DOS SANTOS, ALEXANDRINO,
2015). MACIEL (2015) indicates that the transition period following the
sports competition phase is pervaded by peculiarities, such as (re)orient
after dealing with the physical and psychological demands of high-
performance activities and psychological and social baggage from
practicing sports. This period is accompanied by stress, fear and anxiety
and requires the individual to adjust emotionally to a new group and
lifestyle (BRANDÃO et al., 2000).
Although this moment is treated as the end of the sports career
and the possibility of beginning a new activity (MACIEL, 2015; DOS
SANTOS, ALEXANDRINO, 2015; Ferreira Junior, Rubio, 2017), it is
argued that this moment is one of change and transition, rather than an
ending.
In this paper, retirement is considered to be an important moment
in everyone’s life, regardless of their occupation or professional
background. At the end of a professional trajectory, subjects anticipate
retirement and its impacts. Due to its potential consequences in terms of
the subjects’ identities, retirement is understood as a phenomenon that
symbolizes the transition between phases in people’s lives. The subjects’
adjustment to retirement is also correlated with their personal attributes,
factors of their job and the organization where they worked, as well as
their family and socioeconomic aspects (MARRA, 2011).
Another important consideration is to regard career and trajectory
as synonymous because both describe the trajectory beginning with the
individual’s entry into the labor market and the continuation of their
journey throughout their professional life, considering the time elapsed
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during professional trajectories. Trajectories are divided into objective
trajectory, defined as the individual’s occupations over time, and
subjective trajectory, defined as an individual’s experiences along their
trajectory that create meaning for the positions held and choices made
(MARRA, 2011).
Retirement should thus not be spoken of as an end but, rather, as
a crucial moment in which an individual can take the next step in his or
her trajectory. In addition to being understood as a milestone in people’s
lives, it is necessary to consider the complexity of this transition and its
impact on identity, subjectivity and personal and professional
relationships. Constant cultural and market shifts make it possible to
envision this crucial moment not as the end of the line but as the
beginning of a new stage in the trajectory. Individuals who retire do not
leave their careers behind; the career remains and is transformed in this
new context, either through new activities or through the identity of the
individual who remains devoted to it.
Returning to the context of sports, there are a number of factors
that can influence decisions regarding the transition moment. DOS
SANTOS and ALEXANDRINO (2015) treat transitions as events that
cause imbalances in an athlete’s trajectory and that can be normative
when they are planned and non-normative when they are related to
unexpected changes, such as injuries. BRANDÃO et al. (2000) state that
the transition is the result of individual factors and social influences, such
as age, new interests, physical and psychological fatigue, difficulties with
the coaching staff and declining results, among others.
Regardless of the reason for the transition, there is an important
change and restructuring in the individual’s lifestyle, which varies
according to the personality and temperament of the person and may
have more or less positive or negative effects (MACIEL, 2015).
Moreover, in the sports career, the transition represents “changes in
personal assumptions, changes that require a set of skills that enable the
athlete to adapt to the new dimensions and demands of post-athlete life”
(Ferreira Junior, Rubio, 2017:189) and these changes have an influence
on cognitive, emotional and behavioral aspects (BRANDÃO et al., 2000).
Ferreira Junior and Rubio (2017) indicate that the way an athlete
experiences the transition is related to triggering events, depending on the
existence or lack of support, individual coping characteristics and
meanings attributed to the change. Other aspects to be considered are the
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athletes’ perception of their own identity, perception of control and
social identity, which are related to their status and how they respond to
the end of their career (BRANDÃO et al., 2000).
As for the quality of this transition, BRANDÃO et al. (2000) cite
adaptation factors, such as “development experiences, self-identity,
perceptions of control, social identification and contributions of others,
and the resources available for adapting to the career transition, such as
strategies to deal with the transition situation, social support and previous
planning for retirement” (BRANDÃO et al., 2000:50). The authors also
emphasize the importance of planning for this moment, which they argue
is neglected by some athletes, who believe that their fame will be
sufficient for this moment.
To deal with this change, it is important to address the individual’s
preparation for this moment, which will influence his or her life after the
transition. MACIEL (2015) indicates the importance of leveraging highly
desirable skills developed and acquired throughout the sports career, such
as emotional self-control, discipline and motivation. Another relevant
factor is social support at the end of the career, particularly considering
that the individual is still productive (CAMPOS, Capelle, MACIEL,
2017).
