Abstract
Every college athlete will transition out of competition and this transition is often tumultuous for athletes who have dedicated years to the sports they love. Despite these challenges, athletes are rarely given a platform to discuss their transition with peers experiencing a similar situation who can offer support. However, through social media, former college athletes are creating platforms to center their transition successes and struggles. Through the lens of Schlossberg’s Transition Theory (1981), this study used thematic analysis to examine transition experiences of former college athletes responding to a viral TikTok video. Comments (n = 869) demonstrated former athletes primarily discussed two components of Schlossberg’s (1981) theory: Characteristics of the transition environment and characteristics of themselves. The former category centered around emotional support between users, while the latter highlighted negative physical and mental states of health and negative self-attitudes. Implications center (1) using social media to better support athletes transitioning and (2) establishing an Athlete Transition Director position in athletics departments to ease athletes’ move out of college sport.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.25035/jade.06.01.01
Recommended Citation
Harry, Molly and Hammit, Sydney
(2024)
"“Zero Preparation for Life After Sports”: Former College Athletes’ Use of TikTok to Express Transitioning out of Sport,"
Journal of Athlete Development and Experience: Vol. 6:
Iss.
1, Article 1.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.25035/jade.06.01.01
Available at:
https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/jade/vol6/iss1/1
JADE_Research