Understanding Athlete Transition
Coaching Tip #77
As someone who has participated at a dedicated level in sports, you have developed a unique set of skills. When appropriately applied to future endeavors, you can reach any goal you set your mind to.
Yet we all know that most athletes have some form of adjustments and possible struggles when they leave their sport. Change can be challenging. Change from something that has been so foundational to our existence is downright tough.
Athlete transition is complex conversation that is both individualistic and collective. You are both a person and a member of a group. Your own experience matters, but to truly get to the heart of how to guide athletes toward their exciting future, we must examine some of our shared experiences, too.
I spent nine years researching this question, interviewing 100 high performers from different sports. Through those conversations, I identified three reasons behind the challenge in transitioning from sports:
We were sold a dream of success.
From that first childhood win through our last play, we knew what success looked like. Every notch up that ladder was a celebration. But as soon as the celebration was over, we learned how to reprogram our focus toward that next level of achievement. This then became a never-ending habitual cycle where satisfaction was brief, and worthiness was always just around the corner. We no longer understand what success means.
We are missing our built-in support systems.
The dream was addictive. Even in moments of failure, we found ways to focus on lessons learned so that future success could be attained. Giving in or giving up was not an option. Part of our athlete DNA is the ability to hang in there even when things are not going to plan. It is a great strength — until it is not. There comes a time when struggle outweighs grit and help is required. But as athletes, we were not taught how to ask for help. We were given an invisible net of support, from our coaches, teammates, trainers, parents, and partners. This net expanded once you reached a certain level of performance to include on-call psychologists, nutritionists, physiologists, and a variety of doctors. The difference now is that you need to identify what help you need and ask for it. Many athletes do not know how to ask for help outside the sports bubble and do not have the resources to fund it.
We have lost the power of momentum.
Once we decide we are committed to our sport, it demands an all-in attitude. That attitude leads to repeated action, which creates a powerful force of momentum that carries us forward. Recognition, advancement and organizational systems increase the velocity, ever-driving us towards greater performance. Our life ebbs and flows with training schedules, fueling our bodies, competitions and taking care of the aches and pains. The better we get, the harder it is to opt out. A week turns into months and then into years. Then, one day, it ends — and with it, the momentum. Retirement can happen for many reasons (an injury, an end of eligibility, plateauing results, a lack of funding, a loss of desire, and for a very few a final pinnacling achievement) but for all of us, it is a departure from focused clarity, daily intent, and a sought-after dream. Our day-to-day groove is gone and now we need to figure out how to build a new kind of self-sustaining momentum.
Almost all athletes experience an adjustment period as they move away from sports towards their new future. That adjustment period is often difficult. If you’re going through this, the first and most important thing to know is that you are not alone.
Just like there are shared experiences across all athletes who leave sports, my research also discovered that there are very specific things that athletes do to create a successful post-sport life. While these athletes had to organically discover these steps for themselves, I have been able to distill it into a roadmap that you can use on your own journey.
The Success After Sports Course is that roadmap. It tackles issues like the 3 mentioned above but also guides you through the discovery process toward your future endeavors. Each week I release a module with videos and exercises and then at the end of the week, we jump on a group zoom where you can ask questions, discuss the exercises, and get coaching.
You do not have to travel this road by yourself.
For more information on how you can use this roadmap, visit https://www.melindaharrison.com/courses or email me at melinda@melindaharrison.com