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We've written before on the Surge blog about graduating from a level or a programme, the closure, the reconnecting with values, the rebuilding of purpose. This blog sits alongside that one but looks specifically at the harder end of the spectrum: full retirement from competitive sport, what the evidence says it actually does to mental health, and a newer framework researchers are proposing for how sport should prepare athletes for it. The Numbers Are Bigger Than Most People A
Ask most committed athletes who they are, and "athlete" is usually near the top of the list, sometimes it's the whole list. That's not unusual, and it's not automatically a problem. A strong sense of yourself as an athlete can fuel discipline, resilience, and a genuine love of your sport. But research on athletic identity has also identified a real risk hiding inside that strength: what happens to your sense of self when the sport is taken away, even temporarily. This blog lo
