article · African Journal of Sports and Physical Sciences
This research assesses psychological and socio-economic influences on athlete retention in Kenyan track and field athletics, gathering survey data from 230 competitors. Findings demonstrate that socio-economic factors jointly predict whether athletes stay in the sport, with formal sponsorship standing out as the single significant individual predictor. Financial rewards also correlate positively with retention, whereas family support does not show a statistically significant relationship. Conversely, psychological factors taken together do not reliably predict retention, although mental toughness alone exhibits a modest positive relationship and relative effect. Neither athlete motivation nor self-confidence demonstrated a significant link to retention rates. Overall, external financial backing and personal mental toughness emerge as positive contributors to sustaining athletic careers. Consequently, the research recommends developing structured sponsorship frameworks alongside psychological resilience programmes to help maintain participation among track and field competitors.
Retaining athletic talent is critical for sustained national sporting achievement and the personal livelihoods of competitors. By revealing that sponsorship and mental toughness matter more for retention than motivation or family backing, these findings help sports administrators, policymakers, and athletic organisations direct resources towards formal financial structures and targeted resilience interventions that keep competitors active in the sport.
The findings can inform the design of athlete management services, commercial sponsorship matching platforms, and structured resilience training programmes. The primary users would be sports federations, athletic agencies, corporate sponsors, and development academies. As an observational survey study, this work represents early-stage evidence that requires translation into applied athlete support programmes and sponsorship management models before widespread practical deployment.
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This study examined psychological and socio-economic predictors of athlete retention in Kenyan track and field. Anchored in Self-Determination Theory and the Social-Ecological Model, the study assessed how motivation, confidence, mental toughness, financial reward, sponsorship, and family support influence athlete retention. A descriptive survey design was adopted, and data were collected from 230 track and field athletes using a structured questionnaire. Data were analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation and multiple regression at the 0.05 level of significance. Correlation results showed that mental toughness had a weak but significant positive relationship with athlete retention (r = .152, p = .021), while motivation (r = -.065, p = .323) and confidence (r = -.014, p = .827) were not significant. Financial reward (r = .153, p = .020) and sponsorship (r = .195, p = .003) were significantly and positively related to athlete retention, while family support was not significant (r = .101, p = .101). Regression results showed that psychological factors did not jointly predict athlete retention, F (3, 226) = 2.204, p = .088, R² = .028, although mental toughness had a significant relative effect (β = .149, p = .024). Socio-economic factors jointly predicted athlete retention, F (3, 226) = 4.187, p = .007, R² = .053, with sponsorship emerging as the only significant relative predictor (β = .156, p = .026). The composite model was also significant, F (2, 227) = 6.717, p = .001, R² = .056. The study recommends strengthening sponsorship systems and integrating resilience-focused interventions into athlete development programmes.
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DOI: 10.62154/ajsps.2026.07.01013
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