Athletes lead a purposeful existence. Aspiring to achieve specific and measured goals form their very tapestry. It’s like clockwork. Set goal, work with dogged determination towards goal, achieve goal. Set new goal. That’s how athletes work. Inspired tenacity.

Therefore, for an athlete to transition seamlessly from their sporting careers to life beyond, a continual sense of purpose is paramount. It’s when there is no purpose that there is struggle, not knowing where to channel their attention.

Athletes and sporting organisations are recognising this, with commitment steadily growing for athletes to be encouraged to pursue dual career paths, essentially working with purpose towards achieving goals both within the sporting arena and outside of it. When sporting careers dwindle or end, the impact is far less damaging when there is still a structured career pursuit underway.

Most people understand this because it’s logical, however very few sporting organisations dictate that dual career pursuits be compulsory for their athletes. Many athlete behavioural issues and career transition challenges would be alleviated with the simple inclusion of this term in their contract of engagement.

When dual career planning is not compulsory, many athletes choose to maintain a single-minded focus on their sport. These athletes may attend the occasional course, show up at a business networking function or even undertake a brief work experience stint, but they are not really invested in planning for their future beyond sport. They are ticking a few boxes but are not taking ownership and engaging in the real process of planning for their next career. It’s these athletes who suffer the most when transitioning out of sport.

Some sporting organisations are genuinely trying to tackle the issues athletes face upon their retirement from sport and should be praised for their attempts in doing so. These sporting organisations may introduce their athletes to businesses, establish mentorships, or facilitate work placements, however unless there is an individual career action plan in that athlete’s hand, a guide on what they are trying to achieve through that opportunity with measured goals to work towards, there is a high chance of failure.

The real question sporting organisations need to ask themselves is this – what are we doing right now for our development level athletes? If athletes are nurtured in their infancy, they won’t need support upon their retirement from sport – they will be self-sufficient. This must be the ultimate goal for sporting organisations, to adequately equip athletes early on with the knowledge, skills and opportunities to enable their successful transition to careers beyond sport.

To truly implement a successful athlete wellbeing program, it needs to be driven from the grassroots upwards. It’s about building strong foundations, influencing and engaging with athletes at the commencement of their sporting careers to foster the right mindset to achieve success both on and off the field. If sporting organisations only intervene at the end of an athlete’s lifecycle, then they are truly failing their athletes and their sport.

I am constantly reading of people within the sports industry advising athletes that they must have a ‘Plan B’ for life after sport. Athletes themselves often lament that they should have had a ‘Plan B’, how they only ever thought about ‘Plan A’ and were unprepared for their retirement from sport. Whilst thinking about a future beyond sport is to be encouraged, the whole ‘Plan B’ methodology sends the wrong message to our up and coming athletes. I’ll tell you why.

‘Plan B’ by its very nature is a back up plan for when ‘Plan A’ fails.

It is a popular contingency planning term used to describe an alternate action plan that might not ever be needed unless ‘Plan A’ goes horribly wrong.

Many athletes don’t fail in their sporting pursuits, instead excel in all regards and reach the very pinnacle – Olympic medallists, World Champions, National Champions, State Champions. There are so many athletes who actually attain the goals they set out to achieve within their sport, however these athletes will still need to plan and prepare for a future beyond sport. Athletes may retire anytime in their 20’s or 30’s, with very few being in the enviable financial position of never needing to earn an income post sport. Even for those athletes who do earn enough money to secure their long-term future, how will they engage their time once their sporting feats fade?

There are an even greater number of athletes who never quite reach their sporting goals. They work tirelessly over many years with dedicated effort and single-minded focus, with the intrinsic expectation that they will eventually conquer their athletic quests if they work long and hard enough.

Now if you tell this group of athletes that they really ought to think about having a ‘Plan B’ (automatically interpreted as a ‘back-up plan’), that’s not going to be well digested. These athletes will conclude that people doubt their ability to succeed in their current ‘Plan A’, their sport. Athletes don’t respond well to external doubters, and they certainly don’t tolerate any self-doubt. If an athlete starts exploring ‘Plan B’, then in their athletic mindset, they have already failed in their sporting pursuits. If they start looking at other career options, it means they don’t fully believe in themselves, and how can you ever reach your goals when you don’t truly believe?

I know this is how athletes think, as I used to be one.

Plan B thinking is the reason I didn’t undertake any study while participating in my sport. In my mind, it would have diluted my sporting efforts and made me look and feel like I was hedging my bets - if sport doesn’t work out, at least I’ll have this to fall back on. Wrong wrong wrong.

The whole conversation around athletes preparing for life after sport needs to change. The dialogue with athletes needs to start earlier and the language needs to dramatically shift. We need to move right away from ‘Plan B’ thinking and clearly articulate to athletes that they simply must have a post sport career plan happening in parallel with their sporting pursuits. Just as non-sportspeople change jobs and careers on a regular basis, we need to instil that there is no permanency in being an athlete.

