More than sport - youth : supporting youth athletes through sport career transitions.

Abstract

While playing sport, identifying as an athlete can provide individuals with a sense of belonging and purpose. However, unanticipated and involuntary sport transitions (e.g., deselection, injury) can be associated with identity loss, which can be associated with other negative outcomes such as isolation and depression. More than Sport is an applied intervention that has been successfully implemented to support the sport transitions of professional athletes during retirement. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the feasibility of a More than Sport workshop adapted for youth athletes to support sport career transitions. Utilizing a single intervention group design, 36 competitive ice hockey players (Mage= 14.72, SD = 0.91) attending a high school hockey academy participated in the two-session workshop. Program acceptability and feasibility were evaluated with a survey and focus group interviews. Descriptive statistics from the post-intervention survey items, anchored from 1 (Disagree) t 5 (Agree), indicated that participants, on average, recommended the workshop to other athletes (M=4.50, SD=0.67) and reported that it would be useful in the future (M-4.32, SD=0.69). Focus group data indicated support for the workshop content and structure. This pilot study suggests the acceptability and feasibility of More than Sport in a youth population.