| 1. |
- Ekengren, Johan, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Career Assistance to a Team in Crisis-Transition : An Intervention Case Study in Swedish Elite Handball
- 2021
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Ingår i: Case Studies in Sport and Exercise Psychology. - Champaign, IL : Human Kinetics. - 2470-4849 .- 2470-4857. ; 5:1, s. 10-19
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper we share how a career assistance program (CAP) was developed, implemented, and evaluated with a Swedish elite handball team. Within this case study the initial version of the CAP’s content was created based on the career-long psychological support services in Swedish handball framework and the first author’s applied experiences. During implementation the head coach terminated unexpectedly and the team appeared in a crisis. This transitional situation led to modification of the CAP to help the players cope with changes. Eighteen players took part in eight workshops dealing with various aspects of their sport and non-sport life (e.g., performance, training, lifestyle, recovery, future planning) with crisis-related issues (e.g., coping with uncertainty) incorporated. Mixed-methods evaluation revealed the players’ perceived increase in personal resources (awareness, skills) and decrease in stress and fatigue. Reflections on working in applied sport psychology from a holistic perspective in a dynamic real-life setting are provided.
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| 2. |
- Ekengren, Johan, 1979-
(författare)
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Careers of Swedish Professional Handball Players : From an Empirical Model to Career-Long Psychological Support Services
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This PhD Project with a specialization in sport psychology is inspired by the cultural praxis of athletes’ careers paradigm. This implies that the Project blends theory, research, and practice within the context of Swedish handball, by investigating career pathways of professional players providing empirically based, and context specific, implications. The overarching aim of the Project is twofold: (a) to examine the career experiences of Swedish professional handball players and consolidate them into the empirical career model of Swedish professional handball players (ECM-H), and (b) based on the ECM-H, to develop, validate, and test an applied framework promoting career-long psychological support services in Swedish handball (CPS-H). The first aim is covered by Study I and II, and the second aim is met in Study III and IV. The dissertation is designed as a collection of four articles with one article per study. Study I focused on a qualitative exploration of career experiences from 18 Swedish professional handball players including major career stages and transitions in their athletic and non-athletic development. The players’ accounts were consolidated into the ECM-H describing the context-specific features and pathways throughout the handball career. When developing the ECM-H, gender-specific issues appeared of interest for further investigation. Gender issues were addressed in Study II by re-analyzing the data from Study I. Two composite vignettes were created describing the career pathways of nine male and nine female players. Study III initiated a move from research to practice. Based on the ECM-H, applied sport psychology literature and experiences of the research team led by the first author, the applied framework CPS-H was heuristically developed and validated in three focus groups with end users; professional players, coaches, and sport psychology practitioners. The validated version of the CPS-H is presented with general and career stage-specific recommendations for its implementation among support providers (i.e., where, when, what, who, why, and how of psychological support service). Study IV was designed as an instrumental case study for testing a part of the CPS-H framework. More specifically, the mastery career stage. A career assistance program (CAP) named Life as a professional handball player was developed for, implemented with, and evaluated by Swedish League team. The program included eight workshops dealing with various aspects of the players’ athletic and non-athletic life (e.g., performance, training, lifestyle, recovery, future planning), together with crisis-related issues (e.g., coping with uncertainty). These workshops were delivered by the first author during 12 weeks of a competitive season. The mixed-methods evaluation revealed a perceived improvement in players’ personal coping resources (e.g., increased awareness) and a decrease in their fatigue and stress. This Project contributes to the athlete career sport psychology discourse and the emerging athlete mental health discourse by presenting the ECM-H and CPS-H frameworks, and the CAP Life as a professional handball player, grounded in the cultural context of Swedish handball. The frameworks and CAP can serve as inspiration for future research and practice, informed by a cultural praxis. The Project shows the usefulness of working as a scientist-practitioner and establishing theory-researchpractice-context links for the promotion of culturally informed implications, and supports the work of facilitating a holistic understanding of athletes’ striving for healthy, successful, and long-lasting careers in sport and life.
