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LIFE AFTER FOOTBALL? Two approaches to helping players in retirement - England and France
LIFE AFTER FOOTBALL ? TWO APPROACHES TO
HELPING PLAYERS IN RETIREMENT
Peter-Danton de ROUFFIGNAC MA LLM, Sports Counselor
Professional football in England and France
This article looks at the pre-retirement services offered to their player members by the professional footballers’ unions in England (PFA) and France (UNFP). The article includes a short history of the development of professional football (soccer) in England and France, and examine some of the issues of the contemporary game that affect the players and their life after football in the two countries. These include increasing commercialisation, the role of the media and in particular television, internationalisation, higher wages, professionalism, contracts and eventual retirement. Although football was invented in England in the nineteenth century, there are numerous parallels between the contemporary situations in England and France: these are examined in the following paragraphs.
Organised football made its first appearance in England during the 1850s, later leading to the establishment of the Football Association as the newly emerging sport’s regulatory body in 1863. Clubs were basically amateur, although the Football League was formed in 1888. The professional game did not start to dominate the sport until the early 1930s. The present day English Football League is just one of some fifty professional, amateur and mixed leagues but it is the wealthiest and most powerful, incorporating the Premier League (in reality a breakaway league established in 1992) representing the top clubs. It is the dominance of the Premier League that has transformed English football over the last decade.
‘English football in the new millenium’ according to Banks (author of an excellent guide to English football in recent years) ‘has been shaped by events at the close of the previous one, in particular the late 1980s and early 1990s. Firstly, the disasters at Bradford, Heysel and Hillsborough in 1985 and 1989 led to a massive programme of stadium building and renovation as the game implemented the 1991 Taylor Report. Second, the birth of pay television in the late 1980s introduced new competition to the television industry which led to inflation in the value of football television rights, which led in turn to a massive rise in the clubs’ and players’ incomes. Thirdly the foundation of the Premier League in 1992 radically changed the way that the money coming into the game was distributed, as well as creating another governing body to add to the FA and the Football League. Finally the Bosman ruling of 1995 represented the greatest change in the relationship between players and clubs since the abolition of the maximum wage in 1960 ‘.
The first French football club was founded – by Englishmen – at Le Havre in 1872, and it was some twenty years before all-French football clubs were created, often as part of an existing multi-sports club. These sports clubs were solidly rooted in local communities and tended to be dominated by amateur federations governing sports such as athletics, cycling and gymnastics, until the foundation of the first all-football leagues. The close links with the local community meant that athletic stadiums, sometimes incorporating football grounds, were generally built and maintained by the local authority, a situation that continues today when many top French football clubs still play in a municipally-owned stadium, for which they pay a rental. Even the richest clubs in the French first division (known as Ligue 1) and Division 2 still receive subsidies from their local authorities. The upgrading of football grounds has also invariably been financed from public funds, once again reinforcing football’s strong links to the local community and with the French state.
Following several decades of dominance by the amateur game and arguments over ‘shamateurism’, French football at the higher levels became largely professional in the 1930s, initially with 35 clubs, under the auspices of the French Football Federation, and divided into first, second and regional divisions (as in Britain at the time). Today, as a result, several of the top clubs in Ligue 1 are located in quite small towns and attract minimal attendances compared to their British counterparts: some stadiums can hold a maximum of only 20,000 spectators. But they survive and prosper as a result of money received from television, including important earnings from the coverage of European competitions. The professional clubs in Ligue 1 and Division 2 are grouped together within the French Professional Football League (LFP) but semi-professional clubs in Division 3 can win promotion to Division 2. The lower National, regional and local leagues comprise a mix of semi-professional and amateur clubs.
The heavy involvement of the French state in sport, including football, at the national, regional and local levels has inevitably led to ideological conflicts with the ‘modernisers’ within French football, who wish to emulate their English counterparts in terms of television revenue, commercialisation and freedom to raise and control their own finances. They have a view of football less as a sport and more as a multi-million euro leisure and entertainment industry. Where this starts to affect professional players, as in England, includes issues such as recruitment, training, contracts, salaries, and withdrawal from the game. These are now examined.
The players
According to Banks , England has more professional footballers than any other country, with an estimated 4,000 fulltime players employed by about a hundred professional clubs. Stories abound of salaries running into thousand of pounds or euros a week, but these are in reality largely restricted to footballers playing in the higher divisions (Premier in England, Ligue 1 in France). They have come about as a result of a number of factors, including: the abolition of the minimum wage, the European court ruling in the Bosman case allowing freedom of contract, the international status of a relatively small group of elite players, the presence of agents or players’ representatives, and the freedom footballers now enjoy to move from one country to another. The high figures quoted also distort the overall picture, as there are wide differentials between the upper and the lower divisions, with many players earning perhaps as little as a tenth of the wages paid in the Premier League and Ligue 1. At the end of a typical season, an estimated 600 to 800 players in both England and France are out of work and seeking clubs, or contemplating withdrawal from professional football.
However, as Banks and others have pointed out, the high wages paid to some footballers are frequently cited as one of the causes of the current crisis in English and French football. Among the issues highlighted are the problems facing clubs who are relegated from a higher division to a lower one, and who inherit a large wage bill that they are unable to finance from gate receipts or television income, forcing them to sell off their expensive star players still under contract – if a market can be found for them. All this has an unsettling effect on players seeking a move in order to enhance their professional career and earning prospects, as well as damping down the expectations of those clubs attempting to buy their way back into a higher division and regain their place among the elite European football clubs. While at the same time many players reaching the end of their contract and let go by their club face an uncertain future, including the prospect of having to retire from professional football, possibly ahead of their planned departure.
