Knowing when, and how, to step out: Coach retirement

The conceptual area of career termination in sports coaching is heavily paralleled with findings from the athlete population, yet coaches are a unique population to examine. Anecdotally, coaches are often former elite athletes who have already experienced the termination of their athletic career where continued involvement in sport is used purposefully or inadvertently to help ease the psychological burden of athletic career termination. Yet, coaching is an inherently transient role offering little job security. In this chapter, we explore the concept of coach retirement in-depth, examining the precursors to retirement, facilitative coping, career planning and adaptation to the next phase of life. This chapter will conclude with suggestions for specific areas of future research, and implications for applied practice.