Abstract
Professional athletic careers are intense yet inherently time-bound, often concluding at a relatively young age. Following retirement, many athletes experience psychological adjustment challenges, identity reconstruction, and economic uncertainty. Early sport specialisation frequently limits parallel career development and long-term planning, complicating post-sport transitions. Although elite sport cultivates valuable attributes such as discipline, leadership, resilience, decision-making, and strategic thinking, athletes do not always recognise, articulate, or effectively transfer these competencies to post-sport employment contexts. Existing research has predominantly focused on the psychological and sociological dimensions of transition, with limited emphasis on the management skillsets developed through professional sport and their relevance for employability and entrepreneurship.
Objective
This study investigates the transferability of management skills acquired through the lifelong and life-wide learning pathways of professional rugby and cricket players in South Africa. It examines:
(1) which managerial skills are developed through professional sport;
(2) how these skills are perceived as transferable to post-sport employment;
(3) sport-specific similarities and differences between rugby and cricket; and
(4) how such skills influence employability, career mobility, and entrepreneurial engagement.
The study further proposes a three-dimensional management skills framework linking learning pathways, core managerial competencies, and post-sport economic outcomes.
Method
A qualitative interpretive approach, informed by narrative inquiry and semi-structured interviews, was employed to explore the lived experiences of former professional...