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Previous research on the role transition of ex-athletes to a new career is somewhat limited because the studies have applied theories that do not fit the unique characteristics of athletes. This research uses another approach, Ebaugh’s role exit theory to understand the role exit process of professional athletes. Ebaugh claims that her theory, is applicable to all role exits. We found that Ebaugh’s theory applies to athletes, but with modification. Data were collected from interviews with 27 former professional athletes. The experiences of these athletes generally fit within Ebaugh’s 4 stages. However, the athletes paths are not entirely accounted for by the model. Thus, the model is modified to include: (a) a new stage of “original doubts” that precedes becoming a professional athlete; (b) the difference by the era in which the athlete played; (c) the significance of the type of involuntary exit; and (d) the “withdrawal” behaviors associated with leaving sport.

Sport is a very prominent social institution in almost every society because it combines the characteristics found in any institution with a unique appeal only duplicated by, perhaps, religion. The functional, conflict, and cultural studies perspectives are reviewed, with additional discussion on how sport relates to the processes of socialization and social change. The latter focusses on the evolution of sport from a playful, participation-oriented activity to one that resembles a corporate form guided by the principles of commercialism and entertainment. The role of sport in international relations and national development dramatizes the political meaning of sport to many societies. While sport may be integrative at the higher political levels, it has not been so at the interpersonal levels of gender and race. The inequality that characterizes society’s relations of gender and race is found in sport as well. The sociology of sport will be able to shed more light on all of these issues when theory informs more of the research in this subfield.

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