Creating dual career opportunities for adolescent female football players from disadvantaged communities in South Africa

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of adolescent female football players transitioning from disadvantaged communities to the South African Football Association’s Female Football Academy at the TuksSport High School. This was done through collage-based (i.e., visual story) storytelling (i.e., verbal story). The participants were asked to create three collages; one depicting life before, one depicting life at and one depicting life after the TuksSport High School. Thereafter, individual interviews were conducted with the participants based on their collages. The interviews were transcribed by the researchers and analysed using thematic analysis. It was found that the participants experienced challenges and opportunities in the transitioning process from disadvantaged communities to the TuksSport High School. The participants experienced the food, missing their families and friends, as well as the school and accommodation, as challenges. Opportunities presented in the notion of having dual careers, being able to access professional services at the High Performance Centre while envisaging a different future with reference to sport, work and family. The TuksSport High School and the High Performance Centre have a moral obligation to respond to the challenges of the participants through professional services, as well as an academic support and mentoring programme. It is also imperative that the opportunities that came to the fore are kept alive. This will prevent participant drop out from the TuksSport High School and ensure that the opportunity of having a dual career is kept alive; the opportunity to a better life.

Keywords: Collages, dual careers, learner-athletes, narrative, transitions