“Mentoring Beyond Talent”: An Intervention to Support the Academy to First Team Transition in Professional Football. Results of the Study and Perspectives from a Mentor

Objectives: The academy-to-first team transition in professional football is a notoriously challenging within-career transition. Although scarcely researched within sport, mentoring programmes have demonstrated promise in supporting athletes (mentees) to navigate various career transitions. Furthermore, research suggests that mentoring programmes can offer a reciprocal learning relationship that benefits the mentor and the mentee. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of the novel programme “Mentoring: Beyond Talent” in facilitating both young players (mentees) and recently retired players (mentors) in their respective career transitions.

Design: Designed collaboratively between mentors and the researchers, the programme consisted of six educational group sessions that examined known predictors of successful transitions (e.g., social support, dealing with uncertainty) and five one-to-one mentoring sessions over the course of a football season.

Method: The programme was delivered at a Category One football club in the UK and included fourteen academy football players (Mage = 15.85 years, SD = .36) and three recently retired professional football players as mentors (Mage = 34.33 years, SD = 2.62). The effectiveness of the programme was qualitatively evaluated through semi-structured interviews with mentees and key stakeholders (e.g., academy manager), as well as a focus group with all mentors.

Conclusions: Findings indicate mentees reported a greater sense of readiness to make the transition, through improved communication and a greater ability to deal with setbacks. The mechanisms of effect were identified as ‘relatability', 'creating a safe space’, and ‘trust’. Mentors reported benefits, such as enhanced knowledge that could influence their subsequent vocation. Recommendations are provided as to how mentoring may be implemented within a high-performance environment.