Structuration theory investigation of elite Rugby players’ perceptions on how the transition from player to retired player impacted their significant others

Abstract

This study investigated how male Australian National Rugby League (NRL) players believed their transition to retirement from professional sport impacted their significant other(s), particularly their partner. We used a constructivist paradigm to frame structuration theory to interpret findings from interpretative analysis of qualitative data obtained from semi-structured interviews with 21 retired players. Themes arrived at interpretatively from the data and identified as perceived impacts were changes in the time spent with family, altered lifestyle status, and the need for family relationship support. In supporting elite players through the preparation and transition to retirement it was found that participants believed that it is not only the players that need support in the transitioning to retirement process but also those who support them, especially their significant others.

Introduction

Career retirement is viewed as a stage of life that “requires a degree of coping and adaptation” (Rosenthal and Moore, 2019: 10). Retirement may occur as a natural stage of life due to age or capacity, and may occur several times across the lifespan due to changes in interest or skills or may be sudden and unexpected as in redundancy, injury or ill health. Retirement may bring the opportunity for positive and fulfilling new stages of life or result in a sense of loss due to changes in daily structure and purpose, social connection, and identity (Rosenthal and Moore, 2019). The circumstances associated with the stage of life that retirement occurs and the preparedness for retirement facilitators and challenges are likely to influence the physical and psychological impact on the individual retiring and significant others (Rosenthal and Moore, 2019). Retirement from elite sport and the transitioning process is an area of research interest and provides a unique retirement perspective as there are many complex interactions impacting the process. After committing to the sport from a young age and subsequently achieving the status and stature of playing their chosen sport at the professional level many athletes rarely contemplate retirement as they believe they will be able to make a successful ongoing career in that sport (Hickey and Kelly, 2008; Stambulova et al., 2021). This has been noted in previous research exploring the experiences of transitioning to retirement in elite athletes which has found that many athletes do not identify any urgency in preparing for their life or alternative (non-sporting) career path past their playing career leaving them unprepared and vulnerable (Agnew et al., 2018; Brown et al., 2019; Hickey and Kelly, 2008) when the time comes.

A further consequence of participation in elite sport is that over time the athlete develops an encompassing identity based on their sporting career, talent, and achievements which may or may not resonate with post-sport career opportunities and impede their preparation and preparedness for life after sport (Cosh, 2021). The professional model of sport requires an athlete to focus on performance to retain and preserve their playing career (Stambulova et al., 2021). Consequently, an acceptable character trait for elite athletes is selfishness which has been perceived as being the way to succeed as an athlete (Hardy et al., 2017; Ronkainen et al., 2023). Athletes believe that being both ruthless and selfish can be advantageous to their performance and thus they are willing to display these characteristics at any time (Hardy et al., 2017).

While playing, for many athletes it is difficult to balance the expectations of professional sport with education and career development for the unknown outcome and timeframe that retirement signifies (Stambulova et al., 2021). There is no escaping the fact that retirement from elite sport is inevitable although the timing of retirement may not necessarily be predictable. Player experiences of retirement are determined by many factors, such as how the athlete perceives the circumstances surrounding their retirement, what their future holds and the support provided by the club or sporting association (Knights et al., 2019; Stambulova et al., 2021).