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| 3. |
- Ekengren, Johan, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Composite vignettes of Swedish male and female professional handball players’ career paths
- 2020
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Ingår i: Sport in Society. - Abingdon : Routledge. - 1743-0437 .- 1743-0445. ; 23:4, s. 595-612
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this study was to describe gender-specific career paths of Swedish professional handball players. A reanalysis of Ekengren et al. (2018) career interviews with nine male and nine female players led to creating two composite vignettes using the athletes’ own words, accounted for typical features in the male and female players’ career paths. Seven themes were identified in the analysis of the men’s transcripts and eight themes derived from the women’s transcripts. Further, the themes of both vignettes were aligned with career stages described in our previous study (Ekengren et al. 2018). The male players’ vignette is interpreted as a performance narrative congruent with elite handball culture that promotes performance success and profitable professional contracts. The female players’ vignette is more holistic, embracing handball, studies, motherhood, and how they ought to be as Swedish women. Recommendations for future research are provided. © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
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| 4. |
- Ekengren, Johan, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Developing a career training programme in Swedish elite handball
- 2019
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Ingår i: Abstract book. ; , s. 319-319
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Psychological interventions with elite athletes should benefit from the developmental and preventive perspectives (Stambulova, 2016) keeping in mind the highly stressful nature of elite sports and potential threats for athletes’ mental health (Schinke, Stambulova, Si, & Moore, 2017). The authors of this presentation (2018) explored 18 Swedish professional handball players’ career experiences with foci on major stages and transitions in their athletic and non-athletic developments. The players’ information was consolidated into an empirical career model of Swedish handball players, covering several stages and layers in players’ development with relevant transitions, pathways, and themes describing content of each stage. This empirical model served a basis for planning the intervention study with professional handball players aimed at helping them to develop resources and strategies to meet elite career demands and maintain health and wellbeing. The presentation will focus on development of a career training program (CTP) for 16 professional players (age 18-35) representing an elite handball club in the South of Sweden. The CTP is structured into eight workshops with their content derived from major demands and stressors of handball players during the mastery stage of their careers. After the CTP kick off, major topics of the workshops include: professional players’ values and committed actions, training, performance, lifestyle, and recovery issues, injury prevention, the future and athletic retirement. The content of the workshops guided by a combination of concurrent and proactive approaches will include acceptance and commitment training, life skills development, pre-transition planning, monitoring assessment, and creating a personal development plan.
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| 5. |
- Ekengren, Johan, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Development and validation of career-long psychological support services in Swedish handball
- 2019
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Ingår i: Abstract book. ; , s. 59-59
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study is part of the PhD-project aimed at examining Swedish professional handball players’ career experiences and developing an applied framework to improve career assistance. Inspired by the cultural praxis of athletes’ careers (Stambulova & Ryba, 2013; 2014) we blend theory, research, and practice with the athletes’ cultural and sporting contexts. In the previous part, the author and three co-authors (2018) developed an empirical career model (ECM-H) describing players’ changing demands across career stages from the holistic perspective (Wylleman, Rosier, & De Knop, 2015) and showing that they need different types of career assistance at different stages. This second part study aims to develop and validate an applied framework – the career-long psychological support services (CLPSS). To create the initial version of the CLPSS a heuristic approach combining the ECM-H with the author’s applied sport psychology experiences was used. Then the initial version was validated in two focus groups with elite handball coaches (n=4) and experienced sport psychology consultants (n=3) following Kreuger and Casey’s (2015) recommendations. The participants were positive to the initial version and suggested several improvements. The validated CLPSS implements the whole career and whole person perspectives with the four career stages aligned with age markers and three layers of career assistance issues derived from the Swedish handball context, athletes’ perceived demands, and desirable support from relevant stakeholders (e.g., coaches, parents). The CLPSS helps to understand, what issues to address and when in a career to facilitate players’ coping, reduce unnecessary stress, and promote sustainable careers in elite handball.
