Claire-Marie Roberts

Blurred lines: performance enhancement, common mental disorders and referral in the U.K. athletic population

Through the awareness-raising efforts of several high-profile current and former athletes, the issue of common mental disorders (CMD) in this population is gaining increasing attention from researchers and practitioners alike. Yet the prevalence is unclear and most likely, under-reported. Whilst the characteristics of the sporting environment may generate CMD within the athletic population, it also may exacerbate pre-existing conditions, and hence it is not surprising that sport psychology and sport science practitioners are anecdotally reporting increased incidences of athletes seeking support for CMD. In a population where there are many barriers to reporting and seeking help for CMD, due in part to the culture of the high performance sporting environment, anecdotal reports suggest that those athletes asking for help are approaching personnel who they are most comfortable talking to. In some cases, this may be a sport scientist, the sport psychologist or sport psychology consultant. Among personnel in the sporting domain, there is a perception that the sport psychologist or sport psychology consultant is best placed to assist athletes seeking assistance for CMD. However, sport psychology as a profession is split by two competing philosophical perspectives; one of which suggests that sport psychologists should work exclusively with athletes on performance enhancement, and the other views the athlete more holistically and accepts that their welfare may directly impact on their performance. To add further complication, the development of the profession of sport psychology varies widely between countries, meaning that practice in this field is not always clearly defined. This article examines case studies that illustrate the blurred lines in applied sport psychology practice, highlighting challenges with the process of referral in the U.K. athletic population. The article concludes with suggestions for ensuring the field of applied sport psychology is continually evolving and reconfiguring to ensure that it continues to meet the demands of its clients.

An in-depth appraisal of career termination experiences in professional cricket

Abstract This qualitative study explored the career termination experiences of 9 male, retired professional cricketers between the ages of 28 and 40 (mean value 34, s = 4.65 m). The participants took part in retrospective, semi-structured interviews. Data from the interviews were inductively content analysed within three transition phases of the retirement process: reasons for retirement, factors affecting adaptation and reactions to retirement. The reasons for retirement were multicausal with the majority of the participants highlighting contractual pressures and a lack of communication as important precursors to retirement. Three main themes accounted for the factors affecting adaptation: a limited pursuit of other interests, developmental experiences and coping strategies. In terms of reactions to retirement, all of the participants reflected negatively on the termination of their career, with a sense of loss and resentment characterising the post-retirement period. The findings illustrated the sport-specific nature of career termination in professional cricket and added further support to the emerging consensus that the distinction between voluntary and involuntary retirement is, at best, unclear.

Building a successful Olympic team selection protocol in women’s handball: a case study examining the benefits of employing reflective practice

The sharing of applied practice offered in the current paper affords an opportunity to view how the use of reflective practice can serve as a problem-solving catalyst to a variety of issues raised during support provided to GB women’s handball within an Olympic setting. The first author was faced with a number of scenarios during her applied experiences with this team, and made use of reflective practice (RP) at various points during the support process to help make crucial decisions about what actions to take regarding her involvement in, and support with, team selection. The main scenario presented focuses on the request for the practitioner to advise on the development of an Olympic team selection protocol. The current paper presents how RP was used as a mechanism for supporting the final decisions about how best to design and execute this very sensitive process, resulting in the development of an effective protocol for Olympic team selection. The paper aims to highlight how RP can be used as a tool for practitioners to problem-solve and make sense of the information provided to them when supporting athletes in the field.