Not surprisingly professional football clubs have gradually become businesses, with a need to generate increasing cash flow in order to pay the higher wages commanded by top players, and to enter the spiralling international transfer market when there is a need to plug gaps in their playing squads. To do this they need to stay in the top divisions, to be eligible for and do well in European competitions, both of which are essential in order to attract larger amounts of television money and increased income through the turnstile. This is a particular problem for those French clubs located in small towns and which do not attract more than 10,000 to 15,000 spectators even for an average Ligue 1 match. For the players it means an increasing number of matches played during the season, including European competitions as well as domestic fixtures, and for some, periodic calls for international duty with the English and French national squads, and consequent physical wear and tear which may hasten the end of a playing career as a result of injury.
Footballers’ trade unions
The footballers’ unions are particularly strong in both countries and have occasionally threatened to go on strike, indirectly over the issue of wages but more particularly over the distribution of television broadcast fees. To an outsider this may appear surprising, given the popular notions of the high salaries earned by some footballers. But the elite footballers are unswervingly loyal to their union and to their less well-off colleagues, and have frequently expressed concern about the fate of the 80 per cent or more of young professionals who leave the game before age 20 and are in need of the unions’ services to help them back into education and to re-orientate their careers. In England the players’ union (PFA) has also helped keep some bankrupt clubs afloat by providing loans to guarantee the players’ wages.
The French footballers’ union (UNFP) numbers some 1,700 members and acts as the official representative of professional footballers. For their part, the professional clubs have grouped together in l’Union des clubs professionals de football (UCPF). Both bodies were involved in agreeing a ‘football charter’ which dates back to 1973, after a strike by French professional footballers over ‘contracts, freedom to join a union; the right to work and freedom of expression’. As a result of the Bosman ruling by the European court – after a 10 year judicial marathon lasting from 1990 to 2000 – the international football body FIFA was obliged to introduce the principle of freedom of movement of players reaching the end of their contract, in line with article 38 of the Treaty of Rome (covering freedom of movement within the European Union) and article 85 of the Single European Act (1986), which deals with freedom of competition and the right to work in any Member state of an individual’s choice. In December 2002, a further ruling in the Malaja case removed the last remaining restrictions on quotas of non-nationals joining a football club in 115 countries that signed a FIFA accord, together with an extension of the principle of freedom of contract. As was widely reported in the national and sports press at the time, Chelsea Football Club’s first team in March 2000 was composed entirely of foreigners, with not a single British player represented.
For their part, French clubs complain that in addition to paying increasingly higher wages, the social costs of employing a professional footballer – which are roughly twice the cost of the wage itself – inhibit them from attracting and paying the best international stars, who are consequently lost to wealthier clubs in England, Italy or Spain. The effect they argue is that they are handicapped in European competitions by the lack of comparably skilled players, which in turn means an early exit from European competitions and a resulting drop in television revenues.
As a consequence many French players are keen to improve their prospects and spend part of their playing career abroad, particularly in England. In this way they can command and receive a higher salary as well as a share of the transfer fee if applicable, and improve their exposure through television coverage of European competitions. However, once again it must be noted that only a relatively small number of elite players are involved, whose eventual transition out of football into a second career will be relatively seamless.
More serious is the drain from French clubs of younger players who have been trained by the club’s football academy at considerable cost (to the French State), and who are able to leave and join the club of their choice – including one abroad – under the post-Bosman regulations . This, plus overall concerns about running costs, has prompted some of the more commercially-minded French clubs to consider the possibility of closing down their youth training programmes (even though they are partly financed by the State) and elect instead for the adoption of feeder clubs in the semi-professional leagues; or the establishment of football academies in newly developing countries such as Africa and Eastern Europe. The idea is that these could provide a steady supply of talented young players, at considerably less cost in terms both of training overheads and wages demanded. Not surprisingly these proposals have been received with some scepticism by the State, the football authorities and the union, and have been under discussion since 2003.
The close season transfer market normally sees some 50 French footballers from Ligue 1 and 200 from Division two looking for work, as their contracts are terminated by clubs undergoing financial difficulties and reducing the numbers of players employed.
The PFA approach to assisting players’ in transition
The English Professional Footballers Association has been a pioneer in the provision of education and outplacement services to their members since the mid-1990s. ‘The service started as a result of research’ according to Mickie Burns, a former player and graduate of Liverpool University. ‘We were particularly concerned about the problem of younger players, aged 16 and upwards, who needed some way of preparing for a dual or second career outside football. Between the ages of 17 and 20 we found there was a very high wastage rate, some 70 to 80 per cent of the youngsters who had signed with professional clubs were leaving the game, after what could have been several years serious disruption of their schooling. Losses in their first years were around 15 per cent; but this rose steeply in years two (30 per cent) and three (almost 60 per cent) – an overall attrition rate of some 85 per cent.
‘As clubs were tending to recruit more widely and in larger numbers, this meant that every year literally hundreds of disillusioned youngsters were let go by professional clubs, with a survival rate of something like one in ten who went on to become professional footballers. At the time, this was hard to get across to the young players and indeed their parents, who took the view that “that’s not going to happen to my son” – even when I stood in front of a group of, say, a dozen young players and explained that statistically, ten of them would not make it into professional football!’
The PFA’s researches over three years included France, where Burns himself spent time at Auxerre in the French Ligue 1 and the national training centre at Clairefontaine, at Rambouillet south of Paris. The PFA’s plan for this age group was threefold and consisted of a mix of technical training, undertaken by the club and the Football Association, and training in coaching, leading to an award. This covered the football aspects of the youngster’s education.