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| 6. |
- Ekengren, Johan, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Exploring career experiences of Swedish professional handball players : Consolidating firsthand information into an empirical career model
- 2020
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Ingår i: International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology. - New York : Taylor & Francis. - 1612-197X .- 1557-251X. ; 18:2, s. 156-175
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The study was aimed at developing the empirical career model of Swedish professional handball players by means of exploring their career experiences in athletic and non-athletic developments through the lens of the holistic athletic career model. Eighteen Swedish professional handball players (nine men and nine women), who had recently terminated or were finishing their careers took part in semi-structured interviews about their careers from the beginning to the end with an interest in both athletic and non-athletic developments. Thematic analysis initially focused on identifying the handball career structure (i.e. stages and sub-stages). Then, the interviews were analysed inductively to identify shared themes in the players’ experiences relevant to each career stage. These themes were incorporated in the relevant stages, and the empirical career model of Swedish professional handball players (further – the empirical model) was finalised. The empirical model describes careers of Swedish handball players as having four athletic stages – initiation, development (with three sub-stages), mastery (with four sub-stages), and discontinuation – complemented by players’ psychological, psychosocial, academic/vocational, and financial developments. Each stage is also aligned with age markers and contains themes describing players’ career experiences from the holistic perspective. The empirical model contributes to contextualised career research and serves as a basis for developing career-long psychological support services in Swedish handball including player/coach/parent education organised by the Swedish Handball Federation.© 2018 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
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| 7. |
- Ekengren, Johan, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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From career initiation to discontinuation : an empirical career model of Swedish handball players
- 2017
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Ingår i: Sport psychology: Linking theory to practice. - 9788491482826 ; , s. 190-191
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This doctoral project was inspired by a set of challenges articulated in the cultural praxis of athletes’ careers paradigm (Stambulova & Ryba, 2013), and especially in regard of contextualizing career research and existing ‘general’ frameworks. Innovative aspects of this study consisted of: (a) exploring career experiences of Swedish handball players with foci on stages and transitions in their athletic and non-athletic development, and (b) consolidating the players’ first-hand data into an empirical career model of Swedish handball players (further – the empirical model). The holistic athletic career model (Wylleman, Reints & De Knop, 2013) served as a prototype for the empirical model and was useful in structuring the players’ career experiences. Eighteen elite Swedish handball players (retiring or just recently retired) took part in narrative type interviews about their whole careers with an interest in both athletic and non-athletic developments. Thematic analysis initially took a deductive turn to identify the handball career structure, and then the empirical data relevant to each stage/sub-stage were analysed inductively to identify themes describing players’ career experiences at each stage. Finally, the themes were incorporated into the stage-like structure, and the empirical model was completed. The model describes careers of Swedish handball players as having four stages – initiation, development (with three sub-stages), mastery (with four sub-stages), and discontinuation. It also contains eight layers – athletic categorisation in terms of age, pathways of the Swedish Handball Federation, academic/vocational, psychological, psychosocial, and financial developments – all aligned with age markers and complemented by sets of themes describing players’ stage-by-stage career experiences from the holistic perspective. Further in the project the empirical model will be used to create the ‘whole career’ psychological support system for Swedish handball players.
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| 8. |
- Ekengren, Johan, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Moving to Play Abroad : Experiences of Transnational Team Handball Players
- 2016
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Many athletes strive to excel in their sport, dreaming of fame and fortune, aiming for a career as a professional athlete. In the Nordic countries, becoming professional often implies a migration across national borders. In this relocation, it is not only crucial for transnational athletes to adapt in sport, a cultural and psychological adaptation is also needed (Ryba, Haapanen, Mosek, & Ng, 2012; Agergaard & Ryba, 2014). The purpose of this study was to examine team handball players’ experiences of their first transition and adaptation to a professional league in a foreign country, with a specific focus on their perceived demands and coping strategies. Participants were 18 senior elite team handball players (10 male, 8 female). During narrative-type interviews participants were encouraged to tell their story, focusing on how they experienced their first transnational transition. Participants’ narratives were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2013), themes and patterns of meaning were identified. The four major themes of perceived transition demands were: ‘Learn new cultural and social codes’, ‘Adjust to the rules of the new club’, ‘Accept the result focused environment’, ‘Acknowledge your role and play it’. Three themes of coping strategies were: ‘Embrace the challenge’ (e.g., be aware of the new context, negotiate and adapt to new norms and expect the unexpected) ‘Embrace yourself’ (e.g., to care for and prioritize yourself in a self-centered, but still positive way) and ‘Embrace your demons’ (e.g., accept feelings of doubt and anxiety and carry on regardless of them). Based on the research findings recommendations will be provided for psychological support of transnational athletes in their transition and adaptation abroad.
