Major Challenges Facing Retiring Athletes - Essay Example

The roar of the crowd and the high self-image created by professional athletes become faint memories. All these among others lead to anxiety stress, anger, and depression. For example, “Boo” William. They were a very prolific football player who suffered from depression after retiring in 2005 (Grant, 2012). Since William is not an athlete, this is the fate of many retiring athletes. Additionally, Ian Thome, Celtic FC Manager Neil Lennon, and Olympic Champion Dame Kelly are some of the few high-profile athletes who confirmed having suffered depression after retirement (Grant, 2012).

Another major challenge facing retiring athletes is lost identity. An athlete’s identity is basically how the athlete identifies himself/herself with the role he/she plays and looks to others for acknowledgment of that role. The loss of applauses, brand endorsement, and autography, among others, normally lead to discomfort and lack of confidence that the athlete had been exuding while on the track. This again may roll back to psychological pain and stress. For example, Bill Cole, who is one of the renowned performing coaches has worked with many athletes who struggle to come to terms with retirement (Grant, 2012). He notes that the most contributing factor is putting up with a sense of loss in their lives. That is losing crowd acknowledgment.

Thirdly, another major challenge is what may be may be called ‘Tunnel vision syndrome’. Most athletes’ life is mainly narrowed down to training, competition, and results. Thus thinking about other aspects of life after retiring may be a demanding task for most of them. James Cracknell, Britain’s double Olympic rowing champion, noted that most people suffer from depression after retiring from sport because they are not sure where to apply the focus (Grant, 2012).
Thus challenges facing retiring athletes create a vicious cycle that rolls back to depression and stress.
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