Retirement from elite sport is correlated by two distinct transition stages (Stambulova, 2010); normative as in predictable where the athlete has the opportunity to plan for retirement and it is expected and a natural transition to another life stage or point in time, or non-normative where the athlete has no control over timing of retirement or predication of what comes next in the life stage. Where there is a lack of control over the timing of retirement this may lead to vulnerability, feelings of failure, humiliation, and identity loss (Agnew et al., 2018; Alfermann and Stambulova, 2007; Butt and Molnar, 2009), and psychological distress (Mannes et al., 2019). In addition, feelings of anger, frustration, disappointment, and loss of direction, uncertainty and purpose in their life may result from a lack of future career planning and preparedness for life beyond sport (Blakelock et al., 2019; Knights et al., 2019; Stambulova et al., 2021). These negative feelings may lead to as a “crisis” point leading to stress and distress for athletes (Blakelock et al., 2019; Stambulova, 2010; Stambulova, 2017). In contrast, transitioning to retirement from elite sport is facilitated where there is the opportunity for education and career planning prior to retirement (Stambulova, 2010; Stambulova et al., 2021), social support (Park et al., 2013), where the decision is voluntary (Cosh et al., 2013), and the outcome is accepted (Knights et al., 2019; Price, 2007). Regardless of whether the process of retirement from elite sport is normative or non-normative, for the athlete it is a time of physical, emotional, lifestyle, and environmental change (Blakelock et al., 2019; Knights et al., 2019; Mannes et al., 2019; Stambulova et al., 2021).The ability to cope with these changes is impacted by the level of preparedness of the player and the support that has been and is provided by the organisation or club that the athlete played for. It has been observed that players overall well-being is often well supported while they are playing and perceived as valuable to the sport and the club however, once retired from the sport responsibility shifts and support is not seen as a priority and is something that the player needs to seek out independently (Agnew et al., 2018; Alfermann and Stambulova, 2007; Knights et al., 2019).

Football codes such as American football, Australian Football League, soccer and the rugby codes are unique in their relatively recent classification as being part of the “global sports entertainment industry” resulting in participants becoming “more than mere footballers” (Kelly and Hickey, 2010, p.28) as a result of the commodification of the sport and its players. The highly competitive and physical nature of the game attracts significant media and spectator interest and financial rewards, which in turn insights into a particular sporting identity to evolve including but also beyond physical competence and skill (Kelly and Hickey, 2010). As this identity is associated with the sport and the player as a professional undertaking that sport as a career, once that career has ended as in the case of planned or unplanned retirement the developed identity may have a negative impact in transitioning to a new career or create a sense of loss (Brown et al., 2019; Knights et al., 2019; Stambulova et al., 2021).

A further consequence of high-impact sport is the risk of injury that can suspend or end a professional sporting career. There is a high level of insecurity for a long-term career in high-impact sports where injury and age can limit longevity and careers can end at short notice (Gledhill and Forsdyke, 2021; Roderick, 2006). The extent of the injury may determine whether retirement from sport at the professional level is voluntary or involuntary and the degree of player involvement in the decision (Gledhill and Forsdyke, 2021; Park et al., 2013). For some players, while the injury is the impetus for retirement the outcome may be seen as a relief, taking away the need to perform at such a high level. However, the potential need for ongoing medical support (Gledhill and Forsdyke, 2021) can prove challenging with ongoing injury consequences in some cases leading to psychological distress and substance misuse (Mannes et al., 2019) and financial ramifications (Mannes et al., 2019; Roderick, 2012).

Being a male elite athlete in a professional setting requires total commitment and can lead to the athlete being self-centred (Ortiz, 2006; Roderick, 2006; Roderick, 2012). Athlete's careers and commitment to the sport often take priority over partners and family (Ortiz, 2006; Roderick, 2012). As suggested by Ortiz (2006) wives or partners of professional male sportsmen are required to support them in all aspects of their lives often to the detriment of their own identity.

Retirement from sport at the professional level may initiate the need for change in family dynamics, as a result of the athlete's sporting identity and the team environment changing (Ortiz, 2006; Roderick, 2012). When the athlete has a significant other sharing the changes, this requires a period of adjustment for both the player and their significant other. The adjustment may be experienced financially, emotionally, through change in identity, changes in established lifestyle and altered social connections (Brown et al., 2019). Both the retiring player and their significant other need to navigate a new transition in their life and relationship, perhaps involving a new or changed identity, lifestyle, and connection. The circumstances associated with the stage of life that retirement occurs and the preparedness for retirement are likely to influence the physical and psychological impact for the individual retiring and their significant others (Rosenthal and Moore, 2019).

