E29: No More Eligibility - Now What? Transitioning Past Your Senior Sport Season

No more eligibility - now what? Transitioning past your Senior Sport Season

Transcript

Welcome back to season 3 of the Sports Mastermind. My name is Laura Ratto and together we will be discussing many topics that are related to sport and exercise psychology.  This season will be a little bit different as we will be going more in-depth on some of the topics that you wanted to hear more about. (Don't worry the episodes will still be 10 minutes or less) BUT we will have multiple episodes that are covering different components of the same topic. This is similar to the injury series from last season where we broke down different injury-related topics in three different episodes. The first one talked about creating a plan for when you cannot practice; the second one was rebounding from injury and getting back in the game; and the third was ways to support injured athletes or teammates. We had a lot of positive feedback about that series and have taken some time to put together topic-specific 3-episode series for this season. The first one will be on goal setting and the second one will be on communication and the third one will be on Motivation. In between these three-episode series we will be discussing Sports specific questions and scenarios that I have been asked by my clients. These questions and scenarios will provide you with some insight as to how to handle a specific situation that you may be dealing with as well.  It will also give you some insight and tools that will transfer into your own sport-specific scenario.

Speaking of sport-specific scenarios, I just came off of coaching a season of college beach volleyball and one of the things that I have been helping my athletes and clients with is the end-of-the-season transition - especially for the seniors. As we finish the spring sports season, there are many of you that are in your final season of high school or college and are getting ready to move onto the next step.  This may or may not include sports for you. 

According to ScholarshipStats.com, a little over 7% of high school athletes (about 1 in 13) go on to play a varsity sport in college and less than 2% of high school athletes (1 in 57) go on to play at NCAA Division I schools.  According to the NCAA recruiting facts sheet, there are over 7.4 MILLION High school athletes and only about 460,000 college athletes and of THOSE college athletes, LESS THAN 2% will go on to play professionally.

As a high school athlete, what do you do when you're going to college and not going to be playing your sport anymore? While you may not play representing your college you can still play at the intramural level. These are teams that play at the college or at the recreation center of the college and they play against other players from that same College.  This will allow you to continue to play competitively as you move forward into the next step of your life. 

At the college level, once you have finished your eligibility and can no longer compete (and if you are not that part of that 2% that goes on to play professionally), there are still many opportunities available to you. There are adult leagues, such as VOLO (previously Go VAVI); there are recreation centers and gyms like the YMCA or other Fitness facilities where you can join adult leagues and have an outlet for your competitiveness.

What if either of these things is not enough for you? If you define yourself as an athlete and that definition is taken away from you, it can lead to feelings of confusion and frustration and a lost sense of identity. How do you combat these feelings and fears?

Athletes set goals, make a plan, chase goals, and then learn from the process and the outcome

One thing that you can do is to Have a plan - a goal for when you are done playing and what your next step is going to be.  Athletes are used to setting goals, making a plan, and achieving those goals.  Setting a new goal and making a new plan will give you something to focus on as you start to manage the transition.  When a goal is not achieved, Athletes will evaluate the outcome and process to determine what worked and what did not and make changes accordingly.  This may be true in your new goals as well.  You have heard the saying, if at first you don’t success, try, try again.  Giving yourself grace as you refine what is and isn’t working in the transition process will help you to become more comfortable with the process as a whole.  

Another thing that can help is to build coping strategies.  The dictionary defines coping strategies as an action, series of action or thought process used in meeting a stressful or unpleasant situation or in modifying one’s reaction to such a situation. Coping strategies are used to help us handle difficult situations.  One coping strategy is to develop consistent daily routines.  By developing a consistent routine, we are focusing on things that we are used to, even though the actions within the routine are different than when we were practicing everyday.  This will go along with the goals that you are developing.  Again, it is important to realize that it is a process.

It is also important to take advantage of the skills that you have as you transition to the next phase of your life.  For example, Athletes have a great work ethic and know what it is to commit to something and be dedicated and sacrifice.

Athletes are also great at working together with teammates (or coworkers) toward a common goal. And Athletes have also learned a lot about leadership and what it takes to be a good leader that transitions well into the business world.

Finally,  Build a support network of people that can understand what you are going thru, can be there for you, and can listen when you need them to.  Those can be all different people or one in the same.  The key is to realize that you are not alone and that there are people that have been thru this situation before and have come out successfully.

If this is something that seems like too much of a task to do yourself, you can always go to a sport psychology consultant such as myself to help you create a new game plan on your path to success. I also want to take a moment to point out that we focused today on high school students transitioning out of their senior year and college seniors transitioning out of their Sports careers. Professional athletes that are transitioning into retirement, while they may have many of the same feelings and problems with the transition, it is at a much higher level and there are several other factors to take into account.  This episode is directed more toward the 7 million plus High school athletes that are graduating in the near future. We will discuss transitioning out of your sport as a professional athlete in another podcast at a later date.

