The impact on athlete identity of career threatening injuries in national team athletes : a local study

Abstract

Major sport injuries create many challenges and uncertainty regarding athletes’ future careers, which may impact their mental health and relationship with sport as they struggle to cope and adjust (Kleinert et al., 2020; Stambulova & Samuel, 2020). This study aims to explore the impact of career-threatening injuries on athlete identity, identify the relationship between athlete identity and injury perception, explore factors that influence the relationship between athlete identity and career threatening injuries, and note possible factors that distinguish the local Maltese context from foreign context. This study investigates this relationship through semi-structured interviews carried out with 6 Maltese national team athletes in football and basketball, recruited through non-probability criteria-based sampling, these interviews where then analysed using Thematic Analysis following the 6 phases indicated by Braun & Clarke, (2006). Participants identified sport as a foundation of their identity, discussed the important role of situational context in injury appraisal and talked about an increased sense of identity vulnerability during the injury recovery process. Interactions with others was identified as an important factor influencing the appraisal of career-threatening injuries and hence their impact on athlete identity. Participants reflected on how their experience of a career-threatening injury also positively influenced and transformed their athlete identity. The non-professional sport environment, alternative sport roles, and the attitudes of others towards sport as career were identified as possibly influencing local factors. Due to a limited sample size and since this study focused on only two sports, results should not be generalised and may not reflect the reality of athletes in other sports.