Career Advice
My number 1 advice for athletes is make a plan and make it early. Whether you’ve just made it into an Academy side or you’re strapping your body together to make it last 1 more season.
You don’t realise how much time you have when you’re competing until you start a career after! As an athlete playing Premiership and International Rugby, when I started out we were classed as Amateur. As frustrating as this was, it did mean I got a degree and worked full time around my club, individual training and match days. Luckily these days sport is being increasingly funded so athletes can focus on their performance. However the downside to this is the risk of not preparing for life after sport.
A common misconception is making a plan for retirement will negatively affect your performance. It’s exactly the opposite. It’s healthy to have interests outside of sport and will greatly help your transition mentally when the time comes. Athletes who don’t make a plan generally feel significantly more lost when retirement comes and can suffer with anxiety and depression. A lot of athletes have dual careers and this can even prolong your career as you are competing for enjoyment, not just financial dependency.
Looking back at my career when it became more professional, I realise just how much time is available to plan ahead. The most obvious time is off season. The trick to off season is planning something in advance! Otherwise off season comes and goes very quickly. As an athlete you should be aware when your off season is, so I’d say at least 3 months before start to approach businesses you find interesting and ask about work experience. Even if it’s a day a week, or a few hours a day to get a feel for that business and sector. It also gets your foot in the door should you ever want a job with them.
Injuries are also a great time (use a negative and make a positive!) when I ruptured my ACL the first time that’s an automatic 9months out. Large injuries especially are a great time to put your focus into something else, again this can really help the mental side if you are suffering with a long spell out.
You don’t realise how much down time you have as an athlete! Socialising with team mates; especially at camps, travelling on planes or coaches; short training days; rest days; the list goes on! Just an hour a day a few days a week either studying, networking or making a plan will keep you on track to a brighter future after sport.
There are so many options out there and there’s no better time to start! Any guidance needed please get in touch and get those future plans into action.