The Impact of Forced Retirement on Professional Athletes

Abstract

The Impact of forced retirement on professional athletes is prevalent throughout all professional sports. This review explores the key factors associated with involuntary retirement from sport, the impact it has on professional athlete’s wellbeing, and the process of preparing for retirement as a whole. Throughout the process of gathering information there was a total of 10 critical mass peer reviewed articles that included a total of 469 participants. Researchers used various data collection methods to gather information. Findings indicated a variety of important variables that coexist throughout the process of forced retirement in sports; including one’s overall life satisfaction, various stressors, and the most common in injuries. It is clear that involuntary retirement is a tragic outcome caused by a professional athlete’s passion to compete for his/her choice of sport.