MACIEL (2015) states that little emphasis is placed on the future
professional career but that, in most cases, the new career has a
connection with the sport played, demonstrating the lack of preparation
or the lack of foresight or concern of high-performance athletes for their
professional career after sports, justified by the heavy demands of being
involved in sports, which may shift the athlete’s focus away from later
needs.
In a literature review, BRANDÃO et al. (2000) indicate six factors
that may hinder the transition process of athletes:
1) an identity strongly or exclusively based on sports
performance; 2) a marked difference between the level of
aspiration and the level of skill; 3) little experience with
similar transitions; 4) emotional or behavioral shortcomings
limiting adaptation to change; 5) few supportive
relationships; and 6) the need to deal with change in a
context lacking the necessary material and emotional
resources (BRANDÃO et al., 2000, p. 57).
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With regard to the transition from the sports career to post-athlete
life, i.e., what the former athlete’s new career will be, BRANDÃO et al.
(2000) state that planning can involve different activities, including
continuing education, employment, investments and social work.
Marques and Samulski (2009) indicate that athletes generally plan their
sports career well, although not necessarily their education. The pursuit
of professional development for activities following their life as athletes
contributes to providing continuity to their activities after the transition.
In particular, if there is interest in working in sports, the Brazilian Federal
Council of Physical Education requires that an individual must be
qualified through education acquired in undergraduate programs in
physical education or related fields, as the profession has been regulated
since 1998 (Conselho Federal De Educação Física - CONFEF, 2000);
this is not mandatory for athletes, who do not need to have completed
any level of basic education or higher education (MACIEL, 2015).
Finally, this moment is best assimilated by athletes if it is related to
a personal choice, if their goals and objectives have been met, if they are
able to remain involved with the sports environment, if they have
supplemented their studies and if they have reached the top (BRANDÃO
et al., 2000).
Understanding this transition process can be valuable for
discerning the trajectory of the individual, the impact of personal and
professional events and how their subjectivation and identity
construction take place.
3. METHODOLOGY
In ontological terms, this study followed the constructivist
paradigm, epistemologically guided by the interpretivist approach, and
thus used a qualitative methodology.
The study has an exploratory character, with the objective of
understanding the career transition of high-performance athletes, in order
to grasp a reality that has rarely been studied before now. The study
actors were selected based on the following criteria: athletes who no
longer participate in high-performance sports competitions and played
team sports. The selection of the former athletes was random: as the
interviews were conducted, a respondent would indicate other athletes
for the study. After initial contact, those who demonstrated interest and
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willingness and were also accessible to the researchers were selected to
participate in the study.
Following the principles of CAMPOS, Capelle and MACIEL
(2017), the universe of people who were once high-performance athletes
but no longer compete will be called former athletes.
Ten in-person individual interviews, using a semistructured script,
were conducted with athletes from different sports, as shown in Table 1.
The interviews were conducted from October 2018 to June 2019.
Table 1: Identification of the respondents
Code of
identification
Gender
Acting
sport
Age when
retired as an
athlete
Current activity
Former Athlete 1
Male
Volleyball
39
Club manager
Former Athlete 2
Female
Volleyball
36
Committees and
master
competitions
Former Athlete 3
Male
Soccer
29
Instructor
Former Athlete 4
Male
Soccer
30
Instructor
Former Athlete 5
Male
Soccer
38
Instructor
Former Athlete 6
Male
Soccer
36
Sports
commentator
and panelist
Former Athlete 7
Female
Handball
40
Team project
Former Athlete 8
Male
Handball
36
Team manager
and coordinator
Former Athlete 9
Female
Soccer
35
Coach, manager
and athletic
agent
Former Athlete
10
Male
Basketball
33
Coach
Source: The authors (2021)
The study corpus was constructed based on complete transcriptions
of the interviews, which were recorded after informed consent forms had
been signed by each participant. The material collected was explored
using the content analysis technique, following BARDIN’s (2011)
guidelines for thematic analysis, which seeks to find the nuclei of
meaning. In these terms, the pre analysis (transcription and organization
of the corpus), exploration of material (categorization and selection) and
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treatment of results (inferences and hermeneutics of the researchers)
were performed. Three previous categories were chosen for the analysis
based on the specific objectives proposed: “Planning the transition”;
“Transition context: motivations and influences” and “Post-transition
moment,” while a fourth category emerged from the study material:
“Gender inequities.”
4. ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS
4.1 PLANNING THE TRANSITION
The objective of this category was to discuss whether or not there
was concern about the transition moment, in the perception of the
former athletes. Most of the respondents began practicing sports during
childhood and adolescence. What was once an opportunity for physical
activity became a profession, as they excelled in the sports they played.
“I had no idea what it was, what being an athlete was all
about. I was there to practice, to learn, but I had no clear
objective.” (Former athlete 1)
“Well no, at the time that I was playing, I couldn’t imagine
what might happen. I thought I would be a physical
education teacher, teaching at a school. That’s what I
thought I would do, just that, and as a physical education
teacher, that’s exactly what happened to me (...).” (Former
athlete 2)
It is possible to argue, however, that the sports career was already
being defined at that moment, for according to DOS SANTOS and
ALEXANDRINO (2015), a career is constructed from the moment an
individual begins to practice sports and continues until his or her
retirement as an athlete, encompassing the sports activities practiced
throughout the individual’s life.
Thus, according to the accounts, sports was not thought about as
a career until the moment when it was effectively linked to a sports
institution or club. From the moment this connection occurs, former
athletes primarily begin to be concerned with financial gain, in order to
help their families and improve their living conditions.
“I come from a very humble family, and I knew that if I
wasn’t an athlete, I would have to work, I would have to
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study; so, there was always a concern about that.” (Former
athlete 1)
They then begin to make a living from sports, which becomes the
primary source of financial support. This corroborates the statement that
high-performance sports can be considered a job, due to the financial
return and rewards for the effort made (Pires, 2007; MACIEL, Moraes,
2008; CAMPOS, Capelle, MACIEL, 2017).
Even if they did not have a plan for when they stopped
competing, the participants demonstrated that they were aware that their
career would end early, as is common in sports.
“My preparation was that all the money I earned playing
soccer, I invested in rental properties. So, that was my
intention. (...) Because athletes, they don’t have, their career
is short, right, maybe 20 years or so. We all know that,
right, so they have to think about the future, right, so that
was my concern. I said, ‘Look, there will come a time when
I will have to stop, and I will stop when I am 40 years old.
And 40 is still young (...).” (Former athlete 4)
“No, it never happened, that never happened. It was a
particular, individual thing. We were never prepared for
‘and then later, when...’ (...) because there are excellent
people who have stopped, who could be tapped at the level
of the confederation, the federation, even the Olympic
committee, and they give opportunities to very few people;
they don’t use them.” (Former athlete 7)
Considering the context presented by the respondents, the lack of
planning may be related to the fact that many stopped participating in
competitions unexpectedly, primarily due to irreversible injuries. In cases
where former athletes’ age was no longer appropriate for high-
performance activities, they seem to have spent more time thinking about
the transition moment; however, as we will see in the next section, it was
no less traumatic.
BRANDÃO et al. (2000) have asserted that planning for the
transition is neglected by athletes. The authors also emphasize the
importance of planning for this moment, which according to them is
neglected by some athletes, who believe that their fame will be sufficient
for this moment.
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When speaking about preparation, it is possible to mention the
interest of individuals in remaining involved with sports, causing many of
them to pursue a degree in Physical Education as an alternative, in order
to remain in the area. MACIEL (2015) also agrees with this observation,
stating that little emphasis is placed on a future professional career but
that, in most cases, there is a connection with the sport practiced
“My idea was to work as a physical education teacher (..),
but unfortunately, I wasn't able to do that because my knee
injury compromised my ability to work in sports (...).
(Former athlete 6)”
“Yes, the idea has always been to continue in soccer; so, I
prepared myself, like I said, in all aspects related to soccer,
right. I wanted to work in soccer because it was my biggest
interest and because it was actually what I knew how to
do.” (Former athlete 9)
This reveals a lack of preparation or a lack of foresight or concern
among former high-performance athletes regarding their professional
career after sports.