In addition, all young players now follow a course of Personal and Social Development, while attending one of the football academies attached to a club. The course contains no fewer than 22 elements from basic social skills, covering subjects such as how to conduct themselves while staying in a hotel, to driving skills under the PFA’s own ‘drive and survive’ programme targeted at young men who at an early age may end up owning a large, powerful car. The programme also includes significant elements of pastoral care, usually handled by a chaplain; and sessions dealing with relationships, isolation, loneliness and other personal problems the young player uprooted from his family environment might expect to encounter.
The third strand in the programme comprises formal education, which is tailored to the individual player’s needs. According to Mickie Burns ‘this can range from GNVQs through GCSEs to A-levels, whatever the young player needs’. One phenomenon the PFA have noted over the last decade is the rising standard of educational qualifications of youngster coming into the game, with good grades at GCSE and even A-levels being relatively common. ‘Footballers are a lot better educated than most people think’ comments Burns, whose staff compile an educational dossier of every young player coming into the game, following meetings and interviews at every club.
The programme aims to take care of the 70 – 80 per cent of young players who do not go further in football. Those who survive the early years can normally look forward to a decade or more in the game, barring injuries or other unforeseen circumstances. When they too eventually approach the end of their playing careers, the PFA is again ready to help them out. ‘At this stage’ explains Burns, ‘players can apply to us for an annual bursary of up to two-thirds of their course fees, payable on successful completion of each year of study. These grants are available to professional scholar and trainee players leaving professional football and taking up a full-time university HND, foundation or undergraduate course’.
Further sums are available, including 50 per cent of the cost of books and other necessary equipment and the cost of a laptop computer. The grants can rise to 100 per cent if the ex-player is unemployed.
A similar system of grants is also made available to ex-players wishing to take a post-graduate course at a university or higher education establishment. These are based on a maximum amount per year or two-thirds of the cost over a period of two years, whichever is the lower; plus assistance towards the purchase of books and a laptop computer.
Mickie Burns is at pains to point out that ‘These sums come from internal union funds, which are derived from players’ subscriptions and part of the television money paid to football. If people are surprised that professional footballers need this level of financial assistance they should note that we are almost always talking about players from the lower divisions, who earn considerably less than those in the Premier League – where a successful player can probably earn enough to set himself up independently in his chosen occupation at the end of his football career. We find the scheme is popular with players, with our Premier League members readily acknowledging the needs of their less well-off colleagues in the lower divisions and happy to see their subscriptions being redistributed in this way. It is something we do ourselves, as part of our benefits to our members and accordingly it does not – nor does it need to – attract widespread publicity outside the confines of the union’.
Another interesting innovation by the PFA has been the design of a special undergraduate course in physiotherapy and sports science, which is delivered at Roehampton (Surrey University) and Salford. It is entirely financed by the PFA to take account of the special mode of delivery which is tailored to a professional player’s working week (for example, the bulk of the programme being taught on Mondays). The course has proved extremely popular with players and ex-players.
The PFA’s comprehensive range of programmes has led to many former players finding second careers within the leisure, sport and fitness industries, as well as following trade courses leading to jobs outside sport. The approach is gradually overtaking the football community programme which in the past absorbed a number of older former players, and is a far cry from the days when traditionally players had fewer post-career options and ended up opening a sports shop or running the village pub.
The French approach to player retirement
The French professional footballers union (UNFP) has for several years provided a range of services to its members, originally concerned mainly with financial and insurance advice to players in the first and second divisions (Ligue 1 and Division 2). From 1992 they have been involved in helping players make the transition from professional football into second careers, directed both at young players recently entering the game to those still playing, an age range averaging from 22 to 32. Younger players have their first contacts with professional football usually via a number of ‘football academies’ attached to clubs, which provide a mix of football and general education. Many successful players, including a number of French internationals, are graduates of the football academies, though some players make the transition into professional football from the amateur ranks during their late teens or early twenties.
Starting in 1992, Europ Sports Reconversion was established as part of the UNFP and is responsible for assisting players during the transition from professional football to second careers. It offers a wide range of services, consisting principally of advice, counselling and guidance, rather than financial support (as in the case of PFA). ESR operates through a number of central and regional counsellors, all of whom are former players who have gone through the process of reconversion themselves – one of them being Philippe Lafon, whose playing career included Matra Racing and Toulouse FC.
‘Our clients fall into two broad categories’ Lafon explains, ‘footballers who are still playing at the professional level in the Ligue – usually from age 20 to 30+ - and players who are without a club, either playing in the amateur leagues or having left football altogether. Players either contact us on recommendation from their colleagues or attend one of our regular open information sessions that we present to clubs. Players’ educational levels are continually rising, and the degree of urgency varies from one footballer to the next, and depending on his personal situation. Some players – about 40 per cent - start early on planning for a second career, while others may find themselves suddenly released from a club. For example a club in financial difficulties might have to drastically reduce its playing staff to improve cash-flow and provide funds for new player purchases, and good experienced players can suddenly find themselves out of a job. During July and August we organise a number of training sessions and exhibition matches, based at Clairefontaine, for a group of about 100 players who find themselves in this situation, and about half are later taken up by clubs. The sessions at Clairefontaine also include an element of preparation for life outside football for those who do not find a professional club, as part of their preparation for possible transition out of football’.
After a player has contacted ESR, he is assigned to a regional counsellor who meets the player at his home, usually for three hours or more. ‘This first meeting is important’ Philippe Lafon explains, ‘and comprises a number of stages. We feel it is important to meet the player at home, where he feels relaxed and we can involve his wife, children and family in the process of planning his future career moves. We use a number of questionnaires to record information about his personal, educational and professional background, and some tests to help highlight some aspects of his character.
