Abstract
It is often parents who introduce their children to competitive sports and parents who then provide remarkable emotional and material support across their children's athletic careers (CitationBloom, 1985; CitationCôté, 1999). Considerable research documents athletes’ retirement experiences (CitationBaillie, 1993; CitationBaillie & Danish, 1992; CitationSvoboda & Vanek, 1982; CitationWerthner & Orlick, 1982), yet none explores the effects of retirement on parents. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of athletes’ disengagement from sport on parents. In-depth interviews were conducted with six parents of former female elite gymnasts who had been retired for three to five years and the data analyzed inductively (CitationCôté, Salmela, Baria, & Russell, 1993; CitationLally & Kerr, 2005; CitationMiller & Kerr, 2002, Citation2003). Their daughters’ withdrawal from gymnastics and their own immediate disengagement from the world of elite sport had a tremendous impact on the participants’ personal and social relationships, leaving them struggling with weighty self-doubts over their failure to intervene with abusive coaches.