Abstract
This study aimed to understand the connections between working as a ”professional soccer player” and doing ”soccer-related job” based on the recognition of their occupational meaning and functions by former professional soccer players with no mental health problems.
Nine former professional soccer players with no mental health problems participated in semistructured interviews, and a continuous comparison method was used to qualitatively analyze the data.
We identified seven ”connections through acquisition of the same meaning and function.” Among the different meanings and functions between jobs, there were four ”connections through changes based on the meaning and function of working as a professional soccer player.” Even if the meanings and functions were different between the jobs, it was understood that there were connections between the jobs. The connections between jobs found in this study are considered to be related to a smooth occupational transition and may afford us a new perspective on effective occupational transition support.