We use the term ‘significant other’ to capture the relationship of the player and their partner due to the importance that each plays in the others’ lives and concur with Andersen et al.'s (2002: 60) definition that a significant other is “an individual who is or has been deeply influential in one's life, and in whom one is or once was emotionally invested.” Andersen et al. (2002) describe the relationship with a significant other as being “entangled” where regardless of changes in circumstances the individual and the significant other are continually connected and impacted by shared experiences. While there is an abundance of emerging literature reflecting the barriers and facilitators of positive retirement from elite sport and recommendations for support mechanisms for professional athletes (cf. Park et al., 2013; Stambulova et al., 2021) there is little consideration of how players believe this change in the athlete's status impacts significant others despite the recognition that significant others are crucial in the transition to retirement process of an elite athlete (Brown et al., 2019; Park et al., 2013).

Without the structure, support and social connections of their sporting environment athletes may struggle to adapt to a new way of life without sport (Brown et al., 2019; Park et al., 2013). Depending on the circumstances of retirement athletes may express feelings of anger, frustration, disappointment, uncertainty, and loss of direction, and purpose in their life (Brown et al., 2019; Knights et al., 2019; Stambulova et al., 2021). The success of transitioning to retirement from professional sport is dependent on the support provided (Knights et al., 2019; Stambulova et al., 2021). One of the key providers of support during their professional playing career and at the onset of retirement is the athletes’ wife or partner, which here we refer to as significant other (Brown et al., 2019; Park et al., 2013). The athlete and their significant other are both transitioning to a new stage in their life and relationship with individual experiences and processes influencing the lives of the other (Brown et al., 2019).

While the influence of playing professional sport and transition to retirement from elite sport has been observed from the perspective of the impact on parents and youth athletes (cf. Lally and Kerr, 2008; Lally and Lally, 2021) little attention has been paid to adult professional athletes and their significant other. Most literature in this area relates to the role of a significant other during playing careers pertaining to what has been coined “WAGs” (wives and girlfriends of elite athletes), with particular attention on sensational reporting of scandals (Waterhouse-Watson, 2009, 2018, 2019) or media representation of an unrealistic identity and lifestyle (Bullen, 2014; Clayton and Harris, 2004), as opposed to the day-to-day family dynamics (Simonetto, 2019).

Much of the transition into retirement from sport literature focuses on the impact on the athlete and how they are coping with the transition out of professional sport (Park et al., 2013; Stambulova et al., 2021). Despite recognition that significant others have a critical role in the transition out of sport process, there is little consideration of how retirement from sport impacts significant others in athlete's lives (Brown et al., 2019; Park et al., 2013). In this study, we asked former National Rugby League (NRL) players to consider the impact on their significant other as they transition into retirement. Retirement transition literature commonly uses the term athlete, however, in Rugby League the athletes are referred to as Rugby League players, therefore in this paper, athlete and player are used interchangeably.

Methodology

A constructivist ontology was adopted to contextualise the experiences of participants (Creswell and Miller, 2000). A constructivist ontology posits that the individual constructs their personal notions of reality through their own cognition, not passively received from the environment (Olssen, 1995). Reality is therefore subjective to the individual. Here, we use a constructivist paradigm to frame structuration theory (Flaherty and Sagas, 2021; Hardcastle et al., 2005). There are few studies considering sport related matters through structuration theory (Giddens, 1984). In particular, two key ideas from structuration theory - agency and structure, are used to interpret the findings. Here, agency refers to the “power of effect” (Giddens, 1984: 41) of individual decision-making, a function of “reflexive monitoring” (Giddens, 1984: 43) which occurs over time and in different ‘spaces’ (Flaherty and Sagas, 2021). Structure refers to the boundaries dictating what decisions and therefore behaviour is possible. The positioning of an individual in a structure is determined by their access to and employment of resources as constrained by the parameters of the structure. Therefore, there is a recursive relationship between agency and structure in that while structures are comprised of the individuals within them, structures are reproduced by the interplay between individuals and the resources they have available (Flaherty and Sagas, 2021). Social structure is therefore produced and reproduced by individuals in their day-to-day actions. Structure makes action possible, yet structure can only emerge through action (Naidoo, 2009). Structuration theory offers a set of thinking tools for analysing the data. It enabled us to conceptualise what the past players were saying about the impact of their retirement on their significant other and it offered explanations for why there were inconsistencies in past players' use of their agency as the actors central in creating the social system associated with their retirement.

