Get it together!

Inside the book and game of CareerBall:  Many competitive athletes make job or career transitions by accident. They do little other than take advantage of opportunities that may arise unexpectedly. If you truly believe you can find a job simply by leveraging your athletic experience and contacts, please think again… this is a myth, my friend!

We live in a post-industrial, high-tech society which requires employees to demonstrate both intelligence and concrete work skills—not just athletic accomplishments or a recommendation from important alumni. Lacking the necessary skills and mobility required for getting jobs in such high-tech, growth-oriented communities will be tough obstacles to overcome if all you have to show on your resume is a long history of touchdowns and team spirit.

Ultimately, you, like all student-athletes, will reach the point where your competitive collegiate career will draw to an end. Some will be ready for this transition, and others will not. If you want to be one of those who is on a happy path, plan in advance to make this transition a positive one.

Retirement from a full-time commitment for athletics does not have to be a depressing event. But it is important to acknowledge the occasional and growing unhappy path of athletes ending their sports careers, where depression is becoming more widespread because people have not developed additional outlets of expression and performance that they can continue throughout their lives. If you only participated in sports, you may be suffering from tunnel vision, and you simply must remember and constantly tell yourself that sports are really only a temporary obsession in the big-world picture.