Examining Former Athletes’ Developmental Experiences in High School Sport

The purpose of this study was to examine former athletes’ perspectives on their developmental experiences in high school sport. Retrospective interviews were conducted with 14 former high school athletes (seven females, seven males) between 18 and 28 years of age ( M = 23.0, SD = 2.66). An inductive thematic analysis led to the identification of two main findings. First, it appears that different types of life skill experiences emanated from high school sport participation. Specifically, the participants believed that high school sport allowed them to (a) acquire new life skills or (b) practice and refine existing life skills. Second, the participants shared numerous examples of negative experiences, suggesting that the aggressive subcultures of some sports have permeated into high school sport. Overall, the findings provide a more nuanced and comprehensive picture of the varied developmental experiences that can ensue from high school sport participation.