‘The personal information we collect includes the player’s biography, origins, parents, childhood, schooling, family and home situation; we then consider his professional career, where he has played, whether he has played abroad and now returned home, what level he has reached in the Ligue and internationally, where he has settled or would like to settle. We then examine his future aspirations, perhaps even a project he may have already been working on, such as taking a university or vocational course while still playing. Together we explore and evaluate possibilities, look at options, consider his hobbies and interests, previous training and education. Finally we invite the player to do a personality test (ECHO) which only takes a few minutes and comprises some 70 questions, the idea being to develop a profile of the player’s character, highlighting his strong and weak points. We discuss the results with the player who is often surprised how accurate the profile results can be’.
On his return to the office the counsellor compiles a written dossier; a copy of which is sent to the player. This is followed by further meetings and discussions as to what the player’s next steps might be. Philippe Lafon stresses that ‘while we advise and encourage, there is no coercion. Players themselves make their own decisions, though we will explore options with them – which university or vocational course to take, whether they should spend some time tracking an architect or a lawyer to find out what they can about this sort of career and whether it might be appropriate for them. Over the years we have of course built up a network of personal contacts among employers, chambers of commerce, trade associations, as well as within universities and colleges. This is of enormous benefit, helping the player to look realistically at his various options’.
Membership of UNFP is voluntary and each club has an elected union delegate, who works with a regional delegate responsible for about a dozen clubs. Their duties include promotion of the union’s services and helping compile the union newsletter. ‘ESR and the union are well known to players’ Lafon explains, ‘and we are always well received by clubs – many trainers have themselves passed through ESR and know the value of our services. After their reconversion we know that some 60 per cent of players stay in sport (as trainers, coaches, teachers etc), about 30 per cent go into commerce including self-employment; 5 per cent into financial services, and 5 per cent other occupations.
‘At the end of his playing career a professional footballer benefits from 23 months unemployment pay, after which he would have recourse to the state services such as ASSEDIC. Of course many have personal savings if they have played at the higher levels and some services are paid by the clubs, based on 1 per cent of their payroll. Many other sports federations are looking at the issue of sports reconversion and come to us for advice on how to set up similar schemes to help their members make the transition from professional sport into a second career’.
Some conclusions
Both programmes, as reported by their respective spokesmen, place considerable emphasis on practical – even financial – assistance to their members, in the form of career advice, arranging for players to shadow potential employers, communication and presentation skills, and help with continuing studies. The element that appears to be missing is that of personal counselling and assistance with handling psychological issues associated with the transition out of soccer and back to ‘real life’. Yet some of the earliest research into what sportsmen would actually prefer indicates that individual and small-group counselling, and opportunities to share personal feelings with their counsellor and other team mates are highly valued but sometimes missing from athlete support programmes.
The author Peter-Danton de ROUFFIGNAC, an Englishman of French descent, is a sports counsellor and director of a French-based registered charity the Person-Centered Counseling Association, which offers counselling support to athletes and others undergoing transitions. He has undertaken research into the problems of professional sportsmen facing retirement, in association with INSEP, the French national sports training centre. Copies of the draft report are available on request to researchers, sportsmen and others interested in this subject and who might like to contribute to ongoing research. Email peter-danton@orange.fr
Life after sport? Counseling Professional Athletes Facing Retirement
Much of the early research into withdrawal from sport concentrated on the problems faced by younger athletes (all disciplines) retiring from full-time sport at high school or college (university) levels in America. A number of issues were identified which can affect the quality of the transition, and many of these have laid the groundwork for later research into the retirement of professional athletes, and have influenced the approaches increasingly being taken by sports federations and others to helping sportsmen facing retirement. This article examines the main trends and offers some conclusions.Why athletes retire
As early as 1984, Ogilvie[1] cited three factors that may trigger retirement from professional sport, which he argued could have varying consequences on the young person’s ability to cope with retirement. They were: de-selection, injury and expiration of eligibility, any of which could precipitate the athlete’s (unwilling) exit from sport.
De-selection occurred when the athlete is suddenly dropped from a team or squad and can arise at any time, often without warning and coming as a rude shock to the athlete concerned. De-selection may be due to injury or loss of form, reduced quotas or the arrival of younger, fitter recruits. Later research by Ogilvie and Howe[2] also found that the numbers of young people making the transition from school or university to fulltime or professional sport were extremely low, and that a career at the top levels could be extremely short. According to their findings, as few as 0.021 per cent of American athletes (or 15,000 individuals) reached the level of a university team after high school, and 0.00007 per cent (50 individuals) reached the level of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Even those who made it to the professional ranks could spend an average of just 4.2 years in the national football league (NFL) and even less time in the NBA. The figures for black minority athletes were even more disturbing. Out of 30 million black men and women (population figures at the time of the survey), only one in 460,000 would end up making a career from major football, basketball or soccer leagues during that year; yet 43 per cent of all young black athletes polled believed they would eventually play professional sport as a fulltime career. The researchers placed much of the blame for thwarted ambitions on teachers and coaches who frequently encouraged unrealistic expectations in the young athletes, who in turn discovered that the transition, say, from high school to college level sport was beyond their capabilities, with a resulting shock to their self-esteem.
Another significant cause of retirement was athletic injury, which can strike at any time, and because of its unpredictability can cause additional problems of retirement planning. The level of injuries sustained by American sportsmen ranged from 21 per cent out of 21,000 athletes surveyed in 351 high schools by the University of Iowa in 1993, who were forced to retire from sport; to as many as 66 per cent of all NFL players whose retirement was the direct result of serious injury.
