Change-events Occurring between Sports at an Elite Level

The purpose of this case study was to understand the personal experience of a female athlete (aged 24 years) undergoing a significant change-event from a team sport (rugby) to an individual sport (weightlifting) at an elite level. Two in-depth informal interviews were conducted. A number of change-events were experienced in several contexts, including a change of sports, a change in academic status, and a reoccurring injury. The findings provided empirical support for the use of the Scheme of Change for Sport Psychology Practice (Samuel & Tenenbaum, 2011a) for understanding the change process and the associated coping strategies athletes may adopt. 3 CHANGE-EVENTS OCCURRING BETWEEN SPORTS AT AN ELITE LEVEL A case study of an athlete's experience of multiple change-events moving between team and individual sports Athletes typically encounter various transitions during their career, either within their sport or as part of their wider social environment. The concept of ‘transition’ was originally described as, “an event or a nonevent which results in a change in assumptions about oneself and the world and thus requires a corresponding change in one’s behaviour and relationships” (Schlossberg, 1981, p.5). Within the field of sport psychology the study of these transitions initially focused on how athletes experienced the process of moving from high-level competitive and/or professional sports into retirement. Since then the field has expanded and these investigations now encompass all aspects of an athlete’s career as well as incorporating other nonathletic life events in a gestalt conceptualisation of the transitions encountered by athletes (Wylleman, Alfermann, & Lavallee, 2004). Wylleman and Lavallee (2004), in their Developmental Model, suggest that normative transitions, those that correspond to the expected movement from one phase to another (e.g., moving from amateur to professional sport), can occur in four overlapping areas of an athlete’s life. These areas are: (a) transitions relating to the athletic career (e.g., initiation into a sport), (b) transitions relating to psychological development (e.g., moving from adolescence into adulthood), (c) transitions relating to social development (e.g., developing a partnership with a coach), and (d) transitions relating to educative and professional development (e.g., moving from secondary to higher education). These transitions may have an impact on more than one area and in different, often interdependent, ways. However, transitions can also be nonnormative, events that are involuntary or unplanned (e.g., a career ending injury) and these too may impact on different areas of an athlete’s life (Wylleman & Lavallee, 2004). In sport, Sinclair and Orlick (1993) defined any successful or positive transition as one in which the athlete negotiated the transition and reciprocal changes without any 4 CHANGE-EVENTS OCCURRING BETWEEN SPORTS AT AN ELITE LEVEL professional assistance, and defined a negative or ‘crisis’ transition as one in which the athlete needed specific psychological support. Stambulova (2000) also stressed the difference between a crisis transition and a transition involving anxiety or discomfort, stating that the latter would only constitute a crisis if the athlete experienced difficulties due to ineffective coping and needed to seek out professional support. This means that transitions that involve experiences traditionally seen as negative, such as anxiety or physical discomfort, are not necessarily automatically harmful, unsuccessful, or crisis transitions. Successful transitions are therefore associated with effective coping and the overcoming of related problems and barriers, while crisis transitions are associated with ineffective coping and the perceived need for professional intervention (Samuel & Tenenbaum, 2011b). Alfermann and Stambulova (2007) suggested that poor strategy selection and ineffective coping was a result of an inability by the athlete to analyse the situation correctly, a poor awareness of the demands of the transition, and a lack of resources to appropriately address those demands. In order to understand this process Samuel and Tenenbaum (2011a) proposed a conceptual shift away from focusing specifically on the concept of transitions to investigating what they referred to as change-events. A change-event is not limited to a recognisable or distinct transition and encapsulates all events in the athletic engagement, including longitudinal processes, as well as transitions and crisis transitions. Samuel and Tenenbaum (2011a) argued that the experience of an objective change-event and the associated subjective changes of the athlete are part of the same process. They suggested that athletes experience an on-going psychological process that can be seen in the way that an athlete interacts with the environment through their decisions and choice of coping strategies. In sport, this interactive process has been modelled in the Scheme of Change for Sport Psychology Practice (SCSPP; Samuel & Tenenbaum, 2011a). This model focuses on: (a) the 5 CHANGE-EVENTS OCCURRING BETWEEN SPORTS AT AN ELITE LEVEL stages that unfold as athletes encounter change-events and react to them, and (b) the psychotherapeutic process that could be used to facilitate an effective and successful reaction to a change-event. The SCSPP describes change-events and the typical characteristics of these, as well and the subsequent response in athletes. Stage 1 describes the athletic status quo, that is, the relatively stable environment prior to any change. Samuel and Tenenbaum (2011a) have argued that an athlete will attempt to maintain this state for as long as possible. However, changes will typically occur naturally in this state as a result of either interpersonal or intrapersonal processes, such as reduced performance or an altered relationship with the coach. Stage 2 begins with the athlete experiencing a change-event. This experience is followed by the athlete’s appraisal of the change-event and their own situation. This leads to the athlete’s initial strategic decision whether to cope with the event or ignore it. This strategic decision can cover a range of approaches such as; (a) denial, or ignoring the need for change (not acting or not able to act); (b) seeking aid or advice (e.g., consulting a coach or teammate; (c) deciding to act without assistance; and (d) seeking professional help (e.g., a sport psychologist or counsellor). This decision is potentially influenced by a range of moderating factors: (a) the significance of the event (e.g., emotional impact), (b) the influence of significant others, (c) personal experience of similar events, (d) availability of support and guidance, (e) the athlete’s individual characteristics (e.g., age and gender); and (f) the motivation of the athlete (direction and intensity). After the initial strategic decision is made the athlete will make a subsequent decision whether they will attempt to change or not. This decision to change (or not) is also influenced by a range of factors such as: (a) the athlete’s capacity to change (e.g., motivation to make a change, coping style adopted, expectancy of therapy), and (c) elements of the therapeutic process (e.g., therapeutic alliance and/or relationship). 6 CHANGE-EVENTS OCCURRING BETWEEN SPORTS AT AN ELITE LEVEL Finally, stage 3 describes the athlete’s attempt to implement change within themselves or within their environment. However, Samuel and Tenenbaum (2011a) stress that just because an athlete has made the decision to respond to a change-event, by implementing a coping strategy or deciding to change, does not mean he/she will necessarily have the interpersonal and intrapersonal resources to accomplish this. These efforts may therefore result in either a personal change in the athlete, such as an increased motivation or altered behaviour, or in no change at all. Within elite sport, transitioning between key points in a career has been identified as crucial in determining an athlete’s continued success (Pearson & Petipas, 1990). However, the focus has shifted from considering relatively few normative transitions such as entering sport (e.g., Bruner, Munroe-Chandler, & Spink, 2008) and retiring from competition (e.g., Miller & Kerr, 2002), to examining a greater range of transitions that include nonnormative events and nonevents (e.g., Wylleman, Alfermann, & Lavallee, 2004). The focus has also shifted from describing specific events to considering the processes athletes undergo, the coping strategies they use, the resources available to athletes, and potential interventions to assist in creating positive sport experiences (e.g., Samuel & Tenenbaum, 2011a, 2011b). It is into this context that the present paper sets out the case study of an elite athlete who underwent a significant change-event when she moved between two sports at an elite level. This event consisted of several interconnected changes, including, but not limited to: a change in sport, a change in academic status, and a potentially career ending injury. To fully explore the interconnections the authors sought to investigate the athlete’s personal experiences and capture the subjective, phenomenological interpretations of the athlete, as well as the complex factors that have influenced her athletic engagement. 7 CHANGE-EVENTS OCCURRING BETWEEN SPORTS AT AN ELITE LEVEL