Themes, subcodes and exemplary quotes on responsibilities and elite athlete’s context
| Main theme | Subcode | Exemplary quote |
| Responsibilities | The athlete is the main accountable | Physical therapist 01: “The athlete first, I think he is the first to be responsible for his career.” Coach 01: “The first responsibility is the player. It is the player who needs to take care of his body or her body because it is work.” Athlete 01: “It is more a responsibility for me, it is what I owe, like they give me a contract, I need to do everything possible to stay healthy, to be the best athlete, to be ready physically, mentally, on every aspect. So, I really take it upon me to get there.” |
| Teamwork and a supporting role from staff | Medical doctor: “I think the athlete has to be really part of this decision too because if you don’t care it is not possible to work correctly and also the doctor, the physiotherapist, the strength and conditioner, the trainer, the coach. So, I think it is a team decision.” Manager 01: “Everybody that we have in the staff is responsible to prevent injuries.” Athlete 04: “I think now I feel like I have a complete team surrounding me, and before that wasn’t really the case.(…). And I feel like now there is a good team with good communication helping each other out and, in the end, helping me out and making me feel comfortable and confident.” | |
| Elite context | Facilitates preventing injuries | Medical doctor: “I think it is easier to do injury prevention because of the staff you have. You normally have more money to do that. So, I think it is easier.” Manager 01: “All that culture around the professional coaching facilitates the injury prevention. That is for me basically what it is.” Athlete 01: “I haven’t had any major injuries, so I feel like part of that is because I am being monitored and managed by different people, and they are telling me what to do and how to train better.” |
| Easier to get injured | Athlete 04: “It is easier for us to get injured because we go to those limits, and we look up the limits, so I think it is a lot easier for us to get injured.” Medical doctor: “I believe it is possible to prevent injuries, but the risk=0 does not exist anymore.” | |
| Role of staff members | Physical therapist 02: “I think everybody has like an important role and are partners because they make really a difference.(…)So, everybody knows his role, I think that is very important.” Manager 02: “They have a person taking care of social media, they have a person taking care of their food, their intervention, their training, the planning.(…)it is a whole group around them because you can’t do this alone. Because I say individual sport, but it is a team sport.” |