Document Type : Research Paper I Open Access I Released under (CC BY-NC 4.0) license
Authors
1 MA Student of Sport Management, Faculty of Sport Sciences and Health, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
2 Assistant Professor of Sport Management, Faculty of Sport Sciences and Health, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
Objective: The present study aimed to identify and explain the psychological, social, and structural factors influencing football dropout among Iranian adolescents, with a particular emphasis on the lived experiences of former youth academy players.
Methodology: This study employed a qualitative approach using a phenomenological design. Participants included 13 former youth football players who had previously competed at professional academy levels and had either decided to drop out of football or withdrawn from elite pathways. Participants were selected through purposive sampling combined with snowball recruitment. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews lasting between 30 and 45 minutes. The interviews were analyzed using Braun & Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis framework. To enhance the trustworthiness of the findings, the criteria proposed by Guba & Lincoln (1994)—including credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability—were applied.
Results: The analysis yielded five main themes: (1) motivational and emotional erosion within the football pathway, (2) structural ambiguity and instability in career progression, (3) diminished perceived competence within the competitive football context, (4) disruptions in professional relationships and experiences of perceived injustice, and (5) psychological, social, and future-oriented pressures. The findings indicate that football dropout in adolescence is not a single-cause phenomenon but rather the result of a complex interaction between reduced enjoyment, coaching style, structural insecurity, perceived injustice, social comparison, and concerns about future professional prospects.
Conclusion: Football dropout during adolescence is a gradual and multidimensional process emerging from the interaction of individual, interpersonal, and structural factors. Developing supportive training environments, enhancing transparency in developmental pathways, improving coach–athlete relationships, and implementing structured transition support mechanisms at critical exit points may play a decisive role in reducing youth football dropout. The findings provide a foundation for designing evidence-based interventions within the Iranian youth football system.
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