Student athletes: life after sports...

This passed weekend, at a little league game, I ran in to a friend of mine’s son who is a student-athlete – average player, but a good student… after some small talk, I asked him “what are your plans when all the cheers stop?” He immediately answered “go to college – big school play ball.” I smiled back at him and replied “cool…” We shook hands… then I asked him “then what?” Of course at this point, you know the next answer… “GO PRO!!!” So, I then smile right back at him and asked “then what?”

At this point, I think finally reached him… he looked down at his shoes, then to his watch and all of a sudden he had to go tend to something… I’m not sure where these questions came from on this humid afternoon of baseball, but they made me think a little bit about student-athletes these days. See I was a student-athlete in high school, but I got hurt in my sophomore year which immediately changed my plans of going pro… but what if this would have happen to me my sophomore year at Notre Dame? or Michigan? or Morehouse? I understand now, and even better, I recognize that a four year athletic scholarship is nothing more than four, individual scholarships that a given university extends each year based on performance, on the field as well as off.

In addition, less than one percent of the nation’s 380,000 student-athletes go on to the pros. I believe more now that ever it’s time to establish and use non-proprietary, support systems to guide student-athletes through these transitions and plan for the future. Here a couple of items institutions should do right now:
relate scholastic and vocational choices to their personal identity;
balance the demands of sport and academics;
apply sport skills to career planning;
identify and match skills, interests, and values with career goals; and
succeed at the job search process, including writing resumes and cover letters and preparing for interviews.

Now, I’ve address the universities responsibility, here are few things student-athletes can do:

1. Don’t follow the crowd. 2. Listen to your parents (guardian / counselor). 3. Don’t leave your sport too early. 4. Become a generalist – study a variety of subjects. 5. There is no reason to have an entourage. 6. Thinking There's No Money in Sports Careers if You're Not a Pro - if you have a passion for your sports, you can make it. 7. Network, network, network!!!

That’s just my two cents… if you would like to comment on this topic, email us directly, or connect with us on Facebook.

 

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