The Psychology of Soccer

More Than Just a Game

Joseph Dixon, Jamie Barker, Richard Thelwell, Ian Mitchell, Joseph Dixon, Jamie B Barker, Richard C Thelwell, Ian Mitchell

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781000041248
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Sports Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Sports psychology, exploring the effects of psychological interventions on important performance-related outcomes, has become ever more popular and prevalent within elite level soccer clubs in the past decade as teams look to gain psychological as well as physiological advantages over their competitors.

The Psychology of Soccer seeks to present the detailed understanding of the theories underpinning the psychological issues relating to soccer, along with practical insights into effective psychological interventions and strategies

This book uses contemporary theory and research to elucidate key concepts and applied interventions. It includes world-leading expert commentaries of contemporary theoretical and applied approaches in understanding critical issues in soccer, and provides practical implications and insights into working effectively in soccer-related contexts.

The Psychology of Soccer is an evidence-based resource to guide research and facilitate practice and will be a vital resource for researchers, practitioners, and coaches within the area of sport psychology and related disciplines.

PART I

Working With Individuals and Teams

1

THE TRANSITION FROM ELITE YOUTH TO ELITE ADULT PROFESSIONAL SOCCER

A Summary of Current Literature and Practical Applications

Robert Morris and Emily Deason

Brief Introduction

The Young Lions, the English national youth soccer teams, won the Under-17 World Cup, the European Under-19 Championship, and the Under-20 World Cup in 2017, and yet the senior English team hasn’t won an international competition since 1966. As these results illustrate, success at the youth level does not always guarantee success at the senior level. Taking this into consideration, recently there has been an increase in research which has focused on understanding development pathways and the psychological aspects of transitions in sport and, more specifically, soccer. This literature (e.g., Morris, Tod, & Oliver, 2015; Morris, Tod, & Eubank, 2016; Wylleman & Lavallee, 2004; Wylleman, Reints, & De Knop, 2013) has identified that elite youth soccer players have to deal with many of the demands that face a typical teenager alongside additional responsibilities and pressures associated with adapting to full-time professional soccer, including pressure from a number of external agencies (e.g., fans, coaches, teammates) to perform at a high level consistently (Morris et al., 2015). Given these additional challenges, it has been highlighted that the transition from elite youth sport to elite senior sport can be difficult, with approximately only 17% of all athletes in youth sport successfully transitioning into elite sport (Vanden Auweele, De Martelaer, Rzewnicki, De Knop, & Wylleman, 2004) and more than 90% of soccer players failing to successfully transition to professional level (Anderson & Miller, 2011). The purpose of the current chapter, therefore, is to highlight to readers the psychological demands of transitioning into an elite adult professional soccer player. In doing so, the chapter will offer practical considerations and challenge practitioners to reflect on the support they currently offer to players entering the world of professional soccer through detailing a case study of supporting an athlete through their move to senior sport. The authors will provide a balanced account of their work with players making the transition, discussing positive examples and those who have not been successful.

Review of Literature

In the preceding ten years, there has been a shift in the focus of career transition literature. Previously, there had been a focus of research on understanding the challenges associated with retirement from sport (e.g., Aquilina, 2013; Park, Lavallee, & Tod, 2013). Through this, and subsequent literature, however, it was identified that other transitions may also be challenging for athletes and warranted investigation so that appropriate support could be put in place to facilitate athlete development. One such transition, the elite youth to elite senior transition, has been of particular focus. This is especially the case because, as highlighted previously, the expected outcomes often result in athletes being released from clubs/organisations or leaving/giving up their respective sport, ultimately failing to make the transition successfully. Even if they are successful in moving to senior sport, it has been identified that this transition can be the most difficult athletes experience due to the multiple developmental demands and simultaneous transitions that characterise this period (Stambulova, Alfermann, Statler, & Côté, 2009; Wylleman et al., 2013). Due to this, it can take between one and four years to become fully established as an elite or professional senior athlete (Finn & McKenna, 2010).

Theories and Models

Across the youth-to-senior transition literature, there have been a number of theories and models outlined which have aimed to describe and explain when and how transitions occur and the process that athletes will go through as they experience this progression.

Descriptive Models

Models (e.g., Bloom, 1985; Côté, 1999) have identified that there are several stages within the life of a sports performer, including development, elite performer, and retirement phases, and that there are transitions which occur between these phases in the athletic level. Wylleman and colleagues (2004, 2013), while agreeing that there are several stages within the life of a sports performer, also posited the interaction of athletic transitions with non-athletic transitions, suggesting that areas outside athletes’ sporting career may influence their development. Specifically, initially it was suggested that athletes will experience transitions in four domains: athletic, psychological, psychosocial, and academic/vocational. Later developments of the theory also added a financial domain (Wylleman et al., 2013).

The transition from youth-to-senior sport is incorporated within the transition from development to mastery athletic level, but its exact position in the athletic career will depend on the sporting context and the individual athlete. As the holistic athletic career model (Wylleman et al., 2013) illustrates, this athletic transition is likely to occur in conjunction with multiple non-athletic transitions across the four other life domains, such as the transition from puberty/adolescence to (young) adulthood; the corresponding change in support network (in particular, the lesser influence of parents or guardians); and the transition from secondary education to a professional or semi-professional sport contract, higher education, or a vocation. The challenge of coping with concurrent athletic and non-athletic transitions can increase the level of stress experienced by athletes and the likelihood of any one of the transitions becoming a crisis or failed transition (Stambulova, 2000). Therefore, if attempts to aid adaption are to be successful, it is important to take a holistic perspective and situate the athletic transition in the context of concurring (athletic or non-athletic) transitions.