Other commentators have argued that as many as 50 per cent of college athletes retire early due to injury, and in sports such as professional skiing injury rates may reach an alarming one hundred per cent. . While the fulltime professional might be better prepared for an injury that may terminate his career[3], young school and college athletes tended to react either through denial (‘this can’t happen to me’) to ‘toughing it out’, disguising or denying their injury, and continuing to train and practice without informing their coach. Ogilvie and Howe cite examples of anger and resentment expressed by young athletes, against doctors, trainers and coaches who were sometimes imagined as obstructing the injured athlete’s return to competitive sport. Because the young people were single-mindedly dedicated to their sport they sometimes failed to develop other aptitudes and abilities which could provide a substitute when their athletic career came to an end. Lack of proper guidance and counselling, the authors argue, were to blame.
The third principal cause of athlete retirement was found to be expiry of eligibility – the young athlete’s time at school or college simply came to an end, together with the opportunity to remain as a member of the representative team[4]. Research by Blum[5] in 1995 found that academic emphasis was especially low for Black minority athletes – they were recruited on scholarships principally for their sporting prowess, with the result that withdrawal from sport often left them with few career alternatives. The research argued for higher academic standards on admission but noted that this policy might also have the effect of ruling many minority athletes out of sport at the university level.
Athletic identity
Where an athlete has a strong identity with his chosen sport, additional problems of transition can occur at any time. A dominant or exclusive athletic identity occurs when athletes define themselves principally by their role in sport, sometimes to the detriment or exclusion of their personal or social identity.[6]
Levels of athletic identity can be measured by examining the attitudes of the athlete himself, his family, friends and peers to his role in sport.[7] Consequences of a strong athletic identity identified by Meeker et al. include characteristics such as absence or low levels of self-worth outside sport, significant time and energy spent pursuing sport, ignoring the realities of playing professional sport, failure to generate interests and activities outside sport, failure to identify career alternatives in the event of a withdrawal from sport, and experience of depression when unable to continue a career in sport.[8]
Further findings in America[9] have shown that a strong athletic identity can lead to a reduced level of alternative career research, and increased problems after withdrawal or retirement, whenever it occurs. Ogilvie and Howe noted that athletes with a strong sports identity often reported ‘more venting of emotions, mental disengagement, behavioural disengagement, denial, seeking of instrumental social support, suppression of competing activities, and seeking of emotional support during retirement’.[10]
In their research into players retiring from the Australian Football League noted above, Fortunato and Gilbert note: ‘Research suggests that, due to elite athletes’ typically being totally involved in their sport, the majority of their friends and acquaintances and their social activities tend to be found in the sports environment…..Difficulties arise when these athletes are no longer part of the team or organisation. It has been suggested that due to athletes’ restricted social identity and the absence of social support, they may experience feelings of isolation and loneliness, which may lead to significant feelings of distress’.[11]
In a personal account of his retirement from professional sport during his 40s, American world champion triathlete Scott Tinley[12] noted that athletes are strongly defined by their sport, and often their individual role within it (for example, as a goalkeeper or high jumper). Athletes he notes tend to be identified by recognisable external ‘badges’, such as the shaved legs of the professional cyclist or triathlete, their distinctive sports clothing and equipment or their collections of trophies. Reactions to retirement can accordingly include a refusal to give up these symbols, with some athletes attempting repeated comebacks or trying their hand at another sport.
Educational levels
Additional problems can occur on transition where athletes have pursued their sports career to the detriment of their general education. Graduation levels of all student-athletes have been reported as low as 15 per cent in some areas of America to below 30 per cent in others, compared with the overall student body. This has been graphically described as ‘the jock trap’ – the situation in which many student-athletes leave college without an adequate education to fit them for a career outside sport.
Researchers again argue that lack of guidance is to blame, with too much emphasis placed on sporting prowess (and the concomitant fame attached to the college concerned) and insufficient consideration given to developing the young athletes’ academic potential and preparing them for eventual withdrawal from sport. Practical recommendations include individual and group counselling about career options in and outside sport, the need for the athlete to continue lower levels of maintenance fitness and sports activity after retirement, and helping athletes ‘let go’ and make the transition out of fulltime sport and into an alternative life while they are still relatively young.
This theme has been developed by professor J Scott Hinkle of the University of North Carolina[13] who states: ‘Collegiate athletes rarely make it to the pro ranks or to the Olympics. In fact, the majority do not make it to graduation. This reflects a need for career development and life planning with student-athletes in the early stages of their careers. Student-athletes’ career decisions are often postponed due to the intense level of commitment required by their sport participation. Sports counsellors have been successful using interventions which focus on development across the lifespan. In these classes student-athletes are informed and educated about the need for awareness of difficulties that may lie ahead and are taught the skills necessary for problem management’.
Hinkle also notes that participants in minor sports – covering virtually all sports activities except college football and baseball that generate revenues for the university - and embracing swimmers, athletes or gymnasts, also suffer from neglect by their college but still have their share of stress and other difficulties. This is also noted by Dr John F Murray[14] in the sports psychology journal Mental Equipment in relation to athletes within individual sports such as tennis, who often lack the larger social support resources found in team sports. ‘No athlete is an island’ he notes. In another article in the same journal, Dr Murray notes: ‘When your whole life has been geared toward athletic excellence, the prospects of retirement can be dreadful! This is commonplace at collegiate level where 99 per cent of the athletes do not go on to play their sport professionally. Counselling is a way to prepare athletes for the inevitable loss that occurs after the glory is over and only memories remain. As with any loss, people need effective ways to cope. Going at it all on your own might work for some, but I’ll submit that the vast majority of athletes benefit from early discussion and planning for retirement. There is definitely life after sport. Not planning for financial retirement is ridiculous, and failing to plan for the emotional effects of retirement is just as silly’.
