Introduction

It is too simplistic to consider that transition into sport (starting sport) and out of sport (retirement) are the most important career transitions an athlete will face. Many transitions that athletes encounter during their career can be highly significant and have far reaching consequences.

You will now move on to explore some of the ‘within career’ transitions that athletes may face. These can be split into expected (or ‘normative’) and unexpected (or ‘non-normative’) transitions as described in Session 1. In Session 4, you will examine expected transitions and in Session 5 you will examine unexpected transitions.

By the end of this session you should be able to:

• identify the different normative transitions an athlete may experience during their career
• recognise the potential impact of normative transitions on the athlete
• appreciate normative transitions through a lifespan perspective.