The effect of SARS-COV-2 on senior college athletes’ retirement considerations

ABSTRACT

While there are studies that qualitatively examine athletes’ retirement experiences post retirement [e.g. Lavallee & Robinson, 2007. In pursuit of an identity: A qualitative exploration of retirement from women's artistic gymnastics. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 8(1), 119–141; Torregrosa et al., 2015. Olympic athletes back to retirement: A qualitative longitudinal study. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 21, 50–56; Tshube & Feltz, 2015. The relationship between dual-career and post-sport career transition among elite athletes in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 21, 109–114; Warriner & Lavallee, 2008. The retirement experiences of elite female gymnasts: Self identity and the physical self. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 20(3), 301–317], a unique opportunity was presented during the COVID-19 pandemic to gather data from NCAA Division II baseball players who faced potential involuntary sport retirement at roughly the same time for the same reason, thus eliminating multiple variables that are common in athlete retirement research. This study aimed to explore the experiences of senior college athletes using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Data analysis revealed that while the college athletes reported experiencing negative cognitive and emotional responses, they also identified positive aspects of this unexpected situation, thought of others during this unprecedented time, and remained future-oriented. Although there is still more to learn about the impact of sudden sport retirement on athletes, this exploration offered optimism that some athletes can be surprisingly resilient when faced with unexpected adversity at the end of their athletic careers.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• Coronavirus
• NCAA
• Division II
• athletes
• qualitative‌
• interpretative phenomenological analysis
• baseball

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kelly Barcza-Renner

Kelly Barcza-Renner, Ph.D., LPC is the Assistant Dean, Curriculum and the Program Chair, Psychology and Social Sciences at Franklin University. She has enjoyed teaching at Franklin University since 2012, and was a 2014 Teaching Excellence Award recipient, as well as the 2019 Inaugural Faculty Fellow. Currently, Dr. Renner is on the Fulbright Specialist Roster. Prior to working in higher education, she spent four years as a community mental health clinician, working with clients battling addictions, depression, anxiety, personality disorders, and abuse.

Amber M. Shipherd

Amber M. Shipherd is an Associate Professor and performance psychology program coordinator in the Department of Health and Kinesiology at Texas A&M University – Kingsville, USA. She is also owner and lead Mental Performance Consultant at Next Level Mind Consulting, and provides mental training services to individual athletes, teams, and coaches in South Texas. Her research and publications focus on effective interventions and practices, including enhancing self-efficacy, sport injury prevention and rehabilitation, and effective practices for learning and instruction in sport and exercise psychology. Dr. Shipherd is listed on the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee Sport Psychology Registry and is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC) through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology, where she presently serves as the Membership Services Division Head on the executive board.

Itay Basevitch

Itay Basevitch, Ph.D., is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC) through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) in the USA. Dr. Basevitch's main research interests are in the areas of decision-making and perceptual-cognitive skills in team sports. He received his Ph.D. from Florida State University and has worked in the United Kingdom, United States, and Israel as a professor, researcher, and applied practitioner.

Edgar O. Pizarro

Edgar O. Pizarro, B.S., M.S., ACSM-E-PC., is a doctorate graduate assistant at Texas Woman’s University at Dallas for the School of Occupational Therapy. He is a former graduate student at Texas A&M University at Kingsville where he was the lead graduate assistant for the Department of Health and Kinesiology. He plans to open his own pediatric rehabilitation clinic in the near future after graduation in May of 2024.