Making the break
In their study of athletes’ typical reactions to leaving sport Petitpas et al.[15] cite typical reactions as including feelings of sadness at leaving the sports arena; loss of self-identity; anger at the circumstances surrounding the decision to leave sport; loneliness at separating from team mates; fear of an uncertain future outside sport; loss of confidence towards life; frustration at no longer having a special status as an athlete; fear of being left behind in the career world and having to catch up; frustration over loss of entitlement to privileges such as sponsorship and free travel; and concerns about managing money.
A more recent study is the individual research of Musselman[16] and Planella[17] which included a number of personal case studies based on interviews with eighteen athletes. Similar themes arise and the two researchers jointly summarised their overall findings as follows: ‘All athletes had invested a long time in the sport and had a large part of their identity framed by their success.All athletes experienced the transition period uniquely through particular reactions to factors operating before and at their retirement. Approximately 60 per cent expressed the opinion that their experiences had been a mixed or difficult process.The most significant determinants of successful transition were voluntary departure from the sport, an easing out of the sport, strong social support (provided by family and friends but seldom by coaches and/or sports organisations), pre-retirement planning (although few either chose or were able to access such services), and establishing a new focus either within or outside the sport.The most significant determinants of unsuccessful transition were involuntary departure, loss of self identity, and lack of other replacement activities for the large amount of available time. Achieving specific goals showed mixed responses. Whether individuals felt that they had been recognised within the sport culture appeared to be of most importance. Transition took some time, usually up to three years before athletes felt that the effects were less important. Most of the female athletes had abandoned exercise and express serious concern for weight gains.Generally, athletes were satisfied with the sport experience and given the opportunity would have chosen the same path’.
Occasionally it is the athletes themselves who reveal the traumas they went through on reaching retirement from professional sport. These were highlighted in January 2002, at the launch of a new programme involving the website monster.com and the US Olympics Team. Researchers found that 70 per cent of the athletes interviewed felt the time spent in training and competing had left them at a disadvantage in the job market; more than 60 per cent had or expected an emotional letdown after the Games; and 73 per cent had to work in low-level service jobs while training and pursuing their studies.
American hockey player A J Mleczko speaking of his impending retirement talked of ‘putting your life on hold to pursue a dream’ and adding ‘All of my peers have five years of post-college experience. I don’t know if what I’m doing qualifies me for anything’. Jimmy Pedro, a three-times Olympian and bronze medal winner in the 1996 summer games (judo) comments: ‘Most athletes don’t end up on a cereal packet. They don’t have a bank account. They don’t have a home. They need employment…..Right after (the Olympics) I was being pulled in lots of different directions. My speaking schedule was booked. I was exhausted and drained. When it all died down after three months I was empty, I was lost and I had three kids and had to put food on the table…An entry level salary, acceptable for a 21 year old recent college graduate, is a shock to someone in their thirties trying to catch up. It’s the kind of situation that just adds to the letdown’. But Pedro notes that former athletes make good employees but suffer from their late start and knowing where to begin. He goes on: ‘These are people who work well under pressure, are goal oriented, manage their time well, are used to a team environment, and know persistence and how to hustle. Unfortunately they rarely know anyone outside a small circle. Their network is their coach and their peers, who are going through the same thing’.[18]
Another US hockey player, interviewed[19] spoke of the difficulties he expected to face on retirement. Approaching 30, he admitted he had done little to prepare for his future: ‘I fell victim to it (the life of the professional athlete). Hindsight is 20-20. I am college educated but it’s still going to be a difficult transition for me at age 30….Guys have to take a serious look at the fact that they’re going to need a life after hockey. This isn’t the NHL and I don’t think anyone’s going to get rich playing in the IHL. You’re going to have to have a second career’.
Jean Lussier, a Canadian professional hockey player living in Quebec who had spent time playing in Lausanne (Switzerland) speaks of similar apprehensions.[20] Replying to questions about his plans for the future he notes: ‘I have gone through some difficult patches. I left a world I adored, for me hockey was more than just a simple passion. I have had to readjust. Life here in Quebec is not the same as Switzerland….Though I never wanted to push myself into the spotlight, I still found myself there! But you have to be able to turn the page. From being a public figure you become just another man in the street. Golf has enabled me to meet new people and make new contacts. Sportsmen who withdraw and cut themselves off can spiral into dark depressions. When you’re involved in sport everyone wants to shake your hand. When you become just another citizen, no-one is interested any more’.
Scott Tinley[21] in his personal account of retirement already cited sought recovery by talking to as many fellow athletes as he could during the immediate months of his own withdrawal from sport. He found that the ‘recovery process’ could last from as little as a few months to as much as ten years, with withdrawal symptoms including mental, emotional and physical illnesses. He encountered former athletes who had used drugs or alcohol as part of their survival mechanism, while some attempted or committed suicide, or suffered divorce and family break-up.
Many athletes reported missing their previously well ordered daily routine of training and competition, the foreign travel and the company and support of their team-mates. Without this many complained of the difficulty of ‘finding a reason for living’ or ‘a reason to get up in the morning’. Tinley describes feelings of isolation combined with that of knowing ‘you have to get through this on your own’. On a practical level, he records how his former income dropped by 90 per cent and how he gradually adjusted to his new life as a student and later a university lecturer in California.
Interventions
A number of researchers have also examined the role of interventions by counsellors and sports organisations and their effectiveness in helping athletes in transition, based largely on empirical evidence. Some of their conclusions are now examined.
