“One night I was the Golden Girl, triple olympic gold medalist and then wake up the next morning to be the worst person in the entire world”
Stephanie Rice, Olympic Swimmer
Where to now, who am I and what am I worth?
These are the questions being asked by professional sportsmen and women around the world. Years, if not decades of laps in the pool, running endless miles, kicking repetitive goals (figuratively and literally) then, waking up to the thought of… what’s next!
Dropped, injured or retired through choice, very few professional athletes are prepared for the world they are about to re-enter. Athletes sacrifice studies, friends and social interaction to achieve success. The prize is, after all, well worth it – a career as a professional athlete. But how long is that career? 5, 10, 15 years at most. What if you never actually reach those heights?
Has it all been for nothing?
Many professional athletes end their career and face a world of pain. Once seen and admired as role models, they now find themselves as nobodies, failures and only remembered for who they were. They often suffer depression, anxiety and stress. Struggling to cope they turn to alcohol, gambling, and drugs. These are not the answers to life after sport. However, with little training, few job prospects, perhaps no family and missing the entourage of bystanders, the question of what to do now burns deep. When you’re no longer famous, when you’re out of the spotlight, you tend to question who you are.
What of Life After Sport – will you choose to run or hide?
Dedication to a sport requires complete immersion. You have early starts, long hours, special diets and the strain on your body and mind is endless.
Psychological torment.
Emotional exhaustion.
Physical agony.
The requirements on elite athletes becoming the masters of their craft to reach the pinnacle is immense. You are continually asked to justify the remuneration deservedly given to players and athletes alike.
Whether it be swimming, athletics, basketball, netball, golf, rugby league or union, AFL, football (soccer), to be a success, to be an expert, to be a professional athlete, there will be sacrifices.
These sacrifices come at the mercy of friends, family, studies, careers – even work experience. Yes, there are welfare programs within sporting bodies designed to meet the duty of care and wellbeing of their sports stars. However, similar to global warming, as we look to find solutions, immediate issues with higher urgency regularly take precedence.
Our sporting icons are often left out to pasture to graze in the fields of their memories.
Depression often sinks in. They’re left alone to face a world which most people face in their late teens. Entering a workforce with no experience, no employable skills, no tertiary studies becomes a challenge. The only thing bigger than the competition is their age.
The general public doesn’t understand, they question how someone so financially successful could fall in such a heap. They question what happened to a person who was paid so well, rewarded so highly, gifted so much. But they don’t see the sacrifices that were made. Most professional athletes are fortunate to survive a 10-year career at a time when people of the same age are solidifying careers. They choose to embrace their talents on a sporting field, or track or pool. Now in retirement, whether forced to give the game away through injury or age, they’re rarely given the choice to go out on their own terms. Even if they do, what lies ahead? Many athletes end their professional career in their 30s, yet have perhaps 30 years of working life left. Where do they turn?
All the training in the world can not prepare you for what lies ahead.
Wherever you’re in your sporting career – starting out, in a slump, injured or struggling with retirement, now is the time to take action. After all, that’s why you are so great at what you do.
How do you prepare for life after sport?
Simply finding this website suggests you’re already looking for answers and reading this far shows you’re dedicated to finding a solution. Congratulations, you still have that drive that got you to the heights you’ve reached. This is why you’re unique, it is why you were successful. Yes, it may not feel like it right now, but you were successful. Consider those who didn’t make it to where you did.
It’s time to prepare for the next chapter of life, regardless of whether you’re still in the game.
We help athletes identify their natural patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior so you can make informed choices about wellbeing, performance and life after sport. We will provide you with the tools and skills to make decisions that feel comfortable and achievable. Some of our methods are used by over 16 million users worldwide and in business, over 450 USA Fortune 500 companies use them too. Relatively new in Australia, they have been trialed and tested in global sport and they will work for you also.
Your journey from talent to strength begins here and as an athlete, it will provide you with a sense of purpose:
- Manage stress
- Overcome depression
- Avoid addiction
- Manage anxiety
- Know your Strengths
- Identify and understand your choices
- Feel comfortable making life decisions
- Be understood by teammates, family, and friends
- Express yourself
What next…
Communication is the key. It’s time to talk to someone, a qualified professional you can trust to be impartial and have only your best interests at heart. It’s time to talk with one of the CYC coaching team. We know what you’re going through and why. We have the ability to show you how you can come out of this healthy, happy and wise.
The next step is to arrange a complimentary introductory coaching conversation for you to become 
familiar with someone who might just create the empowering change you’ve been searching for. Simply complete the contact form below, call or email us today:
Email: info@chooseyourchapter.com.au
Performance Coach
Danny: +61 (0) 412 136 062
Strengths Coach
Nicole: +61 (0) 425 209 008
Apply Now
At CYC, we continue to strive for excellence and in doing so regularly deliver trial pilot programs to improve our methods and strategies. We are now accepting applications for our latest trials taking place in July and August 2017. If you are a retired professional athlete within the last five years or an amateur/semi-professional sportsman or woman between the ages of 15-19 years old and would like to participate please contact us below.