Another aspect that can be considered is preparation through
professional education, as mentioned by BRANDÃO et al. (2000),
Marques and Samulski (2009) and MACIEL (2015). In the case of the
former athletes interviewed, the most cited degree was Physical
Education. The participants demonstrated interest in the area, and some
said that they were attending or had attended college, while others
justified the fact that they had not pursued that education.
Sometimes athletes are very dedicated and abandon their
studies. Then, you don’t know what you’re doing because if
you don't have a profession, there are a lot of former
athletes, you know, so when it comes to employment, it’s a
very lovely story: you won the title, but now, what’s your
background? ‘Oh, no, I’m just an athlete.’ ‘Sorry, but I won't
be able to hire you.’” (...) (Former athlete 8)
I had been thinking for a few years and getting ready to stop
playing. I know that this part of the transition is very
difficult. So, I had been studying; I knew I still wanted to
work in soccer. I’ve been doing this all my life. It wouldn’t
be possible for me to do anything else because of the know-
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how I have in the sport, the experience I gained when I
was playing. (Former athlete 9)
Yes, my education, during my career I was
worried about my background as a physical education
teacher, and that’s where I wanted to work, right, as a
coach, and I made this transition; I was preparing for
this transition. (Former athlete 10)
There is thus a consensus that actions in the transition moment
are not planned, but there are similar concerns in terms of being
financially stable and remaining involved in sports. Understanding the
transition moment as a change in an individual’s trajectory can
contribute to broadening the idea that preparing for this moment is
important and relevant, particularly in regard to career development.
Furthermore, this transition depends on personal, social,
economic, organizational and contextual factors. Accordingly, the
accounts presented in this subsection concern individual experiences,
with a diversity of personal characteristics and external influences that
affect the planning process or lack thereof, as will be presented below.
4.2 TRANSITION CONTEXT: MOTIVATIONS AND
INFLUENCES
This category will address the main motivations and influences
that determined the transition moment, understood as the decision to
stop competing.
According to data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography
and Statistics (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística – IBGE), the
average retirement age of high-performance athletes is 35 years.
Consequently, when an athlete finishes his or her career in sports, he
or she is still considered to be at a productive age, defined by the
IBGE (2014) as the age group from 15 to 64 years, data that can be
seen in the empirical material gathered, as shown in Table 1.
The main reason reported by the respondents were injuries and
inadequate physical conditions for competing. The transition moment
is thus related to a non-normative imbalance, i.e., an unexpected
change, according to DOS SANTOS and ALEXANDRINO (2015)
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and Ferreira Junior and Rubio (2017), and is the result of individual
factors and social influences such as age, new interests, physical and
psychological fatigue, difficulties with the coaching staff and declining
results, among others, according to BRANDÃO et al. (2000).
The accounts reveal that as expected, this decision occurred early
and unexpectedly, making the transition moment different from what had
been imagined.
I was suffering from a clavicle injury. I was almost 39 years
old, and I decided to stop. (Former athlete 1)
So, I had planned to play until I was 40, right? But as I told
you, in 2006, I learned that I had diabetes and also had
injuries, the knee problem, right? The knee damage caused
me not to be able to continue, because I wasn’t going to
have the same performance. I wasn’t going to be able to
play at a high level, right? So, if I was going to stay without
being able to earn money, then it wasn’t interesting for me
(...) I was 35, 36 years old. (Former athlete 4)
Even understanding that they were unable to continue with the
routine of training and competitions, the former athletes reported that
they would have liked to have been able to continue, had it been possible.
I think it was because of the physical aspect; it was because
of the physical aspect. If my body could have held on a
little longer, I would have continued (...) (Former athlete 2)
Other motivations that appeared were the desire to be closer to
family and difficulties in relationships with staff/managers. Additionally,
when questioned about the repercussions among family members and
colleagues in the sport, the accounts show that receiving support was
important for taking the next steps in the transition decision. This aspect,
considered as social support, can contribute to the quality of the
transition, as stated by BRANDÃO et al. (2000).
Therefore, with regard to the motivations for the decision to stop
a competitive career and transition, there were no new findings compared
with what was indicated in the literature examined above. Without
previous planning and forced to stop early as a result of physical
exhaustion and injuries, former athletes must face the post-transition
moment.