Ethics

Ethics was granted at an institutional level from the Authors University Human Research Ethics Committee; approval number: 2357. The study was also formally supported by the NRL and Rugby League Players’ Association (RLPA). Participants were provided with information about the research and its purpose prior to the interview and verbal consent to participate and have the interview recorded was given.

Recruitment and participants

Convenience sampling was used to recruit participants (Patton, 2002). The NRL and RLPA had previously undertaken a mixed methods survey of past players to elicit information about their experiences with NRL/RLPA wellbeing and education programs. Participants had the option to agree to be contacted about future research. Those who had given their permission were contacted by the RLPA with the details of the new study and the contact information of the research team and invited to make contact to arrange a time for a one-on-one interview. The participants were provided an information sheet detailing the study and what the requirements of participation would entail to enable informed consent to participate. Participants were able to withdraw at any time. The information sheet also explained that anonymity was provided, with neither the NRL nor the RLPA knowing who participated and any information that could potentially identify them would be omitted.

Forty-two participants agreed to be contacted, resulting in 21 interviews. Of the 21 participants, 10 had been retired from professional NRL for six years or more (P1–10) and 11 for 1–5 years (P11–21). The length of time playing professional NRL ranged from three games to 14 years with the range of years since retirement 12 months – 20 years with an average of six years. Out of the 21 participants, 11 mainly retired due to injury, eight due to age, four due to the length of playing career, five due to losing passion for the game or enjoyment in playing, and three due to culminating factors in ‘the time being right’ to retire. Some participants retired due to their contracts not being renewed (n = 5). Reasons given for non-renewal of contracts often were indicative of other identified reasons such as age, not playing up to the standard required for NRL-level or injury.

Procedures

Semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions were used to allow participants the opportunity to incorporate their own story into the responses while at the same time allowing the researcher to guide the interaction and direction of the question format (Patton, 2002; Sparkes and Smith, 2014). All the interviews were conducted by the research assistant. Whilst the focus of the interviews was not solely about their significant others, participants were asked questions such as; “What difficulties did you as a family face in adjusting to retirement?” and “How did your retirement from Rugby League impact others?” Interviews were conducted by phone or Skype. This was the most appropriate method as all participants were in a different Australian state or country to that of the research team. Interviews ranged in time between 35–75 min with an average interview time of 49 min. Interviews were digitally recorded with participant consent and professionally transcribed verbatim.

Analysis

The data was rich in text that portrayed the lived experience of participants; many of these experiences had common contexts and were derived from similar exposure to events. The analysis of the qualitative data derived from the interviews followed the seven phases of thematic analysis as suggested by Marshall and Rossman (2011); Data organisation, data immersion, generation of themes and categories, data coding, data interpretation, seeking alternative understandings and writing the report. The researchers organised the data by reading and re-reading the transcripts while making notes on points of interest before formally identifying codes in the data. This also allowed the researchers to immerse themselves in the data. The coded data was then organised into initial themes with the research team coming together to discuss and develop the themes and rename them where required (Marshall and Rossman, 2011). The discussion allowed alternative interpretations to be considered. The final step in the process involved writing up the themes into a report (Marshall and Rossman, 2011) for the Australian National Rugby League.

Trustworthiness

Trustworthiness in qualitative research is established when “researchers show that their data were ethically and mindfully collected, analysed, and reported” (Carlson, 2010: 1110). Creswell and Miller (2000) and Creswell (2013) suggest eight strategies to achieve trustworthiness, with a recommendation to use at least two of these strategies. This study utilised member checking, thick, rich description, and an audit trail. An “important quality control process” (Harper and Cole, 2012: 1) in qualitative research is member checking, which has been highlighted as a significant criterion in establishing credibility (Lincoln and Guba, 1985). However, this method of establishing trustworthiness has been criticised as being ineffective (Smith and McGannon, 2018). Of note, critique centres on whether researchers and participants are able to separate themselves from the social reality and therefore whether objective knowledge can be established (Braun and Clarke, 2013; Denzin, 2017; Smith and McGannon, 2018). Despite the limitations of member checking, the Australian National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (National Health and Medical Research Council, 2015: 23) stipulates that “the accuracy or completeness of each interview transcript should be verified by the relevant participant before analysis is complete” which respects the contribution participant has made. In addition, member checking may have benefits beyond methodological rigour in that they can lead to the validation of participant feelings, thereby offering a therapeutic benefit (Rager, 2005; Harper and Cole 2012). In this study, participants were emailed a copy of their transcript and invited to contact the research team if they wished to make changes. This process enabled the researchers to adhere to national ethical standards. No requests to change transcripts were made, therefore they were taken as being accurate representations of the interviews.

