“Welcome to the rest of your life… ”

Inside the book and game of CareerBall: "...and welcome, I might add, to one of the most critical challenges facing most competitive athletes".

It’s a known fact that many competitive athletes are not well prepared for the transitional challenges that face them as they move from playing on a team to the highly competitive work world. But I have worked with thousands of competitive athletes over the years, and the one thing that stands out in almost every athlete I’ve met is that athletes, in general, are very talented men and women capable of achieving any goal they set their mind towards.

While it sounds scary, the transition to the work world after an exciting career of competitive athletics should (and will) be one of the most enjoyable periods in your life. Most importantly of all, most of you will find jobs and enjoy plentiful careers that build on your positive attitudes, strengths, and values and utilize many of the skills that helped form you into a successful athlete in the first place.

Whether or not your transition from athlete-to-career will be stressful will depend on a couple of important factors:

• First, how do you perceive the transition? For example, do you see this termination as a beginning with exciting new challenges and opportunities to be enjoyed, or do you view it in your sports career as a significant loss, leaving you devastated, disoriented, and without direction or meaning in your life?

• Second, what is your identification with the athlete role? Student-athletes who identify strongly with multiple roles (such as those of athlete, student, family member, and significant other) are more likely to cope effectively with the transition than those who see themselves solely as an athlete.