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4.3 POST-TRANSITION MOMENT
Finally, this study sought to understand former athletes’
experience of the post-transition moment. The accounts show that the
post-transition moment is one of reflection and great internal conflict.
Not so long ago, I was saying that with my retirement, I
had been reborn. But now, over the last few months, I have
been thinking about it. I think that yes, it was an end, a very
painful, difficult end, and I didn’t feel the pain right away. I
started to feel it little by little, but that pain also caused me
to be reborn. I discovered that I was reinventing myself.
(Former athlete 1)
The statement by Former athlete 1 demonstrates how retirement
in the context of a sports career is a cognitive restructuring process
following the end of a stage (DOS SANTOS, ALEXANDRINO, 2015),
and is accompanied by stress, fear and anxiety. It requires the individual
to adjust emotionally to a new group and lifestyle (BRANDÃO et al.,
2000) and a loss of a sense of identity, as reported by Former athlete 3:
You cease to exist. When you’re playing, you have that
status; you have people who are there, taking care of you.
You stop. You’re no longer in the media. Everything ends.
There’s nobody there for you. They forget you exist.
(Former athlete 3)
This loss of a sense of identity corroborates Scholossberg’s
(1981) assertion that the transition causes changes in the way people
perceive themselves, influencing their individual behavior and their
social relationships. No longer practicing sports, which was an aspect
of their identity— “the athlete ceases to exist,” “they forget you exist” —
caused some of the former athletes interviewed to try to postpone
their retirement, even after they had suffered different physical
injuries and received medical recommendations to stop playing sports.
Among those interviewed, all remained involved in sports, as
coaches, managers/executives or members of sports committees. This
decision seems to be based more on opportunities that arose rather
than on planning and preparation and is motivated by the affective
view and memories they have about sports because they do not have
to separate themselves from the “glory” they experienced.
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Oh, I found the transition very painful. But I made up
for it when I formed this team of mine (...). (Former
athlete 8)
In line with the argument that it is a transition moment rather
than an end, when asked if they consider themselves more fulfilled
today than when they were competing, all of the former athletes
stated that they were more fulfilled when they participated in
competitions and had the routine of a high-performance athlete. As
such, although their current activities are important—because they
maintain a connection with their status as an athlete—the feeling of
being seen as a high-performance athlete cannot be replaced.
It’s very hard to compare, it’s... Nothing can compare to
being a professional athlete and winning titles. Perhaps
the only thing that can compare in my life is the birth of
my two children. I feel like I’m in the process of being
fulfilled. Maybe fulfilled, when you say fulfilled to me
like that, for example, ‘Ok, I fulfilled my mission.’ No,
I’m still discovering what my mission is. I’m in the
middle of the process, discovering it gradually. (Former
athlete 1)
Continuing with activities related to sports is in line with what
is argued by MACIEL (2015), who says that despite the low emphasis
placed on a future professional career, the new career has a
connection with the sport practiced, demonstrating a lack of
preparation or a lack of foresight or concern by high-performance
athletes for their professional career after sports. This situation has
consequences for the identity and subjectivity of the individuals, who
state that finding an activity to pursue after the end of a competitive
career can become a moment of rebirth and rediscovery.
It’s an end on the field, but a new beginning in soccer,
being able to pass on everything I learned during that
period in my career (...). (Former athlete 5)
A fresh start in life; a fresh start in life and truly living,
living like everyone else; do you understand? A rebirth,
for sure (...). (Former athlete 7)
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When considering the trajectory of the individual, there is
continuity in the experience in terms of sports. Even experiencing the
transition moment as a rupture, the individuals find motivation in
their identification with sports, to continue working professionally and
contribute their knowledge and experiences.
This underscores the importance of considering subjective aspects
when studying careers, as the perception of the former athletes reveals
that no longer competing and performing as an athlete on a team
interferes with their trajectory and decision; however, subjective aspects,
such as personal motivation, family, and the desire to and fulfillment of
remaining connected to sports and continuing to be recognized for their
sports performance, are also important, thereby integrating the
dimensions surrounding their career, as indicated by BENDASSOLLI
(2009) and Carvalho et al. (2015).