Thick, rich description enables the reader to feel as though they could have had the experience themselves (Creswell and Miller, 2000). Through detailed writing, people and settings are contextualised according to a constructionist perspective (Creswell and Miller, 2000). The thick, rich descriptions in this study provide a detailed account of the players’ perceptions of how their retirement affected their significant others.

Throughout the project, the research assistant kept a journal with clear documentation of all the decisions, processes and actions in order to establish an audit trail for the overall project (Creswell and Miller, 2000). The audit trail included details of the data collection process, data analysis procedures and minutes from meetings between the research team.

Results and discussion

This paper presents results from a larger study on NRL players’ experiences of transitioning to retirement focusing on a particular unexpected finding from the inductive thematic analysis where participants were particularly cognisant of the impact this process had on their significant others in their lives. Whilst it is acknowledged that the voices of the significant others are an integral part of the conversation, these findings emerged unexpectedly from interviews with NRL players on their retirement experiences and as such are the perceptions of the participants not the voices of the significant others. However, this does not diminish their significance and value. The perceptions of the athletes are important because they will have a significant role in any cultural shift in the sporting environment to be more inclusive of the athletes’ non-sporting lives. The recognition of the athletes in this project that their career had a significant impact on their significant other suggests that they do not have to be selfish all the time, even though selfishness is highlighted as being necessary for success (Hardy et al., 2017). Athletes’ recognition of the impact of their career choices is an important step in advocating for a more holistic environment for athletes that includes the broader context of their lives outside of sport. Thus, as a starting point in the conversation that there is more to athletes than their sport, this paper presents the voices of the athletes on how their sport has impacted others.

Family played a significant role in supporting players during their retirement from NRL. Significantly, by the time players retired, they often had a family of their own, so partners and children felt the greatest impact with them needing to adapt to a new way of life and transition into a different family dynamic. Further areas that players perceived were impacted by their retirement included the available time spent with family, changes in routine and structure, lifestyle status and impact on relationships. These themes will be discussed below.

Family

It was acknowledged by the retired players that playing sport at the professional level had been very time consuming which had the potential to have an impact on their significant other. The demands of the sport meant they had less time to commit to outside activities, including family. Consequently, there were five players who enjoyed the prospect of more time with their partner and family after leaving professional sport. Players noted how they were able to attend family functions again, that they normally would have missed while playing. Furthermore, being a better father and husband and reconnecting with friends was mentioned by others as an advantage to retirement. Also, one player noted that their partner experienced the retirement to be more positive as he had more time to be able to relax with the family and not have to worry about playing well on the weekend.

The family had played a significant role in supporting players in entering elite sport and during their playing careers, therefore it is understandable that retirement from that level of sport would also have an impact. Five of the players had families by the time they retired from Rugby League and recognised that their retirement had a significant impact on their partners and children who also had to adapt to the new situation. A common response from participants was that they ‘… had a family and children, so having to adapt … was all again different’ (P2). The adaptation they had to make was to be less routine and set structures in their lives. For many, this aspect of retirement was perceived as being positive by their partner because there was no more routine or set structures they had to live by. Key to structuration theory is the concept of structure, in particular social structure, understood as a form of “patterning” of social relations (Giddens, 2005: 127). In retirement, there is a restructuring of social relations and time spent in social relations. The social restructure that supported the players’ sense that retirement was perceived as positive by their families was time, that is they had more time to spend with their families than they had before. The strict structure and personal commitment indicative of professional sport were removed. According to one player:

