Game Over? The career transition of former athletes and the exercise of managerial function
ex-athletes; career transition; managerial function; sports career
The purpose of this study was to "understand the influence of the sports career on the performance of the managerial function from the perception of former athletes." The relevance of this study is to insert a discussion still little explored in the Brazilian literature, analyzing the athlete's career transition and the peculiarities of the profession. To make the analysis proposed in this study feasible, it was necessary to understand career, career transition and managerial role. In order to reach the goal, 6 former athletes were interviewed who occupied the position of manager during the period in which the research was carried out. Only those for whom the sports career was also a professional career were selected. Based on the theoretical reference, the professionals who performed some sequential functions directed to the organization (planning, implementation, operation and evaluation) and directed to the participants (stimulation, coordination and control) were considered as managers. By conducting qualitative and descriptive research, the interviews were done semi-structured and were treated through the content analysis proposed by Bardin (1977). The analysis of the interviews was divided into 3 categories - sports career, manager career and career relationship - and 8 codes. It was felt that the burden of competitions and training, the development of teamwork, leadership, knowledge of oneself limits were decisive for the construction of the current career and influence the understanding of what is the managerial function. It is understood that the greatest contribution of this study resides in the understanding that, after the transition of career, the ex-athlete who assumes a managerial function uses resources of the previous career that allow to overcome the challenges of the management. In addition, it was possible to identify that the experience in the sport is a differential for the managers that act directly or indirectly in this area.