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| 9. |
- Ekengren, Johan, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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No rest for the weary : Swedish elite handball players’ perceived demands in the transition to the national team
- 2017
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Nordic Sport Science Conference – ‘The Double-Edged Sword of Sport: Health Promotion Versus Unhealthy Environments’. - Halmstad : Halmstad University Press. ; , s. 31-32
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: Athletes have to pay a price to make their dream true, and for many this dream is to become professional and play in the national team (NT). Playing in the NT is often seen as the pinnacle of an athletic career but also as a period when athletes experience new demands due to their dual responsibility of playing in the club and in the NT. This dual responsibility brings additional performance demands, increased workload, extended travelling, many days away from home, etc., and in a combination with too little recovery, and various role conflicts leads to a stressful living. The transition to the NT can be classified as a quasi-normative (Stambulova, 2016) that is relevant only to elite level athletes. Challenging nature of this transition in a combination with its personal and social significance might put players at risk of poor coping and mental health problems (Frank, Nixdorf, & Beckmann, 2015; Stambulova & Wylleman, 2014; Stambulova 2017). Aim and theoretical framework: The transition to the NT was identified as a topic specific for the mastery stage of the players’ careers in the empirical career model of Swedish handball players (Ekengren, Stambulova, Johnson, & Carlsson, submitted). This model complemented by the athletic career transition model (Stambulova, 2003; 2009) served as theoretical frameworks for this study. The aim of this study was to examine Swedish elite handball players’ experiences of participating in both a professional club and the NT with a specific focus on their perceived demands. Method: In the narrative-type interviews 18 Swedish elite handball players (9 men, 9 women) were encouraged to talk about their careers with foci on both athletic and non-athletic development (Ekengren et al., submitted). Narratives about their experiences of playing both in professional club and the NT were extracted from a larger data set and thematically analysed (Braun, Clarke & Terry 2015). Results: The national team was described as a great reward for their performance efforts and achievements, but also as a burden of being time and energy consuming: It’s a great honour to play in the national team, and you don’t want to turn it down. But I didn’t get the recovery I required to be able to play in both. So, I had to say “no”, because it tears greatly. It wasn’t right to my club that pays my salary. (Female player 7) Major themes outlining the players’ perceived demands in the NT transition were:“it wears and tears a lot physically and psychologically” (e.g., brings higher performance demands but also leaves small time for recovery);“you are caught in the treadmill of recurrent events (e.g., difficult to maintain good life quality being away from family)“you are torn between the two team” (e.g., conflicting interests in professional and national team)“you are torn between different roles” (e.g., between being the NT player and a club player, a players and a family member) Discussion and conclusions: The project reveals how professional athletes appraised the increasing demands when selected to the NT. On the one hand, the NT transition was seen as a reward, but on the other hand, the transition demands put players under risk of too high life stress with possible negative consequences (e.g., injuries, burnout, and depression) to follow (e.g., Ivarsson, Stambulova, & Johnson, 2016; Stambulova, 2017). Based on the research findings recommendations will be provided for psychological support of NT-players and their coaches/managers in club and federation. This will include, for example, promoting a holistic view of the players’ situation, individual recovery plans and communication skills.
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| 10. |
- Ekengren, Johan, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Returning home after playing abroad : re-adaptation challenges of elite Swedish handball players
- 2017
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Ingår i: Sport psychology: Linking theory to practice. - 9788491482826 ; , s. 531-531
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In cultural sport psychology and athlete migration literature (Ryba, Schinke, Stambulova, & Elbe, 2017) there is a call for studying athletes’ transnational mobility and cultural transitions out of, and back to the country of origin. This call is also echoed in the cultural praxis of athletes’ careers paradigm (Stambulova & Ryba, 2013) attracting attention of career researchers. This study is aimed at exploring “back home” re- adaptation challenges of elite Swedish handball players after several years of playing professionally abroad. Eleven players (six females) were interviewed about their careers from the beginning to the end, and their narratives about the transition back to Sweden were extracted from the larger data set and thematically analysed (Braun & Clarke, 2013). Participants spent abroad for M=7.2±2.8 years, and many of them came back having families and kids. Several informants narrated that the transition was more challenging than they expected, and they (especially at the beginning) felt themselves as strangers in their own land. Five major themes describing the transition challenges were: “to rethink self-identity”, “to renew family life”, “to re- establish links with relatives and family”, “to understand local laws and regulations”, “to keep in pace with the society”. The identity issue was addressed through a sense of being “in between” the identities of the home and the foreign cultures that elevated emotional discomfort, especially at the early phase of re-adjustment. Three themes describing coping strategies used in the re-adaptation were: “don’t give up” (i.e., attempt to change own attitude and the situation to the better), “use social skills” (e.g., be alert and communicate) and “search for social support” (e.g., from a spouse and close family). Based on the findings, recommendations will be provided for pre-retirement planning of elite athletes and psychological support in their cultural transition and re-adaptation back home.
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