My wife … she was happy now there was no more routine, there was no set structures that we had to live by because she was involved with that (P8)

Another positive impact of retirement for significant others was more stability through being able settle down in one spot which may not have been possible during careers due to changing clubs which required moving interstate:

… another big, but positive of retiring is that we could settle down in one spot and finally put some roots down…buy a house and do those kind of things (P20)

However, the impact of retiring from sport was not perceived as being positive for all significant others. Four players noted that the change in time management impacted negatively on their significant others. Three other players acknowledged that their new working hours meant less family time compared to when they were playing professionally and that this impacted their partners as well:

It was just probably more myself and just getting my act together and time management with work, managing time, work and then come in and manage family … when I was playing football there was a lot of free time … like we had a lot of family time together but then now me and my wife are both working you know we'll probably just, probably struggling with that freedom while doing things when we had, when I was playing football (P18)

The structural factor of time at play here whereby the players had more time available because the routine and commitments of their sport were no longer something they had to attend to was problematic for some. Players who needed to find another job in retirement did not have the free time available to be with partners and families and struggled with the new structure in their lives. Illustrative of this, one player noted:

Their [family] routine changed a lot as well … you have a lot of time at home when you’re playing football, you have a lot of time, like a lot of days off, and rest time, and you know, your time is your own as well, you don’t have things to do when you’re at home, except rest and look after yourself … so, when I retired and I had to work 8–10 h a day, the kids sort of thought I was working too much, dad – you know, dad's never here and like, well this is actually what it's like for everyone, you know (P12)

Some players were able to act in the sense they were able to intervene in the world to provide a state of affairs (Giddens, 1984) in retirement that they felt benefitted their significant others. However, it is obvious that other players in retirement did not sense the same agency and power from the structure of their new circumstances and they did not have the capability to make a difference through the exercise of some sort of power (Giddens, 1984) over the structure of their lives. Evidence has shown that once an athlete retires from their professional sports career, their significant other can also experience a variety of intense emotions during the early stages of retirement transition, including sadness, anger, and anxiety about the future (Blakelock et al., 2019) due to the emotions associated with the new structure in their life. Voorheis et al., (2023) reported that feelings of loss, identity crisis, regrets about their career, and difficulties with sudden lifestyle changes are common experiences throughout the retirement transition process.

A possible explanation as to why some players believed their partners experienced the time availability more positively than other partners could be due to the different structure of the careers the players have after retirement. What we have been discussing so far is that the social practice of the players in retirement constitutes a space in time that creates the conditions for both the subject (the retired player) and the social object (the significant others). The players as human agents or actors have inherently the capacity to understand the conditions and what it means for what they do while they do it in the post-playing structure of their lives. This reflexive capacity is engaged in a continuous manner with the flow of the conduct of their lives in the structure of the context of the new social reality they inhabit in a sense they have a practical consciousness that they draw on to explain the impact of their retirement on their significant others (Giddens, 1984).

In regard to players’ significant others and the structure of family that emerges in retirement, we see two different social reproductions based on the direction in life players seek and the resources available to them creating a social structure. Social structure is therefore produced and reproduced by the players in their day-to-day actions. The players’ action in creating their life after Rugby with their significant others is then only possible because of structure, yet the structure they inhabit and through which they view the impact of retirement on their significant others can only originate through the past players’ actions in this phase in their life (Naidoo, 2009).

The restructure of the players’ social system in retirement means that their understanding of their relations with the actors’ collectivities and regularly organised social practices previously consistently reproduced across time and space are being reconfigured (Giddens, 2005). According to structuration theory, the discursive naturalisation of the players’ contingent circumstances, and products of their action, provide a form of reified thought (Giddens, 2005). In retirement, there will be a need to constitute and reconstitute activities leading to a new reification of social relations. What was unexpected from our larger study on NRL players’ transition to retirement was the depth of consideration the players revealed concerning the impact of retirement on their significant others.

Lifestyle

Players perceived that their partners were impacted by the change in lifestyle including financial status. The players noted how their partner's lifestyle changed due to their retirement.

