Subthemes and example quotes describing the impact on well-being of the off-season period
| Subthemes (and influencing factors) | Example quote |
| Recovery from psychological load of the season | ‘If there wasn’t an offseason break, I can guarantee there’d be a lot more retirements from rugby from mental health… without it … I’d just, I’d hate the sport and I’d literally… I just don’t think I could handle it. You know, no matter what, you need time away from it and no matter what anyone says, having the odd week off here and there in the season does nothing because you’re still having to think about rugby, you’re still, like, constantly on it, whereas five weeks, or whatever, is long enough to be able to not have to think about it, to be able to go away and be able to actually do something.’ P22 |
Connect with non-rugby environments and relationships
| ‘For me it is getting as far away from rugby as possible. You almost have like 52 weeks of work, 50 weeks of work, for me it’s breaking that routine… it’s waking up when you want, go to bed doing things that you don’t get the chance to do. For me it really is about just enjoying myself, you know, getting lost somewhere, going for like a day out doing these things because you can plan all the things you want in the season. P14 ‘The main benefit is getting your head away from rugby for a little bit and being able to focus on your family, your friends, and spending a bit more time with them…‘ P31 |
P denotes participant.