4.4 EMERGING CATEGORY: GENDER INEQUITIES
When performing a historical reclamation, no matter how far back
one goes in history, women have always been situated in positions
subordinate to men and have thus not shared the world on equal terms
(BEAUVOIR, 1970; Tedeschi, Colling, 2014).
The conditions of inequality to which women are subjected are
not the result of a biological fate, a biological determinism, or sex
(Nicholson, 1994) but, rather, social constructions originating in the
social relations between men and women, i.e., the genders, the material
basis of which—work—is manifested through the sexual division of
labor. This division is characterized by a distinction that allocates the
productive spheres and the public spaces to men and the reproductive
spheres, the private spaces, and the domestic and family environment to
women. It is also characterized by a hierarchy, with spaces in the
productive sphere being more recognized and valued (Kergoat, 2009).
Given these contexts of inequalities and the division and
hierarchization of spaces, questions began to emerge regarding women
being confined to private spaces and occupations as mothers, wives and
caregivers, driven by socioeconomic and demographic changes.
Contextual shifts, such as increased access to education and the increased
participation of women in the labor market, enabled the construction of
reconfigured female identities (Couto, Scharbier, 2013). However, even
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with these advances and their entry into the public space, polarized and
hierarchical environments still predominate (Scott, Cordeiro, 2013).
In the labor market, for example, inequalities between men and
women exist and can be perceived in different ways (CAMARGOS,
Riani, Marinho, 2014), such as through the forms of entry (Silva Filho,
Queiroz, Clementino, 2016); in salaries (Gomes, Souza, 2018); in the
periods of time dedicated to the productive and reproductive spheres
(Hirata, 2015; Sousa, Guedes, 2016); and in occupations.
In general, a significant portion of female workers provide services
in precarious conditions (Nascimento, 2014); hold positions at lower
hierarchical levels; and are less recognized and valued (ANDRADE,
Macedo, Oliveira, 2014). It is also possible to observe that since the
earliest studies on female labor in Brazil, the options for paid work for
women have been limited, for example, to certain races and social classes.
Specifically, in sports, the focus of this study, considered a
legitimately heteronormative and masculine area, women athletes are
faced with the difficult task of excelling in virile practices (CAMARGO,
KESSLER, 2017).
Through the accounts of some of the former female athletes
interviewed, it is possible to perceive gender inequalities and their
repercussions on the relations between woman and labor. Former athlete
9, for example, says that she knew she would experience “prejudice” when
she began playing women’s soccer, which at the time was neither
recognized nor valued as a profession, unlike men’s soccer. Former
athlete 10 also speaks about prejudice and how difficult it was for her to
become a volleyball coach following her retirement from sports as an
athlete:
I started to be a coach, right, for children, adolescents; but
at that time, women were not highly valued. So, they don’t
place a lot of value on women being a trainer, being a
coach at that time. This made it very difficult, also in terms
of advancement. (Former athlete 10)
The excerpt from the statement by Former athlete 10 makes it
possible to interpret that there is a difficulty related to (re)allocation in
the labor market in areas that are socially considered to be male areas (in
this case, volleyball trainer and coach), corroborating Kergoat (2009),
ANDRADE, Macedo and Oliveira (2014) and CAMARGO and
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KESSLER (2017). When she says that being a woman “made it very
difficult” to advance, Former athlete 10 also corroborates Scott and
Cordeiro (2013) regarding the existence of spaces that are still polarized
and hierarchical, the lowest hierarchical levels of which are usually
reserved for women. In addition, when these women seek to move up
the hierarchy, there are barriers that try to prevent them from reaching
the highest levels, i.e., the glass ceiling. The glass ceiling was introduced
in the 1980s in the United States to describe barriers that are so subtle
that they are transparent but simultaneously strong enough to make it
impossible for women to reach the highest levels of organizational
hierarchies (Steil, 1997).
Although Former athlete 10 struggled to move up the
organizational hierarchy, she succeeded. She was probably not able to
fully break the glass ceiling, as there were still obstacles for her to remain
in the position, for example, but she was able to make the glass ceiling
weaker by taking a management position at a sports complex in Rio de
Janeiro. According to her, “I was the first woman to manage a very large sports
complex in Rio de Janeiro [...] It went like this: I sat down at a table; all the
presidents of the federation were men, and I was the only woman, right, confronting
that situation.”
