Game, Name and Fame — Afterwards, Will I Still Be the Same?

Abstract

Drawing from micro-sociology and the psychology and sociology of sport, and using a qualitative interview design, this study explores career retirement, role exit and related identity issues among eight Swedish ex-professional tennis players. Several questions are addressed. What were the characteristics of the professional tennis player role and of the retirement process? How did the ex-players cope with role-exit and what does their life look like today? What implications have the professional tennis player role and the retirement process had for their construction of identity? Results indicate that a `role restricted' socialization, intense media exposure, an overemphasis on performance and competition, in conjunction with how people confuse the interviewees' role with their identity, brought about what can be referred to as `role-identity fusion'. By analysing career termination along four, overlapping, phases it is clear that each phase urged the interviewees to make career and life choices, with a variety of identity implications. It is concluded that career retirement was a gradual, transitional process of psychological and social adaptation and quest for self-identity. As such it was challenging for the players, but not as dramatic as much scientific literature suggests.

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