Life After Competitive Sports: What did you take with you?

Blog post written by Dr. Jen Gellock, Founder of Inward Athlete

What skills did you learn as an athlete that makes you successful today? I unpacked this same exact question in one of the poetry pieces that will be performed in the ‘Unlocking You’ experience designed to activate athletes in their self-awareness on Inward Athlete’s six pillars of transformation (identity, purpose, leadership, lifestyle, inspired action, & honor). These pillars have laid an important foundation for Inward Athlete as the guideposts for developing resources to support athletes to thrive in all areas of their lives.

Part of the poem when referencing what I have learned from my sport experiences goes…

I’ve learned 
how to honor a process

People think I must be
smart because I have a PhD
but they have no idea
that it was so much more of
applying daily perseverance
as the thing that I needed 
to pull me through 
writing a whole dissertation

And I learned that
kind of resilience
from lining up
practice after practice

When coach would yell
“to the baseline”
as we struggled as a team 
through our end of practice 
sprints together

And today, I wanted to highlight the research conducted by Dr. Erianne Weight (NC at Chapel Hill), Dr. Allison Smith (University of Mass.), and Dr. Lisa Rubin (Kansas St.). The article titled, The Athlete Advantage: Human Capital Resource Emergence Through Sport was published in October 2022 in the Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics. The research team interviewed 215 former college athletes and found six themes 1) drive (accountability, dedication, competitiveness, and tenacity); 2) resilience (an ability to overcome obstacles, demonstrate perspective in failure and success, and an ability to perform under pressure); 3) teamwork (an ability to unite toward a common goal, collaborate, and depend on others); 4) leadership (a propensity to lead/influence, build credibility with others, and manage time effectively); 5) confidence (having a strong sense of identity/pride, self-efficacy, and physical acumen); and 6) emotional intelligence (demonstrating situational awareness, empathy, and strong social skills). These themes emerged from the qualitative data as the attributes highlighted by the former athletes that they believe contribute to their success as professionals today in their post-competitive athletic careers. 

Most of us know that sports can be a powerful learning ground for teaching life lessons that can be used in many areas of life. Bridging this connection for athletes is how we assist athletes to use these skills long-after their competitive playing days come to an end. We cannot take it for granted that athletes will automatically know that their teamwork in sports can be the same skills they can use in an office setting. As coaches, administrators, parents, or caretakers of athletes it is our responsibility to be intentional with how we teach these transferable skills to our athletes. The authors state, “Yet, just as athletes need repetition and practice to hone their athletic skills, they also need opportunities to learn and practice transferable skills for life after sport.” 

So, something to contemplate on today...what are some of the ways you intentionally help athletes apply these six areas of transferable skills outside of the gym/field/pool/court/track? Drop us a comment and share with us some of your best tips for teaching athletes transferable skills.

Learn more about the 'Unlocking You' experience here. Contact us today to book Inward Athlete in 2024 to come provide this unique opportunity for your athletes.