Identity Regulation in the North American Field of Men’s Professional Ice Hockey: An Examination of Organizational Control and Preparedness for Athletic Career Retirement

• Author / Creator

  Andrijiw, Andre Michael

• Following a significant commitment of time, energy, and role identification, athletes retiring from sport may experience any number of difficulties, including emotional distress, diminished subjective well-being, and identity disruption. These difficulties may be particularly acute for those who hold a salient athletic identity. Notwithstanding an expansive body of literature on the subject of sport career cessation, few works have examined how athletic identities have been constructed, maintained, and/or transformed by managers and organizations.Providing a compelling case for just such an examination was the North American field of men’s professional ice hockey. The field, composed of the National Hockey League, two lower-level affiliates, and a number of related organizations, has long supported the development of athletic identities. This support, despite its service to the achievement of athletic outcomes, has marginalized personal development, complicated the process of sport career cessation, and triggered the introduction of several interventions. In turn, the several questions arose: how have managers and organizations in the field regulated athletic and non-athletic identities; and how might such regulation affect preparation for the process of sport career cessation.To answer these questions, an interpretive study, informed by Alvesson and Willmott’s (2002) concept of identity regulation was undertaken. As part of the study, interviews were conducted with players/alumni (n = 3); and managers from the National Hockey League (n = 1), National Hockey League Players’ Association (n = 1), Professional Hockey Players’ Association (n = 1); Core Development and Career Enhancement Programs (n = 3); and seven National/American Hockey League teams (n = 7; N = 16). In addition, 3902 documents (primarily in the form of online articles, from the aforementioned organizations) were reviewed.Analysis of the data revealed that regulation entailed the construction and maintenance of a salient and bipartite athletic identity; a largely self-directed, non-sporting alternative; and a nascent merger between the two. Consistent with Alvesson and Willmott’s (2002) conceptualization, each of the identities was defined by multiple motives, sets of values and characteristics, and bodies of knowledge and skill. Building upon the conceptualization, the analysis revealed that organizations fostered identity adherence and performance, to varying degrees, through scouting, monitoring, evaluation, and enforcement; explicit conveyances; auxiliary resource allocation; exemplars; awards/rewards; routinization; and publicity. Attempts of identity disruption/change, moreover, were subject to insulative measures.The study ultimately found that the product of regulation, and the organizational practices that undergirded as much, was an eminent athletic identity, one that could continue to complicate the process of sport career cessation. To limit the deleterious nature and occurrence of transition-related difficulties, it was suggested that manager continue to challenge extant regulation practices, and/or employ as much in novel manners. In these ways, broader identities, conducive to the process of athletic career retirement, and the long-term well-being of individuals, may be developed.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Identity
  • Sport
  • Retirement
  • Hockey

• Graduation date

  Spring 2019

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Doctor of Philosophy

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-wjg3-8037

• License

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