To Review, the focus four for Transitioning past your senior season

1. Have a plan - a goal for when you are done playing and what your next step is going to be
2. Build coping strategies 
3. Take advantage of the skills that you have as you transition to the next phase
4. Build a support network of people that can understand what you are going thru, can be there for you, and can listen when you need them to.

For more information on successfully transitioning to life after competitive sports, contact me at RattoConsulting.com.  If you or your coaches or organization are interested in hosting a workshop or virtual seminar on this or any other sports psychology or performance optimizing topic, please email me at Laura@RattoConsulting.com.  Next week will start our 3 episode Series on Goal Setting. 

The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new! - Socrates

William Bridges wrote “Change is situational. Transition, on the other hand, is psychological. It is not those events, but rather the inner reorientation or self-redefinition that you have to go through in order to incorporate any of those changes into your life. Without transition, a change is just a rearrangement of the furniture. Unless transition happens, the change won’t work, because it doesn’t take.” 

• “When shifts and transitions in life shake you to the core, see that as a sign of greatness that’s about to occur.” – Anonymous
• “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” – Maria Robinson
• “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” – Tony Robbins

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Misc Notes

https://sirc.ca/blog/athlete-transition-out-of-sport/#:~:text=For%20individuals%20who%20have%20transitioned,Recognize%20the%20skills%20you%20have.

Mental Health Considerations of the Athlete Transition out of Sport

October 21, 2020

by Lisa Hoffart, Game Plan Advisor, Canadian Sport Centre Saskatchewan

Eat, sleep, train, recover. It is a familiar pattern for elite athletes who dedicate days, years, and even decades to their sport and the pursuit of excellence. But at some point, no matter the successes and failures that have occurred, the athlete’s sport career comes to an end. This transition out of sport can trigger a number of physical, psychological, emotional, social, and lifestyle changes, seemingly overnight. These changes, and the resulting mental health struggles were highlighted in the recent HBO documentary The Weight of Gold

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. Although the documentary explores the transitions of several American athletes, the experiences and challenges apply to Canadian athletes as well. Game Plan, a collaboration of the Canadian Olympic Committee, Canadian Paralympic Committee, Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Sport Institute Network and Sport Canada, was created after the 2010 Olympics to provide support to national team athletes both during and after their athletic careers. Ultimately the goal is to assist athletes with pursuing long lasting sporting excellence while maintaining mental health, and when the time comes, ensure they have a healthy and positive transition to life after sport. But even with support, transition can be difficult for some athletes.

The transition out of sport can be a process, with 80% of athletes adjusting to retirement within two years (Stambulova & Wylleman, 2014). Transitions considered successful occur when athletes tap into their internal and external resources to maintain their mental health by meeting the situational demands and using effective coping strategies. However, approximately 20% of athletes experience the transition out of sport as a crisis (Stambulova, 2017). During crisis transitions, the individual struggles to cope, experiences emotional distress, has difficulties adjusting, and has decreased mental health after their sport retirement (Stambulova, 2016). While all athletes may find their transition out of sport to be distressing at times, those that experience the transition as a crisis have elevated mental health symptoms for a prolonged period. Both voluntary and involuntary transitions out of sport can result in a crisis transition (Cosh, McNeil, & Tully, 2020).

Changes post-retirement

To understand the challenges and mental health concerns of the transition out of sport, it is helpful to recognize the demands of the athlete life and environment, including the daily structure of training, the goal setting and competitive process, the validation that athletes can receive when they are successful, and the athlete mindset.

Athletes set goals, make a plan, chase the goals, and then learn from the process and the outcome. Once they retire, athletes can struggle with feeling a lack of purpose in their daily life. These individuals can experience difficulty finding new activities that make them feel fulfilled and can struggle to find motivation to get started. A lack of a daily schedule, a sense of boredom, and decreased feelings of self-worth outside of sport can make it difficult for some individuals to get out of bed each day. The lives of many athletes are structured by training schedules set by their coaches and integrated support staff, so the concept of making their own daily routine can feel uncomfortable and foreign.

Athletes often tie their self worth to their accomplishments, improvements, and outcomes in sport, so once they transition out of sport their sense of self worth can feel compromised. Feelings of having nothing to offer, being inadequate, and feeling unsure of their value in life can negatively affect the individual’s mental health. Additionally, when transitioning out of sport, the individual can feel a loss of their athletic identity. The more strongly the individual identifies with being an athlete, the more they struggle to adapt to life out of sport. They may no longer feel certain in who they are, in their skills, and in what makes them happy.