In their report cited above, Musselman and Planella offered the following suggestions: ‘Prior to the retirement phase athletes:Must be made aware of the potential responses to transition through careful interventions during their participation.Must be encouraged to develop outside interests to provide some balance in their lives.Must be encouraged to recognise the life skills inherently involved in high level sport, such as commitment, time management and establishing long term goals.Should be encouraged to go through a period of reduced activity (detraining and less competition toward the end of their career).Should receive counselling in nutrition and the values of normal exercise. Should receive mentoring from former athletes in managing the experience’.[22]
The authors concluded that coaches and sports organisations should be more empathetic to the needs of retiring and recently retired athletes and institute career search assistance plans for those leaving sport. These sentiments are echoed by Emily Thompson, of Dalhousie University[23] who advises sports coaches as follows: ‘According to the research, the ease with which an athlete makes the transition out of competitive sport is intimately related to the experience they had during their competitive years. An athlete who has had a positive experience in sport and has accomplished what he or she set out to do in sport will be able to handle the challenges of retirement far better than the athlete who has unfulfilled expectations or feels they are being “pushed out” of their sport. To avoid the latter, we should be discussing retirement with our athletes as part of regular career planning sessions. Retirement should not be considered a finite moment in time – where one day the athlete is competing at high level, and the next they are not involved in sport any more. Training and competition at high level is a lot like an addiction – and just like other physical addictions, our bodies need time to adapt to the new demands – and going “cold turkey” can lead to serious and long-lasting side effects. Retiring athletes report having headaches, difficulty sleeping, irritability, a lack of appetite and even depression. By managing their transition we can reduce these unwanted side-effects. Instead, retirement should be viewed as a gradual process where initially the athlete gains an awareness that retirement is approaching, and then he/she experiences a pre-leaving interval, where the coach can offer modified training programmes to counter the physical/psychological side-effects of reduced training. This is followed by the actual act of leaving the sport, and then the athlete is free to explore “life after competition”. Depending upon the athlete, this process may take place over a matter of months or extend over a period of several years. Be aware that how you personally feel about retirement will be relayed to your athletes through words or your actions. Suggesting that it is “not my problem – you work it out” sends the message that you don’t care what happens to them once they stop competing. Avoiding the topic altogether sends the message that retirement is negative, and something to be dreaded and feared. By talking about retirement openly and regularly tells athletes that it is something they need to think about and they should embrace this transition and life after competition, with the same kind of commitment that kept them training throughout their career’.
Hinkle adduces similar arguments as Ogilvie, Blum and others and notes that all student-athletes suffer a number of anxieties arising out of ‘the threat of evaluation by others, lack of self-confidence, and unreasonable expectations from coaches and fans’. These are best treated, he argues, by specialist sports counsellors: the latter are not sport psychologists who focus on issues such as motivation and performances; nor are they coaches who are trained in physical education.
He notes: ‘The counsellor should not neglect the individual for the sake of sports performance or the organization/team for which the student-athlete performs. In contrast to sports psychology, sports counselling’s focus is on the athlete’s development as an individual, including personal and clinical issues associated with sport performance. For example, sports counselling assists student-athletes with reducing stress and anxiety, overcoming fear of failure and success, and burn-out. It also addresses interpersonal issues such as family and marital difficulty. In addition counselling can assist with problem prevention, coping skills; relaxation training; decision-making, life management and career planning; therapeutic strategies and crisis intervention.’[24]
Recognising the symptoms of athlete distress is an essential part of any retirement support programme, according to Petitpas[25] who notes: ‘Although many athletes choose to attend career transition programmes to acquire the knowledge necessary to position themselves to get a job or start a new career, they often have to deal with the emotional meaning of leaving elite sport competition. Our experience suggests that many athletes, particularly those in the midst of disengaging from competition, experience emotions such as fear, sadness and anger during their transition out of elite sport participation. Without getting into a lengthy discourse about the causes of these emotional reactions, they are often political, identity and support systems issues that must be addressed before these individuals are ready to engage in self-exploration activities. This does not imply that all these issues have to be resolved, but only that many athletes will need a safe forum in which to share their feelings. ‘Unfortunately, many transitioning athletes believe that few people understand what they are going through. As a result, the first task in any sport career transition intervention is to give the participants opportunities to express their feelings in a forum in which they feel understood’.
Petipas also insists that advisors should be aware of sportsmen’s self-identity issues, and notes:[26] ‘A related issue is what has been called the Olympic self-image. Athletes at elite levels are often revered by fans and placed on pedestals. As a result, it is sometimes difficult for these athletes to imagine themselves in anything but high-paying high-visibility careers that will give them the same types of exciting and compelling experiences that they had during their athletic careers. It is often necessary to ask athletes to recall what it took for them to become elite performers. This will set the stage for looking at sports participation as a first career and for introducing the notion of transferable skills in order to accelerate their rate of advancement within a new career.’