… it was about financial security… the drop back in income for those couple of years, it was just a massive change in both of our lifestyles (P3)

The past players’ lifestyle with their significant others is considered as a structure that cannot be independent of the knowledge the past player has of what their partners do in their day-to-day activities (Giddens, 1984). From their understanding of what their partners do in their day-to-day activity the change of income was concerning as they did not know where their salary would be coming from. The past players have an initial discursive consciousness that gives them a description of the anticipated impact retirement will bring to their partners. What they do about this in the initial phases of retirement will be unfamiliar and it can be reasonably expected that they will know little of the consequences of the actions and activities in which they engage in retirement on their partners (Giddens, 1984). Being worried about the change in lifestyle and financial impact on their partners after players’ retirement can be anticipated and therefore planned for. Voorheis et al., (2023) reported that most retired athletes had financial concerns associated with worry about maintaining a lifestyle on an alternative income. From a structural perspective, it is important that the players and their significant others are financially prepared for pre-retirement and guided during the transition out of sport into a different career.

Relationships

Partners of the players in this study had provided emotional and physical support throughout their playing career and had also become accustomed to a particular lifestyle, structure, and routine as a result. However, as has been identified by participants the onset of retirement resulted in the culmination of challenging impacts in these aspects of their life. As active participants in the process (Andersen et al., 2002) and acknowledged key providers of support (Brown et al., 2019; Park et al., 2013) it is not surprising then that this further impacted retired players' relationships with their partners. As suggested by one participant: “Some of the main problems I see players facing when they retire is in their relationships with their wives and their families” (P12). In some cases, adjusting to retirement leads to some conflict within the family and, specifically, relationships with partners. While there were some benefits to more time with family due to a shift in focus one player noted that his partner was annoyed by having him around the house more (P2). Another player suggested:

If you ask my wife, she would say that, you know I remember us having some, you know some really ding dong arguments that first year when she just said that you were, that I was very difficult to live with (P3)

Participants accepted that during their playing career they could become self-centred due to the commitment necessary at the elite level. Consequently, they appreciated the opportunity to refocus on family relationships; “Family comes first again” (P16) and:

Before where you are pretty obnoxious and self-centred … you can relax a little bit which is pretty cool, and you can be a better husband or a father and reconnect with friends (P10)

A key focus of Gidden's structuration theory (1984) is the concept of agency, that is the extent to which an individual could have acted differently at any given point. During their playing careers, the structure of the Rugby system led to less agency for the players due to the commitment required which meant they missed important family moments. However, retirement offers more agency for the players and the opportunity to act in a manner that prioritises family and relationships. Chatterjee et al., (2019: 63) stipulated that agents “behave according to their knowledge or belief regarding their situation and the outcomes of their action.” Further, Chatterjee et al., (2019) acknowledge that actions can have unintentional consequences. The reflections from retired players regarding the conflict experienced during the transition phase suggest that they could have exercised more agency and acted differently to avoid the unintended consequences of conflict in their relationships during this time.

Support for significant other

Players suggested that support was needed that was “targeted towards families” (P14). Partners had been ‘very much a part of that journey … your partner takes that ride with you … they ride the ups and downs’ (P2) and therefore they also needed support in the transitioning process. As one participant noted:

It is very much a process that the whole family goes through in transition … so making sure that the partners and the families still maintain connection with their friends that they’ve made in rugby league … if there's sessions or workshops that can be targeted towards families (P14)

From a structural perspective the institutions of Rugby, such as the clubs, are part of the social system of the player during their playing career. From a player perspective, those institutions need to be working with the players’ significant others in preparation for life after Rugby alongside working with the players:

But also too for the partners … education around that you know, that this is the thing, these are the things that can happen once you finish the game … the better the players and their partners are educated on in and around those sorts of subjects … transition into life away from sport is going to be hopefully a lot more smoother (P2)

The players have a sense of knowledgeability, agency, and power of their significant others in the social structure of their retirement but there is a difference in their “practical consciousness” (Giddens, 1984) drawing upon their known and unacknowledged understanding of their partners’ experience of life with them in retirement. From a structuration theory perspective, the past player has a practical consciousness derived from the experience of the social system they inhabit (Giddens, 1984). This social system includes their significant other. Knights et al., (2019) suggested that having a strong support network helps athletes move through hardship and difficulties during the transition period into life after professional sport. What we are suggesting is that the support network needs to be extended to players’ significant others. It has been established that athletes with a strong support system (significant others) have a more positive experience after retirement (Knights et al., 2019). The players recognise that their significant others face their own challenges when the player retires from sport. They therefore argue the importance of providing support and education to their partners to help them both go into and then through the transition process as positively as possible because they have been intentionally provided skills and knowledge to support each other by the institutions that were part of the social system prior to retirement.