Athletes often present as being tough and strong, which can be interpreted as a competitive advantage during their sport career. However, post athletic career, failing to acknowledge the difficulties experienced during transition can result in increased levels of emotional distress and mental health symptoms. Normalizing the difficulties of transitions out of sport can create space for the individuals to recognize their challenges, process what they are experiencing, and access resources to help cope with their transition. Emotional awareness can significantly impact the individual’s mental health and promote positive coping strategies. Simply being given space to say, “this is hard” and “this is what I’m experiencing” can help the individual reframe their narrative and process their emotions in a supportive way. 

Managing the transition out of sport

While it is acknowledged that individuals will find the transition out of sport distressing at times, resources are available to help assist with this process. Preparing for the transition prior to its occurrence can help the individual feel more capable in their retirement and to have a plan for what they want to do after sport. Game Plan offers a program called YouToi2.0, which is geared at athletes who have retired from sport. The three-day intensive workshop increases self-awareness, offers reflective activities, builds coping strategies, and builds support networks among peers that are actively maintained for six months of follow up support with small cohorts. But not every athlete needs that level of support. Game Plan advisors are available to all Canadian national team athletes and can help them plan for retirement, education, and explore career options.

Working with a Mental Performance Consultant can help the individual prior to and following retirement from sport and can support the athlete’s performance and transition out of the sporting environment. For individuals that require more in-depth support, a Registered Psychologist can help with mental health concerns that may arise at any point prior to or during the athlete transition. Canadian national team athletes also have access to a 24/7 emergency hotline through one of Game Plan’s founding partners Morneau Shepell. The Canadian Centre for Mental Health in Sport has several consultants with sport backgrounds, or individuals seeking help can search the membership listing of their provincial or territorial College of Psychology.

Tips for successfully managing the transition out of sport

Although the transition out of sport is something that all athletes will experience, with the proper preparation, planning, coping strategies, and support, the individual can move more healthily into life after sport and find ongoing success and fulfilment in the next chapter of their lives. Whether you are transitioning out of sport after standing on the podium at the Olympics, or after provincial/territorial competition, here are three tips to support your mental health through this time.

1. Detrain your mind and body. Game Plan advisors, mental performance consultants, sport dieticians, and strength and conditioning personnel are all part of an athlete’s integrated support team. Use these people for continued support as you transition out of sport. They will help your mind and body adjust to the different but challenging demands of life after sport. If you are feeling consistently low, worried, or not like yourself, working with a Registered Psychologist can also help.
2. Find purpose in your day to day. For individuals still competing, try new opportunities outside of your sport. Exploring other activities can be a way to determine who you are and what you like, which can help to prepare you for your eventual transition out of sport. For individuals who have transitioned out of sport, develop a new daily structure and routines. This can help to provide some consistency while also making space to try new things. Recognize that the transition is a process and you do not have to figure out your next step immediately.
3. Recognize the skills you have. Sport develops a lot more than physical fitness. Skills such as adaptability, work ethic, planning, and dedication are important for training and competition, and can be applied in life outside of sport. Think about your values and the characteristics you honed through sport. Applying those in your day to day life can help you feel grounded in a deeper sense of personal identity and purpose which can boost mental health.

Recommended Resources

Game Plan

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Game Plan’s Post-Games Planning workbook

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Canadian Centre for Mental Health in Sport

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Canadian Sport Psychology Association

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Canadian Psychological Association

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About the Author(s)

Lisa Hoffart is a Registered Psychologist and a Mental Performance Consultant. She is the Game Plan Advisor for the Canadian Sport Centre Saskatchewan. Lisa has worked with athletes from a variety of Olympic and Paralympic sports. 

References

Cosh, S. M., McNeil, D. G., & Tully, P. J. (2020). Poor mental health outcomes in crisis transitions: An examination of retired athletes accounting of crisis transition experiences in a cultural context. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, doi: 10.1080/2159676X.2020.1765852

Stambulova, N. B. (2016). Theoretical developments in career transition research: Contributions of European sport psychology. In M. Raab, P. Wylleman, R. Seiler, A. M. Elber, & A. Hatzigeorgiadis (Eds.), Sport and exercise psychology research: From theory to practice, (pp. 251–268). Elsevier Inc.

Stambulova, N. B. (2017). Crisis-transitions in athletes: Current emphases on cognitive and contextual factors. Current Opinion in Psychology, 16, 62-66. doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.04.013

Stambulova, N. B., & Wylleman, P. (2014). Athletes’ career development and transitions. In A. Papaioannou and D. Hackfort (Eds.), Routledge companion to sport and exercise psychology, (pp. 605–620). Routledge.

The information presented in SIRC blogs and SIRCuit articles is accurate and reliable as of the date of publication. Developments that occur after the date of publication may impact the current accuracy of the information presented in a previously published blog or article.