The Broncos: A social support approach to team tragedy

This qualitative study provides a retrospective analysis of the 1986 Swift Current Broncos bus crash, exploring how social support is interpreted over the life course. Guided by Holt and Hoar’s framework, interviews with players, billets, and staff reveal the long-term impact of structural, functional, and perceptual support. While peer support remained a lifelong constant, the absence or deliberate obstruction of organizational and professional services created 35-year trajectories of delayed recovery. Findings detail how mental health stigma and predatory power imbalances within junior hockey institutionalized silence, shaping survivors’ welfare for decades. This longitudinal perspective highlights the necessity of sport support systems that are not only responsive to immediate trauma but also accountable for the enduring, long-term needs of athletes.