From a structuration theory perspective, it is not enough for the past players to discursively state that there is a need for greater institutional support for their significant others’ preparation for their retirement and what life will be like with the retired player. There is a need to engage freely with action to intervene in the existing state of affairs of their social system. Lack of tangible action implies a sense of security in the existing social system that is inconsistent with what they are calling for as needed within their social system. From a structuration theory perspective, the past players’ action creates the social system so if a different social system is desired in retirement, then the past players need to recognise their potential for agency, and with agency, the power that they actually have in creating the social structure. In this study, past players are calling for the institutions to do more to support their significant others in retirement but in doing so they are not recognising their agency. For example, to seek advice from a financial planner, career advisor, relationship counsellor or to work proactively with their managers to prepare for all aspects of retirement.

Limitations and future research

In this study, various limitations should be considered. As the players had to reflect on their retirement experiences, there is always the possibility of recall bias (Côté et al., 2005). Furthermore, perspectives from the voice of the players were collected and not from the significant other (in this case the partner), therefore intimate personal aspects may be lost. In order to address these limitations, future research may benefit on using a longitudinal design to follow the partners and players at different time points after retirement. In addition, interviewing the players’ partners would provide more insights and a deeper understanding of their perceptions about retirement and is an important area for further research. Significant others is a nascent area of athlete transition research where more understanding is needed about the capability of past players to engage in purposive actions as knowledgeable agents (Giddens, 1984) understanding the consequences of their actions on their significant others. This research includes positioning the past players relationally in their time-space paths pre-retirement and into retirement as a social identity with prerogatives and obligations interacting with the institutions in the social system and what the players are looking for from them for their significant others.

Conclusion and implication for practice

Through structuration theory, we have examined the meaning that past players have given to the social context of their retirement and the experience of their partners. According to structuration theory, all human beings are knowledgeable agents (Giddens, 1984). We have suggested that the players have a perception of the consequences of the impacts of their retirement on the day-to-day activities of their significant others. The knowledgeability of the past player is bound in one sense by their perception of their partner’s life and in another sense by the unacknowledged because there are unknown conditions to the players and therefore the potential for unintended consequences of retirement on their significant others. The study of context and the contextualities of interaction make possible the visibility of the diverse perspectives the player had on the consequences of retirement on their significant others. This arises because the constraints associated with the structure of the players’ retirement as a social system are not universal. For example, some players need to find work in retirement, while others are financially secure and able to explore the reality of having more time and in particular unstructured time with their family.

We have suggested that it is not only the players who need support preparing for and into retirement, but it is also needed for the significant others in their lives, specifically as in this context their partner. The process of supporting the players after retirement also resulted in some difficulties for the partners. According to the players their partners often had to experience change and disruption in their own lives as they adjusted to changing roles and dynamics in their relationship with the player. These findings highlight that the transition out of sport does not only impact the player but also their partner. As partners share the playing and retirement experiences of players, they can provide valuable data on the experiences, suggesting more research is warranted from their personal perspective as supporters as well as those sharing the impact. There is a gap in the literature related to the relationship between both the broader sociological context of player retirement and the context relationship to the players’ significant others as part of the structure of the social context of retirement.

It is anticipated and recommended that the results of this study will support and enhance future programs provided by professional sporting associations offering appropriate support and resources to develop the required skills to assist the players' partners during the transition out of professional sport. Moreover, currently, most support programs focus on post-sport career transitions and career development/education. However, as the findings suggest, more focus is needed on dealing with emotional/relationship impact.