The Career Termination Experiences of Iranian Retired Athletes

The aim of this study was to examine the career termination experiences of Iranian retired athletes with an emphasis on the reasons for retirement, difficulties during their termination and some variables influencing their adaptability process. Participants were 106 Iranian former champions who had been retired within the past 10 years. Data were collected by the Sports Career Termination Questionnaire developed by Cecić Erpič et al. (2004). The results showed that the majority of the participants had faced some difficulties during and following their sport career termination. Data analysis also revealed that those athletes who experienced less difficulty and more life satisfaction had complete achievement in their sport goals. Moreover, those athletes who had experienced a smoother career transition tended to retire voluntarily and gradually. Finally, it is recommended that much more attention should be dedicated to retirement of athletes