Att dribbla genom försvaret ärsom att dansa tango med kravställningar : En kvalitativ studie om kravställningar i en högpresterandeidrottsmiljö och dess påverkan på identitet och självbild

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study is to examine and analyze how professional football players develop in theirprofessional roles, learn to manage requirements, and understand the implications for their identities andself-images in a high-performance sports environment. This was accomplished through a qualitativecase study involving seven semi-structured interviews with six football players and one football coachin a Swedish football team. These interviews were selected through convenience sampling to gain accessto the team, followed by purposive sampling in the selection of players within the team. The collectedempirical data was then processed using thematic analysis. The results of the study reveal how demandsaffect the overall experience of the professional role and, in turn, impact the self-image and identity ofthe players. It also emerged that there is a sense of shame associated with seeking help in managingdemands within the context of elite sports. The study's findings also suggest that there are conditions forlearning within the Community of Practice, but these are partially limited by the competitive situationamong players. This, in turn, can affect collective learning while simultaneously giving rise toexperiential learning at the individual level.