ABSTRACT
By the time athletes reach the professional level of sport participation, they have experienced just about everything – rabid fans, intense scheduling demands, tremendous physical challenges, contract disputes, and draft/selection anxieties, to name but a few. Yet, for most professional athletes, there are at least a few calming truths. Most athletes largely train and perform where their own language dominates and in a culture they generally understand. But what about the thousands of professional athletes worldwide whose talent and determination take them to unfamiliar lands? This chapter is dedicated to precisely those issues – namely, performance and personal challenges that transnational professional athletes face, and how sport psychologists can help such athletes develop and maintain enjoyment and success in the face of such challenges.
