Stakeholder insights into athlete attrition in the high-performance pathway

Sara A Guevara; Alex Donaldson; Richard J Keegan; Renee N Appaneal; Erin A Smyth; Gordon Waddington; Kate Mahony; Michael K Drew

doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2022.05.011

Stakeholder insights into athlete attrition in the high-performance pathway

J Sci Med Sport. 2022 Sep;25(9):755-763. doi: 10.1016/j.jsams.2022.05.011. Epub 2022 May 27.

Authors

Sara A Guevara¹, Alex Donaldson², Richard J Keegan³, Renee N Appaneal⁴, Erin A Smyth⁵, Gordon Waddington⁶, Kate Mahony⁷, Michael K Drew⁸

Affiliations

¹ New South Wales Institute of Sport, Australia; Research Institute for Sports and Exercise Medicine, University of Canberra ACT 2617, Australia; Athlete Performance Health, AIS Operations, Australian Institute of Sport, Australia. Electronic address: sara.guevara@canberra.edu.au.
² Centre for Sport and Social Impact, La Trobe University, Australia. Electronic address: a.donaldson@latrobe.edu.au.
³ Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, Australia. Electronic address: richard.keegan@canberra.edu.au.
⁴ Athlete Performance Health, AIS Operations, Australian Institute of Sport, Australia.
⁵ Research Institute for Sports and Exercise Medicine, University of Canberra ACT 2617, Australia; Athlete Performance Health, AIS Operations, Australian Institute of Sport, Australia. Electronic address: erin.smyth@ausport.gov.au.
⁶ Research Institute for Sports and Exercise Medicine, University of Canberra ACT 2617, Australia. Electronic address: gordon.waddington@canberra.edu.au.
⁷ New South Wales Institute of Sport, Australia. Electronic address: kate.mahony@nswis.com.au.
⁸ Research Institute for Sports and Exercise Medicine, University of Canberra ACT 2617, Australia; Athlete Performance Health, AIS Operations, Australian Institute of Sport, Australia. Electronic address: mick.drew@ausport.gov.au.

PMID: 35718681
DOI: 10.1016/j.jsams.2022.05.011

Abstract

Objectives: Primary: To gain a system-wide perspective on factors leading to athlete attrition from a high-performance sport system (HPSS). Secondary: To identify what a sample of system-wide stakeholders and past athletes value as the most important and feasible attrition factors to address to retain talented athletes.

Design: Mixed-methods.

Methods: Concept mapping was used for qualitative data collection and quantitative data analysis. Sixty-one participants including: (i) past athletes from an Australian state sporting institute; (ii) their families; and (iii) internal and external stakeholders to a HPSS who supported past athletes.

Results: Participants brainstormed 83 unique statements (i.e. attrition factors) that were mapped into 13 clusters of attrition factors following multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis performed on the participants sorting data: 'abuse and mismanagement of health'; 'athlete health'; 'limited support/resourcing'; 'coaching'; 'inconsistent processes'; 'financial and career support'; 'pathway structure'; 'organisational dynamics'; 'competitive stress'; 'performance potential'; 'challenges with selection and transition'; 'psychological state'; and 'competing non-sport priorities'. 'Abuse and mismanagement of health' had the highest mean importance (3.76 out of 5) and feasibility (3.31) rating. The 13 clusters were further grouped into four overarching domains: 'sport system policy, structure and processes'; 'pathway structure, transition and support'; 'individual athlete health and capability'; and 'whole-of-life demands and priorities'. The domain 'sport system policy, structure and processes' contained the most important and feasible clusters.

Conclusions: Macro (system-level) and micro (intrapersonal and interpersonal) level athlete attrition factors should be considered together. Athlete health was considered the most important athlete retention issue to address.

Keywords: Concept mapping; Dropout; Social ecology; Sport organisation; Systems thinking; Youth sports.

MeSH terms

Athletes* / psychology
Australia
Cluster Analysis
Humans
Sports* / psychology