3 Tips to Ensure a Seamless Retirement from Collegiate Athletics

It is highly uncommon for a collegiate athlete to advance to play professionally Although most understand this to be the case, few actually prepare for their inevitable disengagement from sport. As a Master’s student in a Sport Psychology program, I have gained insight into experiences that athletes have, particularly involving the transition out of sport. Below, I have listed three steps to take in order to have a smooth retirement from collegiate athletics:

1) Engage with others outside of your sports team.

Seek out social relationships with your peers, professors in your major, other faculty/staff members on campus. I know this sounds like a hefty task, considering the time you dedicate to your sport; however, you will meet new people in the dorms, classroom, and around campus who will help cultivate your student identity, regardless of whether you are a Division-1 or Division-3 athlete (Sturm et al., 2011). By hanging with those who are not members of your team, you will have branched out and prepared for your future transition out of sport (Fuller, 2014; Cummins 2014).

2) Take an interest inventory to gain self-awareness.

If your academic advisor has not already encouraged you to take one, an interest inventory will serve you well in not only your transition out of sport, but also your total college experience. As an underclassman, you can complete one to help with selecting your major. As an upperclassman, you can complete one of these to facilitate the career decision-making process. A cheap, easy, straightforward interest inventory that I recommend you take can be found at https://www.actprofile.org/#inventories/interest. Although it is brief, it is rooted in a theory that will prepare you to flourish outside of your athletics (Holland, 1996; Fuller, 2014; Cummins, 2014).

P.S.: If you are feeling particularly ambitious, try to convince your academic advisor to let you take the Strong Interest Inventory (Garis & Yi, 2015).

3) Enjoy the process of your participation in sport.

A common sentiment in collegiate sports is that as an athlete endures a season, the sport experience increasingly feels like a job. Going to practices can feel monotonous and unnecessary, especially for those playing infrequently. In order to prevent feeling detached, you should set process goals. These goals are designed to help you engage in whatever sport activity is being endured, whether it is off-season training, weight-lifting, practice, or actual game play (Williams, 2015). Furthermore, you should couple process goals with time spent daily reflecting about one thing (at least) that you are grateful for. This gratitude does not have to be sport-related, as stoking gratitude in general has been linked to enhanced performance (Baltzell, 2011). If you engage fully in the sport process and give thanks frequently, you can look back on your athletic career and feel satisfied, knowing that there was nothing more that you could have given. (Fuller, 2014).

References

Baltzell, A.L. (2011). Living in the sweet spot: Preparing for performance in sport and life. FIT Publishers, Morgantown, WV.

Cummins, P., & O’Boyle, I. (2014). Psychosocial factors involved in transitions from college to postcollege careers for male NCAA division-1 basketball players. Journal of Career Development, 42(1), 33-47.

Fuller, R. D. (2014). Transition experiences out of intercollegiate athletics: A meta-synthesis. The Qualitative Report, 19(91), 1-15.

Garis, J. W., & Li, Y. I. (2015). Using the strong interest inventory to assist college students with their career decisions. Career Planning and Adult Development Journal, 30(4), 25-35.

Holland, J. L. (1996). In Fowler R. D. (Ed.), Exploring careers with a typology.

doi:10.1037/0003-066X.51.4.397

Sturm, J. E., Feltz, D. L., & Gilson, T. A. (2011). A comparison of athlete and student identity for division I and division III athletes. Journal of Sport Behavior, 34(3), 295-306.

Williams, J.M. (2015). Applied sport psychology: Personal growth to peak performance (7th edition). Mayfield Publishing, Mountain View, CA.