Consistent with the difficulties encountered by the former athletes
as a result of gender inequalities, another respondent, Former athlete 9,
says that she confronted hardships (primarily machismo and
discrimination from her father) to play a sport that, at the time, was
considered a men’s sport, a statement that supports issues addressed
CAMARGO and KESSLER (2017), who discuss the difficulties faced by
women athletes in a space—sports—that is considered to be for men.
[...] my father strongly discouraged me because for my
generation, he said that soccer was for men; so, he didn’t
like it when I played in the street with the boys or at
school. [...] My mother was in charge at home, fortunately
for me; so, my mother said ‘yes,’ and that was what, what I
pursued. (Former athlete 9)
Relations between women and labor, such as those presented
above, have been the focus of feminist and gender studies, which point
to the need to triangulate the intersections— or intersectionalities—that
characterize those relationships: social class, gender, and race. Through
the dynamics of those intersections, it is possible to seek explanations for
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the inequalities between men and women, such as the limited access of
women to life without violence, to less precarious jobs with greater
recognition and appreciation, to higher salaries, and to higher positions in
organizational hierarchies (BANDEIRA and DE ALMEIDA, 2015).
Intersectionality, in the case of the former athletes interviewed,
may be evident in the statement by Former athlete 10, both a woman and
a descendant of indigenous peoples. Although she refers to the
discrimination she experienced only as ethnic-racial discrimination, we
consider the possibility that this discrimination is the result of an
intersectionality, in this case between gender—being a woman—and
ethnicity-race—being a descendant of indigenous peoples:
I went to Rio de Janeiro in 1970. When I got there to do a
tryout, I thought I was going to do a tryout, right? I got
there, and he didn’t even want to look me in the face. He
just said: ‘Go to the dressing room and get changed.’ So, I
said: ‘But how am I going to get changed? I don’t even
wear shoes. I play barefoot.’ I said: ‘But I don’t know how
to use sneakers. I don't have any.’ Then he said: ‘But you
have to have them here.’ Fluminense soccer club at the
time was a club of elites, so much so that they were
referred to as ‘pó de arroz’ [white face powder; used to
connote that their fans are preppy and white]. The people
who played soccer, none of them were black in my day [...]
I received a lot of what they now call bullying, right? In the
old days, that word didn’t exist, but that is what happened
to me, and how. My nickname here [Rio de Janeiro] was
Bororó because my grandmother was indigenous, right, and
from the Bororó tribe. So, my nickname was Bororó, and I
played barefoot, so it was: ‘But how can you not know?
You don’t even have television in your town, right? How
did you end up here?’ Those kinds of things happened a
lot; it was very painful. (Former athlete 10)
In this case, because Former athlete 10 is referring to soccer—a
sport that is socially considered male—it is clear that both ethnic-racial
and gender discrimination are involved. As Franzini (2005, p. 316)
explains, soccer represents a space that, since its origin, has been
eminently masculine and that because it is not only a space related to
sports but also a sociocultural space, “[...] the values embedded in it and
derived from it establish limits that—while not always so clear—must be
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observed for the perfect maintenance of ‘order,’ or ‘logic,’ that is
attributed to the game and expected to be confirmed in it. The
admission of women onto the field would subvert that order.”
Considering the analyses presented here, it is possible to assert
that gender, as well as its interaction with ethnicity-race, must be
considered and that women, as well as being discriminated against in
different contexts, also exist in the context of sports, considered a
male space. These discriminations originate in the inequalities of
genders, socially constructed, disseminated and (re)produced
throughout history, since the colonial period.
5. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
The present study sought to answer the following research
question: What transition occurs in an athlete’s sports career following
the end of high-performance activities? Based on the assumption that
athletes understand the moment of their “retirement” from
competition as a milestone and transition, rather than the end of their
career in sports, the objective was to understand the career transition
process of those high-performance athletes.
The findings of this investigation indicate that in most cases,
there is no planning for the transition. Careers begin very early, and
athletes usually do not think about the future, only about living in the
highly desired moment afforded by high-performance activities as well
as the recognition gained through success and financial rewards.
However, most of the former athletes report that they did not think
that their high-performance activities would be a momentary phase;
on the contrary, they believed and wanted to remain involved with
sports for a long period of time.
