Providing Psychological Support for the Junior to Senior Transition in Professional Female Football: An Individual Case Study

Abstract

First paragraph: In the United Kingdom (UK), female football is now the fourth most popular team sport in terms of participation (Football Association, 2012). A 2016/17 report generated by UEFA identified there to be 215 professional players within England alone. Likewise, the Football Associations (FA) gameplan for growth strategy 2017-2020 also achieved its three main goals of 1) doubling participation, 2) doubling fans and 3) consistent success on the world stage. This provides evidence for the clear growth of female football. With that presents further challenges to the professional female footballer. For example, many female footballers combine their now full-time football careers with full-time further/higher education. A recent report by FIFPro highlighted that 46% of current female players worldwide combine their football career with study. Similarly, McGreary et al. (2020) conducted a study exploring the junior-to-senior transition experiences of professional female footballers. Their study highlighted being a dual career athlete, anxiety towards the transition, and a lack of social life as pertinent challenges when transitioning into a senior environment. Therefore, when supporting a female footballer through the junior-to-senior transition, consideration should be given to holistic issues (e.g., managing dual-careers, social challenges) rather than simply performance-based issues due to the potential for wider issues impacting on their transitional experience.