Exploring How Soccer Players With Perfectionism Navigate Challenges in Talent Pathways

The study provides a qualitative exploration of how soccer players reporting perfectionism navigate challenges in talent pathways. Eighteen players (10 females, eight males, Mage = 16.17 years, SD = 3.47) from talent pathways with higher levels of perfectionism and perfectionistic cognitions (1SD above the mean of samples from previous studies) participated in semistructured one-to-one interviews. Using semantic thematic analysis, seven themes were identified: cycles of anxiety, sadness at being a substitute, self-criticism and hopelessness during slumps, ruminating on mistakes, worthless when injured, shame in success and intolerance of defeat, and psychological distress. Participants experienced heightened anxiety, especially when substituted, and responded to poor performance, mistakes, and injuries with self-criticism and unhelpful emotions. Postmatch, they ruminated over both success and defeat, with some reporting extreme psychological difficulties. The findings highlight how aspiring soccer players perceived perfectionism as a barrier to overcoming challenges, hindering both their performance and well-being.