Counselling the athlete in transition
It is clear from the research that the typical athlete faces a unique set of pressures that may require counselling help, especially during withdrawal, which can occur at any stage of his sports career. Elite athletes have invariably entered their sport at a very young age and have already spent several years in training and preparation before being identified by their local or regional federation as candidates for high level training. During their teenage years they have to adjust to a dual or triple role, as young people, as students and as athletes. These multiple roles produce a unique set of pressures, physical as well as mental, at a particularly vulnerable time in the young person’s development. Athletic advancement can often be at the expense of personal development.[27] Other commentators have argued that team welfare is often placed ahead of the personal welfare of the athlete, who may be encouraged to ignore injury and play on ‘for the good of the team’ to the detriment of his own long-term health.[28]
The high visibility of athletes can result in a variety of misconceptions and create further role confusion. Student athletes may be regarded by other students and faculty as ‘dumb jocks’ or a privileged and pampered elite that brings fame and notoriety to their school or university. Educational standards may have been waived to accommodate a promising sportsman and the high profile athlete may enjoy considerable indulgence from teachers and professors. Where this is not the case, the student athlete may have to face a choice of continuing his education or concentrating on the demands of high level sport (training, competition, travel) that may leave him too exhausted to study. Student athletes who participate in non-revenue generating sports may enjoy fewer privileges and yet be expected to perform well academically as well as in sport.[29]
External pressures include those of parents, coaches, federations, clubs and sponsors, who feel they have made an investment in the young athlete’s potential. Some athletes are reluctant to leave their sport because of these outside pressures and occasionally have been known to welcome an injury that offers a face-saving solution and enables them to retire.[30]
Media pressure can range from sudden and sometimes short-lived fame to criticism and violent attack when the athlete falls out of favour or suffers loss of form. The on and off-field exploits of professional soccer players, for example, are continually under a spotlight, as the media have a voracious appetite for alleged financial, marital or sexual scandals. The sportsman’s public profile can also lead to additional demands ‘to give something back to the community’ in the form of charity events or public speaking engagements for which he may have little time or appetite.[31]
As already noted, injury or loss of form can swiftly end a promising sports career at any time, forcing the athlete to disguise or downplay an injury in an effort to carry on and retain a team place, possibly to the detriment of his long term health. Such pressures may also come from irresponsible coaches and sponsors, whose reputations are built on the ability of their protégés to perform. This can lead to conflicts in counselling between team directors and coaches, and personal physicians more concerned about the individual athlete’s long term health.[32]
Barriers to take-up of counselling services
Not surprisingly some athletes turn to various coping mechanisms such as alcohol or drugs, either to enhance their performance or simply keep going, or to compensate for the pain of relegation or abandonment when their sporting career is threatened.[33]
Although several universities, sports federations and public bodies have initiated athlete assistance programmes, there are numerous barriers to their effective delivery. Among them is the sportsman’s own reluctance to use the services offered. This can be for a number of reasons including time constraints (real or imaginary); perceived loss of image (‘I can sort this out on my own’); pressure from peers or coaches; suspicion of outsiders (those not integrated into the athlete’s closed, protective world); misconceptions (the image of counsellors as ‘shrinks’ who deal with ‘head cases’); and the inappropriateness – real or imagined – of the range of services offered (for example an emphasis on career and job finding rather than dealing with emotional or psychological problems). Commentators such as Etzel and colleagues note that visiting a sports psychologist is regarded as acceptable by coaches and athletes if it is to do with performance enhancement or recovering from loss of form; but not if the athlete reports suffering from personal problems (regarded as an admission of failure by the coach).[34]
The same authors argue that by concentrating on motivation psychology and performance enhancement, sports psychologists and practitioners in exercise science may be ill-equipped to assist the athlete in dealing with related problems of anxiety, stress, depression and other psychosocial problems which some estimates suggest affect up to 25 per cent of the US athletic population.[35]
Further research noted by the authors indicates that as many as 70 per cent of the overall student athlete population have reported a need for counselling assistance from their coach.[36] This element is however lacking in a number of athlete support programmes studied by various researchers. A 1989 survey of American baseball and hockey players by Blann and Zaichowsky was critical of the emphasis on work placements, job search and self marketing techniques; while elements that were highly valued by the athletes included ‘seminars and individual counselling’. [37] These findings are again confirmed in the 2003 research undertaken by Fortunato and Gilbert among Australian rules footballers. They note: ‘Players who involuntarily retired, that being through injury or de-selection, discussed not receiving adequate social support by their clubs, family or friends. While they obviously did not receive support from their clubs, these players all admitted to being offered support from their family and friends, but stated that their family and friends could not understand what they were going through. This seems to be a case of the players not being ready to accept support, rather than it not being offered. Further research should investigate:
- factors which lead to perceived “lack” of social support;
- factors that distinguish when one is ready to accept social support;
- and the value of counselling from a person not attached to the club or player who is retiring’.[38]
In designing the American CAPA programme (Career Assistance Program for Athletes) in 1988, the US Olympic Foundation emphasised that important element should include ‘counselling that allows athletes to share their feelings after, as well as before, a transition (eg. retirement) takes place’. A survey among athlete users of the programme noted that among the elements most valued by athletes were ‘small group discussions with other athletes, sharing feelings with other athletes’, which led to changes in the design of the programme (sadly, suspended in 1993 due to lack of funding).[40]
In the conclusion to their own study of Australian Rules football players, Fortunato and Gilbert note:‘A footballer needs to manage the transition experience from player to non-player effectively. This may be achieved through individual counselling which deals with some of the following issues:
- self identity
- social support
- coping skills
- managing change
- developing a sense of control.
Conclusion
During my own researches into retirement from sport, I have often been surprised and sometimes moved by the vulnerability of professional sportsmen, which is often at variance with their perceived tough-guy public image. Sports federations, professional clubs, coaches – and even dare I say sports psychologists – may sometimes fail the individual by not recognising that behind every dieu du stade there is a vulnerable human being. It is only through sports counselling that practitioners can start to address the many personal issues faced by professional sportsmen, not least at a time when they are experiencing a transition out of sport and into real life.
Peter-Danton de Rouffignac is a sports counsellor specialising in sports retirement and has researched many of the issues raised in this article, in association with INSEP, the French national sports training centre. ‘Life after sport,’ is available in draft by request to anyone interested in this topic and might like to contribute to ongoing research. Email peter-danton@orange.fr ***
[41] Op.cit. : 91
