Barriers And Facilitators To The Use Of Supports And Services For Retiring Jockeys: Jockeys’ Perspective.

Barriers and facilitators to the use of supports and services for retiring jockeys: Jockeys’ perspective. Laura Langton1. Sarah Jane Cullen4, Giles Warrington FACSM2 , Jennifer Pugh3, Adrian McGoldrick3, & Ciara Losty1 . 1 SETU Waterford, Waterford, Ireland. 2 University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland. 4 Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland. 3 Irish Horse Racing Regulatory Board, Kildare, Ireland.Adjustment to retirement has been found to be less successful when unplanned and unexpected (Erpic et al., 2004; Kuettel et al., 2017) and therefore pre-planning for retirement is a crucial factor to enable a smooth adjustment in elite athletes (Lavallee, 2019; Martin et al., 2014). There has been no research conducted within the Irish horse racing industry to explore the use of support services for career transitions. PURPOSE: To explore the barriers and facilitators to the use of support services for career transitioning jockeys from the perspective of both current and retired Irish professional jockeys. METHODS: Current (n=5) and retired (n=5) Irish professional jockeys participated in semi structured interviews (duration: 19-44 mins). Questions focused on current supports available, and the perceived barriers and facilitators to their use. Data was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, including an inductive approach. RESULTS: Limited supports are available for retiring jockeys. Barriers to use of support services included time availability (perceptions), industry culture (fear of trainer perceptions, unidimensional identity, psychological safety), misunderstanding of further education and insufficient communication (poor visibility, perceive lack of accessibility). Facilitators of engagement included development of a career pathway (career stage model, multidimensional identity education, guidance of further education, retirement protocol), jockey welfare officer (tangible support, peer support) and support service location (regionalised). CONCLUSION: Jockeys are unaware of services, uninterested in contemplating retirement or experiencing external pressures preventing use. Identity foreclosure could be preventing jockeys from utilising career planning measures. Future research should investigate levels of athletic identity in both current and retired jockeys.