In addition to increased stress occurring when transitions happen concurrently, it has been posited that the changes athletes encounter during a transition process can result in the development of (new) identities. Specifically, this development of identity may be disrupted or curtailed by transition periods, meaning that athletes become unsure of who they are and what they represent (Morris et al., 2016). The psychological transition from (late) adolescence to (early) adulthood is a period for exploration and personal identity development; however, as illustrated by the holistic athletic career transition model, this psychological transition is likely to occur at a similar period to the transition from junior to senior sport (Wylleman et al., 2013). The impact of an individual’s athletic involvement on their identity development and the degree to which they define their identity through their athletic pursuits (i.e., their athletic identity) has the potential to become problematic. In particular, the premature over-identification with one’s athletic role (i.e., identity foreclosure) has been shown by research to have a negative impact on the athlete’s exploration of other career, education, and lifestyle options (Brewer, Van Raalte, & Linder, 1993; Brewer, Van Raalte, & Petitpas, 2000; Murphy, Petitpas, & Brewer, 1996). To expand, an exclusive focus on sport during this period can lead to the development of an exclusive or foreclosed athletic identity (Murphy et al., 1996). A multidimensional identity, on the other hand, developed through the exploration of various interests, provides a more rounded identity for the individual to rely upon in adverse situations (e.g., difficulty in transitions; Erikson, 1994; Lang & Lee, 2005). This ensures that when athletes’ identities are threatened (i.e., injury threatens retirement from sport), they can rely on the other dimensions of their identity (i.e., their other interests, hobbies, or roles). Therefore, although a strong athletic identity is recognised as beneficial for commitment to sport and sporting performance, a diverse understanding of the self through multiple interests, hobbies, and roles is considered advantageous for navigating athletic and non-athletic transitions.

Explanation Models

When exploring the concept of transition, initial theories drew upon wider psychological literature (such as thanatology and social gerontology) to explain transitions and, in particular, athletic retirement. These theories viewed athletic retirement as either a version of “social death” or as retirement from a vocational career, indicating that this event was one characterised by loss and grieving (Stambulova et al., 2009). However, the understanding of retirement from sport as a form of “death” was criticised in the literature because the theories proposed were unable to explain the nuances of the sport experience and the influence of sport-specific factors (e.g., retirement due to injury, the view of athletic retirement as a new opportunity rather than the negative experience that “social death” suggests, or the need for adaption to a second nonathletic career). Given this criticism, there was a need for other theories which may help to explain the process of transition in sport.

The model for analysing human adaptation to transition (Schlossberg, 1981) was considered advantageous in explaining the complexities of retirement from sport because it embraces individual differences within a transition. This theory defines transition as “an event or non-event which results in a change in assumptions about oneself and the world and thus requires a corresponding change in one’s behavior and relationships” (Schlossberg, 1981, p. 5). It is postulated by Schlossberg’s theory that individuals’ adaption to transitions is determined by their perception of the change (e.g., whether it was expected or not expected and the timing of the event/ non-event), the characteristics of the individual (e.g., their psychological resources and coping strategies), and the characteristics of the pre-transition and post-transition environments (e.g., the social support available). Although this model instigated widespread research in transition by sport psychology, the description of a transition as an event/non-event was considered too simplistic for sporting contexts (Stambulova, 2003). To expand, athletic retirement studies showed that it takes an athlete, on average, a year to adapt to their post-athletic career (Sinclair & Orlick, 1993; Alfermann, 2000). Consequently, transition in sport is understood as a process of change that athletes are required to cope with (Taylor & Ogilvie, 1994; Stambulova, 2003), rather than a singular event which may take place over a short period of time, as this model suggests.

Given these limitations, Stambulova (2003) published a sport-specific model of transition, designed to explain the process of a single transition that could be applied across sport careers (e.g., youth-to-senior and retirement from sport). This work was also among the first to start to try and explain the process of transition across sport, rather than solely athletic retirement. Stambulova (2003) suggested that a transition is the athletes’ ability to deal with specific demands which pose a conflict between “what the athlete is” and “what he or she wants or ought to be” in their sport career. Each transition can be viewed as a process which has a number of demands, barriers, coping resources, outcomes, and long-term consequences. The model predicted that demands, resources, barriers, and coping mechanisms interact throughout each sport career transition and the outcomes and long-term consequences of transition are dependent upon athletes having sufficient and appropriate coping resources to manage any demands and barriers they may encounter throughout the process.

Empirical Research

Empirical research in the area has highlighted that the youth-to-senior transition is characterised by a series of challenges that permeate across both athletic and non-athletic domains. Specifically, the youth-to-senior transition can challenge athletes physically and mentally (Bruner, Munroe-Chandler, & Spink, 2008; Pummell, Harwood, & Lavallee, 2008) and may result in anxiety and uncertainty around aspects such as level of performance and social interaction with senior players (Lorenzo, Borrás, Sánchez, Jiménez, & Sampedro, 2009). Additionally, the amount and appropriateness of social support can also help or hinder the transition to senior sport. Specifically, where appropriate support, which is emotional in nature and facilitative to athlete development, is provided, athletes are less likely to feel anxious and nervous about unrealistic expectations from key stakeholders and experience a positive transition...