The key idea of this review paper is to consider career transition scholarship in sport psychology through a lens of bridging holistic developmental and ecological approaches to demonstrate their intersections and complementarity in advancing the understanding of career transitions in sport. This paper is intended to: (a) outline an evolution of the career transition topic in sport psychology, emphasizing its development over the last 25 years; (b) summarize major current achievements of career transition research in bridging holistic developmental and ecological approaches; (c) address debates in, and formulate future challenges for, transition research and practice. We consider the evolution of the topic by analyzing the contributions of several milestone publications in Psychology of Sport and Exercise that prepared and spurred on the development of the bridges between transition research focusing on individual athletes and on their related environments. We proceed with situating career transition research within athlete career sport psychology discourse and propose a taxonomy of frameworks used in transition scholarship. Narrative synthesis underlined by bridging the two approaches in focus was used to summarize research- and practice-related knowledge on the transitions of athletes, coaches, and parents. In the final parts we invite the readers to debate some conceptual and research-to-practice issues within the topic as well as discuss future challenges in bridging the holistic developmental and ecological approaches in career transition research and practice. © 2025 The Authors

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Att vara elitidrottare är något du är under en begränsad tid. Det är en fantastisk period som följs av en annan tid med nya spännande utmaningar. För att komma väl förberedd till tiden efter din elitidrottskarriär har du möjligheten att kombinera din idrottssatsning med studier. Det innebär att du har en karriär med två huvudsakliga spår, vilket kallas för att genomföra en dubbel karriär (eng: dual career). Förbered dig på denna framtida övergång genom att träna på olika färdigheter som kommer att behövas i en kommande karriär, utforska andra intressen i livet förutom idrott, och kombinera idrott med studier eller arbete.

In Norway, athletes move from children’s sport to youth sport when they are 13 years old, involving a shift in regulations set by the sport governing body. This study aimed to explore the children-to-youth sport transition (CYT) from the coaches’ perspectives, focusing on how they perceive their athletes’ transition experiences and how they work with them. We conducted semistructured interviews with six Norwegian youth sport coaches working in handball and cross-country skiing, analysing the data using thematic analysis. We identified two umbrella themes: coaches’ perceptions of changes in CYT athletes and coaches’ challenges and strategies working with CYT athletes. Findings show that coaches perceive the CYT as a critical period in young athletes’ lives as they navigate increasing demands in school, sport, and friends. The CYT period is characterised by athletes’ physical, physiological, cognitive, and psychosocial changes that shape their development and relationships. Coaches face challenges in meeting the diverse needs of athletes due to their nonlinear development and varying levels of commitment. To support athletes in both their sport and personal development, coaches focus on creating positive experiences and caring for the whole person. The findings highlight the need for an individualised and holistic approach in coaching CYT athletes. © 2025 Human Kinetics

The aim of this paper is twofold: (1) to integrate several theoretical perspectives into a novel Meta-model of Adaption in Sport (MAS model) and (2) to support the MAS model with a narrative literature review on change-provoking events and related adaptation processes, factors involved, and outcomes. The MAS model is designed to account for two potential tracks of adaptation – fast and prolonged – that are situated along the continuum of adaptation experiences in sport. In each track, sport performers experience various types of sport-related events (i.e., acute events or change events) that are associated with specific sets of demands and perceptions related to self-efficacy beliefs and challenge-threat appraisal. Accordingly, the performer responds to these events by using the mechanisms which determine his/her adaptation process and outcomes. We present a narrative review of the literature related to both adaptation tracks that provide empirical support to the MAS model and conclude by offering reflections on the MAS model and its potential applications in sport psychology research and practice.  © 2023 International Society of Sport Psychology.

This podium session is aimed to promote the FEPSAC Position Statement (PS) on athletes’ dual careers (DCs) in the European context (Stambulova et al., 2024) and engage the author team into discussion on how to proceed with further development of the European DC discourse. The authors of the PS summarized current knowledge about European athletes’ DCs, and, on behalf of FEPSAC, proposed recommendations for DC research, practice, and policy. Central idea of the PS is supporting athletes’ striving for DC excellence (i.e., sustaining a healthy, successful, and long-lasting career in sport in combination with education and/or work). Based on four recent DC review papers (e.g., Kegelaers et al., 2022) and four European ERASMUS + Sport projects (e.g., Gold in Education and Elite Sport, Be a Winner In elite Sport and Employment before and after athletic Retirement, Ecology of DC, and DCs for Mental Health) seven postulates were created on DC: (1) context, (2) pathways and transitions, (3) challenges, (4) resources and coping, (5) support and empowerment, (6) mental health of student–athletes, and (7) DC development environments. Further, a set of recommendations for development of the European DC discourse in terms of research, practice, and policy was provided to stimulate cooperation between DC stakeholders on the European and national levels. The session organizers will facilitate a presentation of the PS findings, and moderate discussions among panelists on research, practice, and policy recommendations. For instance, they will explore which recommendations resonate the most with their research/ practice experiences? how can we proceed with a legal status of DC support providers? what are the barriers to create national DC Guidelines? how do we see the role of FEPSAC in the update of the European DC Guidelines? Contributions from the audience will be welcomed, and the podium’s conclusions delivered to the FEPSAC Managing Council.

The transition from children-to-youth sport (CYT) is under-researched worldwide. Around the time of this transition (about 12 years of age), some sports participants will decide to leave sports (Bakken, 2019), some will choose the recreational pathway, and others commit to their sport and enter sports specialization years (DiSanti & Erickson, 2019). Coaches play a key role in supporting athletes during transitions (Adams et al., 2015; Tamminen & Holt, 2012), rendering their understanding of what athletes are facing and are challenged by while transiting important knowledge that so far is uncharted. Informed by the holistic developmental perspective (Wylleman et al., 2020) and career transition one (Stambulova, 2003, 2023), the presentation will share what some of Norway’s youth sport coaches perceived as impactful during their athletes’ CYT and committing to their sport. We conducted semi-structured interviews with three handball and three cross-country ski coaches and analyzed the data using reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2022). Through the coaches’ eyes, the athletes were challenged by the increased load and onset of evaluation in both school and sport, changes in sports equipment, and peer relations. To cope with PERFORMING ARTS, MEDICINE, BUSINESS AND DAILY LIFE the demands, the athletes took the time to structure their days with/without help from coaches/parents, searched for and found their place among peers, accepted their changing bodies, and committed to sport when their perceived competence was challenged. Key factors for commitment to sport were athletes’ high perceived ability, growth mindset/mastery orientation, knowledge of how their body develops and impacts mastery, and support from their coach, family, and friends. Practical implications for youth sports coaches will be offered with regard to the role they can play in making the CYT an efficient one and increasing the chances for athletes to commit to their sport.