Transitioning In Sports

As an athlete retires from sport, it is looked upon as a pervasive problem that’s exposed through anecdotal depictions by the athletes retiring or have retired (Fisher & Wrisberg, 2007). Prior to retirement their lies the stage of transitioning, “transitioning,” was best defined by Schlossberg (1981) in counselling psychology as ‘an event or non-event which results in a change in assumptions about oneself and the world and requires a corresponding change in one’s behavior and relationships.’ The transitioning experienced by athletes are considered normative (expected and prepared) or non-normative (unexpected and unprepared). Along with discussing the transitioning process, we must also address the influence of capitalism and how it is a driving

Why is this important? To begin exploring the factors that hinder the Black athletes’ ability to transition out of sport, we have to first understand the components of what “identity” constitutes. Research links racial identity to important developmental outcomes among African American adolescents, but less is known about the contextual experiences that shape youths’ racial identity Richardson, B., Macon, Mustafaa, Bogan, Cole-Lewis & Chavous, 2015). There are different stages and cultural factors, secondly, we must understand how Black athletes identify within their sport and most importantly how their circumscriptions affect their role as the athlete. For African-American adolescents, racial, ethnic and athletic identity are essential to growth and development (Bimper & Harrison, 2011). Racial identity (Sue & Sue, 1999) is what denotes an individual’s self-categorization into a particular ethnic group, and athletic identity (Bimper & Harrison, 2011). It also signifies the degree that others continually recognize one’s role as an athlete and the internalization, value, and expression of this role by the

This model suggest that many African-American adolescents occupy the immersion-emersion stage (Bimper & Harrison, 2011; Harrison et al., 2002). The immersion-emersion stage stimulates pride in one’s racial identity and is characterized by a withdrawal from the dominant culture and an immersion into African-American culture (Sue & Sue, 1999). This phase may elicit an identity set (Collins, 1970) perspective, wherein adolescents will desire to be like a person or group they admire, such as an African-American professional athlete or entertainer that is considered (by mainstream white America) a successful Black man (Sue & Sue, 1999). The perceived installation of this self-identity, is considered the core of why a black athlete may struggle with transitioning out of sports or detach from their athletic identity. There are many variables in assisting these beliefs (billboards, TV, social media, video games, etc.) but the experience of that received marketing exposure of a successful black man has yet to be understood and/or recorded for research purposes. These experience can reflect or dismiss previous findings on the socialization into sports by the athlete’s family, media, and community (Beamon & Bell, 2002, Edwards,