In this context, athletes do not expect unforeseen events to
happen nor interruptions to their careers. This study demonstrated
that physical fitness is the primary reason for the transition (end of
high-performance activities/new possibilities in sports) and that they
would have liked to have been able to continue had they been in good
physical condition. This motivation is accompanied by the influence
of the family, as sports take up a great deal of time and family
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members are burdened by the absence required for high-performance
activities.
For the former athletes interviewed, the transition is not seen as
the end of the career; rather, the post-transition moment is envisioned as
one of new possibilities for continuing to be devoted to sports. Many
reported that this period was a difficult moment, albeit one of great
reflection, rebirth and rediscovery. This points to the importance of
continuing to address subjective aspects when studying sports careers.
The thesis that athletes understand the moment of their
“retirement” from competitions as a transition rather than the end of
their career is thus confirmed; this is due to the strong emotional appeal
and affective involvement of athletes with their successful trajectory in
the world of sports, which is why they seek to continue working in
related areas.
It was also possible to perform analyses within the scope of
gender studies and the interaction between gender and ethnicity-race in
sports. Women are discriminated against in different contexts, and it is
no different in the context of sports, considered a male space where
gender inequalities are socially constructed, disseminated and
(re)produced.
The intention of this study is to support and inspire new research,
in order to broaden the theoretical framework on the subject and
facilitate new discussions warning athletes about the need to plan their
careers for difficult periods, such as the transition, and new dialogs
regarding the possible intersection with topics that address the social
context and the experiences of individuals.
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BIODATA DE AUTORES
Eliza Pinto Narciso Saltarelli: Bacharel e Mestre em Administração
pela Universidade Federal de Lavras - UFLA. Tem experiência
profissional na área de Administração, com ênfase em Administração
de Recursos Humanos e Gestão de Pessoas. É membro do NEORGS
- Núcleo de Estudos em Organizações, Gestão e Sociedade.
Atualmente é servidora Técnico Administrativo em Educação da
Universidade Federal de Lavras, atuando na Pró-Reitoria de Gestão
de Pessoas - PROGEPE e Doutoranda em Administração pelo Pós-
Graduação em Administração da Universidade Federal de Lavras –
PPGA/UFLA.
Mônica Carvalho Alves Cappelle: Graduada e Mestre em
Administração pela Universidade Federal de Lavras- UFLA e Doutora
em Administração pela Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais -
UFMG. Tem experiência na área de Administração com ênfase em
Estudos Organizacionais, Metodologia de Pesquisa e Gestão de
Pessoas. Atualmente é professora associada do Departamento de
Administração e Economia da Universidade Federal de Lavras e
pesquisadora líder do grupo de pesquisa NEORGS- Núcleo de
Estudos em Organizações, Gestão e Sociedade.
Denise Aparecida Hipólito Borges: Bacharel em Administração
Pública pela Universidade Federal de Lavras - UFLA . Mestre em
Administração pela UFLA. Desenvolveu projetos de extensão e de
iniciação científica sendo bolsista do programa PIBIC do CNPq e por
três vezes bolsista do programa PIBIC da FAPEMIG. Atualmente é
Doutoranda no Pós-Graduação em Administração da Universidade
Federal de Lavras – PPGA/UFLA, com ênfase na área de
Organizações, Gestão e Sociedade na linha: Estudos Organizacionais
e pesquisadora do Núcleo de Estudos em Organizações, Gestão e
Sociedade - NEORGS.
78 Eliza Pinto Narciso Saltarelli et al.
Opción, Año 38, Regular No.97 (2022): 47-78
Revista de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales. FEC-LUZ
Fernanda Junia Dornelas: Doutoranda em Administração pelo
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Administração da Universidade
Federal de Lavras – PPGA/UFLA, Mestre em Administração pela
FAGEN/Universidade Federal de Uberlândia- UFU e Bacharel em
Administração pela Universidade Federal de Viçosa - UFV. Atuou
como professora substituta na UFV-CRP e em organizações como
Nestlé e IWCA Brasil.
UNIVERSIDAD
DEL ZULIA
Revista de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales
Año 38, N° 97 (2022)
Esta revista fue editada en formato digital por el personal de la Oficina de
Publicaciones Científicas de la Facultad Experimental de Ciencias, Universidad del
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