Prior to athletes being admitted onto a state or national team, it should be a pre-requisite for athletes to complete and follow a ‘Career Beyond Sport Action Plan’. This plan would encompass study, training courses, work or volunteer experience in alignment with their interests - an active plan with career goals that athletes progress through in conjunction with their sport. By pursuing interests, education and gaining work experience whilst still competing, athletes will set themselves up for success in their lives after sport and in a perfect world, will move seamlessly from one job (athlete) to the next.

Being an athlete is a job (a great job), but all jobs come to their natural conclusion and as in any industry, you need to be ready to take the next career step.

Coaches lead similar lifestyles to athletes and face many of the same pressures and challenges upon their retirement from coaching.

Much like athletes, coaches can’t always choose their timing to exit a sport. All too frequently, coaching contracts are terminated with little to no warning. This can be attributed to personal performance, unsatisfactory athlete or team results, or simply a new management team wanting to refresh people and culture within a sporting organisation. Coaches often have little say.

While there are ever increasing services available to athletes to support their transition to life after sport (including the ever expanding International Olympic Committee’s Athlete Career Program), coaches are left with no transition support and can struggle outside of the sporting world. Many coaches commenced their careers as athletes and migrated directly into coaching positions, often missing the opportunity to obtain formal qualifications beyond sport.

So how do coaches successfully transition to life after sport? Two words - transferrable skills.

While coaches possess a very specific set of technical capabilities, they are also intrinsically equipped with skills and attributes gained over years of high performance coaching which are highly transferrable and well regarded in business. These may include team leadership, collaboration, communication, stakeholder management, relationship building, problem solving and mentorship to name a few.

There are a myriad of roles outside of sport which do not require any formal qualifications, these include team leader positions (all industries), sales jobs, executive mentoring/coaching roles and many positions within small business. Skills can always be learned on the job, it’s the attitude and life experience of a candidate that is often most important.

It takes a special individual to be a coach, with extensive pressure, expectation and responsibility resting upon their shoulders - not vastly different to the daily existence of a senior business leader. Retiring coaches should not feel limited in their opportunities beyond sport, instead they should maximise their potential to make a positive change and real contribution within a new workplace.

Sport is just one chapter in an athlete’s life, it’s not the whole book. This can be a very hard concept to grasp when you are at the peak of your competitive career.

When you’re an athlete, it can be hard to imagine that your life might one day evolve into something other than being a full time sportsperson. Athletes are often so immersed in their sport and absorbed in the day-to-day requirements of being an elite competitor, they don’t allow themselves to think past the next competition.

This single-minded focus can lead to a number of problems down the track, including being unable to separate themselves from their athletic identity and a lack of preparedness when retiring from sport. It is widely recognised that athletes perform better on the field when they have greater balance off the field, a diversity of interests is key.

It is important to remember that retirement from sport is inevitable, and it can happen at any time. Athletes don’t always have the luxury of choosing their retirement timeframe, career ending injury or de-selection can rapidly derail an athlete’s sporting career, making it essential to have already thought about and planned for a career beyond sport.

While participating in sport, athletes should be focused on increasing their knowledge, interests and skills outside of the sporting arena. Whether it be participating in paid or voluntary work experience during breaks in competitions, undertaking online training courses or university degrees, starting a part-time apprenticeship, working with sponsors or charities, it’s all valuable experience gained.

There are 39 Elite Athlete Friendly Universities (EAFU) across Australia, all work in partnership with athletes to enable study in conjunction with sports participation. State Institutes of Sport and many sporting organisations have dedicated athlete career education and welfare managers who organise various educational courses and even work placements - athletes should seize these opportunities. It’s all about continual learning and looks great on the resume when vying for a job post sport.

Many businesses value the inherent traits of elite sportspeople (their ‘athlete factor’), recognising athletes as inspirational leaders and tremendous assets within the workplace. These businesses often provide athletes with the flexibility to work and compete, a dream arrangement for an athlete while providing some future career security.

Athletes should leverage their network and establish relationships with businesses while they are at the peak of their sporting career, approaching businesses of interest to ask whether there may be an opportunity to work there in some capacity. Worst case scenario, the business says no (and yet athletes have still expanded their network), best case - the business say yes.

Statistics show that the majority of people seeking employment secure jobs through their network (direct or referrals). Athletes should spend time building and maintaining their network well ahead of their retirement, as a robust contact list will be hugely valuable when transitioning to life after sport.

Transition is challenging by its very nature, it’s about moving from something known and comfortable into new territory. However, for athletes in their prime, there is much planning and preparation that can be done in advance to ease the fear and uncertainty around transition. If athletes take a proactive approach, they will be much more inclined to embrace retirement from sport and begin a new chapter in their lives with positivity and excitement.