Retirement and Career Transitions

The existential impact of retirement

Retirement is undoubtedly the most traumatic and defining event in the biography of an elite athlete.

It is often described psychologically as a "social death", as it entails the sudden and simultaneous loss of multiple vital pillars: public identity, social status, structured daily routine and circle of belonging. Coaching at this stage transitions to an existential and profound approach.

It is not just a matter of financial or work planning, but of accompanying the person in a real "structural mourning process".

The coach validates and normalizes the emotions of loss, allowing the ex-athlete to process the end of his or her competitive stage without falling into risky behaviors or severe reactive depressions.

The phases of sports grief

Using the Kübler-Ross model adapted to sport, the coach helps the athlete navigate the inevitable phases of change: denial ("I can still come back"), anger ("the club betrayed me"), bargaining, depression and, finally, acceptance.

The danger lies in getting stuck in the anger or depression phase, idealizing the past and rejecting the present.

The coach acts as a reality anchor and emotional support, preventing the identity crisis from becoming chronic.

Many athletes suffer from a "one-dimensional identity"; they have dedicated so much time to the sport that they believe they are only worth their marks.

When the sport disappears, they feel that they themselves disappear. The job is to dismantle that limiting belief.

Identity reconstruction and talent transfer

The key intervention is identity reconstruction and talent mapping. The coach guides the individual to recognize that the competencies that made them successful in sport - resilience, discipline, teamwork, pressure management - are transversal skills that are highly valued in the business and social world.

It is about changing the internal narrative: moving from saying "I am an ex-footballer" (definition for what one is no longer) to saying "I am a person with leadership and strategic ability who played soccer".

By transferring the psychological capital of sport to the new civilian life, retirement is no longer seen as an absolute end and is reframed as the beginning of a new stage of high performance in a different scenario.

Summary

Sporting retirement is a traumatic event that entails a social death due to loss of identity. The coach accompanies this structural mourning process with a profound approach.

It is vital to navigate through the phases of denial, anger and acceptance to avoid severe depression. The work consists in dismantling the belief of possessing a one-dimensional sports identity.

Identity reconstruction allows the psychological capital of sport to be transferred to the business world. Retirement is thus reframed as the beginning of a new successful stage.