The Sports Doc Chalk Talk

Most athletes, even young athletes, take ownership of their personal identity role of “athlete”.  Often when you ask an athlete to tell about him- or herself, the athlete will lead by saying something to the effect of “I play for _________ team.”  In addition to the self-descriptors athletes use, they often regularly adorn themselves in team “gear” (i.e. t-shirts, letterman’s jackets, hats, etc.), furthering solidifying their status as “athlete.”  This is what we call our social identity, or how others perceive us (Positive Transitions for Student Athletes).

Every person develops a personal (or self) identity, which is actually a quite healthy life process.  When you describe yourself as a parent, employee of a company, and community organization member, you are actually revealing your personal identity to the world.  Again, this is quite normal.

For athletes, though, there is a potentially dangerous identity status that can lead to future unforeseen problems.  What I am talking about is when athletes go through an identity foreclosure status, where they prematurely and exclusively only see themselves as athletes.  When a person forecloses their identity, problems can develop since all other life development and exploration is suspended in light of the one single identity role.

Identity foreclosure is not unique to sports, as people from other walks of life sometimes “foreclose” their identity at an early phase of their life.  For example, take a person whose parents, grandparents, and great grandparents have always run the family farm.  In this example it’s quite probable the person will begin seeing himself as only a farmer quite early in life (and foreclose on that identity rather than explore other career options).  This premature foreclosure may not be such a big deal, as it is quite likely the family farm will be available to work on in the future.

Identity foreclosure can be a big problem for athletes, however.  When it comes to playing professional sports, only a very select few athletes are skilled enough to reach that level.  What this means is that most athletes who have prematurely foreclosed on being an “athlete” will need to eventually completely redesign and overhaul their athletic identity – something that is far easier to talk about than to actually do.  With only about 5% of all high school athletes able to play at the college level, and less than 2% of all college athletes talented enough to play professional sports, it’s easy to see why premature identity foreclosure for athletes may lead to serious consequences.

If you are a parent (or coach) it is important to gauge how closely the kids you are around identify – and over-identify – with their identity as an athlete.  When a youngster only sees himself as an athlete and overlooks all the other great parts about his personality and life experiences, he may be unknowingly setting himself up for an incredibly difficult eventual sport retirement.  It is for this reason that we as adults make regular attempts to discuss and reinforcement all the facets of a kid’s personality – not just athletics.  Be sure to recognize the other roles kids often experience, like student, club member, volunteer, musician, and artist.  Holistic identity development will not limit athletic success, but it will instead enhance all facets of the human experience!

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As we gear up for summer sports, it is important to plan your child’s sports schedule by balancing a realistic perspective of the “big picture” versus the potential sport opportunities offered to your child. In some cases, parents are unaware of the realities of future college athletic scholarships, and as a result end up putting their child at-risk for youth sports burnout by signing up for every league possible, and still find ways to use the time left over for personal training, nutritional counseling, sport psychology, and anything else that might help them increase their chances of one day earning an athletic scholarship (Positive Transitions).

Polls today still show that the #1 reason kids play sports is to have fun, and sports stop becoming fun for a lot of kids when they become ultra-competitive and physically/mentally exhausting. It is also important to become familiar with the realities of kids one day playing college and professional sports – figures that are often misunderstood by parents.Taking a closer look at high school student athletes, only about 5% will ever play at the college level. Keep in mind this number includes full and partial athletic scholarships, as well as walk-ons and DIII student athletes (who receive no athletic scholarship financial assistance). This means that for every 100 high school student athletes, only 5 will ever play in college, and fewer than 5 in 100 will receive any financial assistance whatsoever.

Taking this discussion further, of all the college student athletes competing today (including DI, II, and III), less than 2% will ever play professional sports! When you look at these odds objectively, they are hardly inspiring for most kids competing in sports today.Of course, all kids should work hard if they want to be one of the few talented enough to play at the college and professional levels – parents, however, need to temper their kids enthusiasm and develop responsible future plans that include things more likely to occur (like getting good grades so that the child can one day go to college).

The point is to set up multiple potential future plans and not exclusively invest in sports, and to prepare wisely for inevitable future sports transitions.Pursuing a sports dream can be very motivating for a kid, but it can also lead to devastation if the child eventually ends his sports career without making more realistic future plans that don’t include full ride athletic scholarships. It is for this reason that families should talk openly and often about the realities of making it, as well as strategies for coping with sport retirement when that day occurs.

For more information about sport transitions, realities, role modeling, and coping strategies for sport retirement, be sure to pick up a copy of Positive Transitions for Student Athletes today!

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Are you prepared to help you child deal with life after sports when he or she one day faces the sport retirement transition (Sport Success 360)?  While most people think that only professional and college student athletes have trouble when it comes to life after sports, the reality is that all student athletes, regardless of age, are at-risk when it comes to sports transitions – especially sport retirement (Positive Transitions for Student Athletes).  It is important that you learn as much as you can about this unique transition, as well as help your child prepare to cope with the challenges that often come with sport retirement.Listed below are a few key sports leadership tips to think about for when your child faces this inevitable transition:

• Athletic identity - kids who develop an exclusive athletic identity (meaning all his or her self-worth is tied into athletics) are the most at-risk people when it comes to sport retirement.  Interestingly, even if your child is only involved in little league or varsity sports, he or she may still be at-risk
• Athletic transferable skills - when kids overlook the significance of athletic transferable skills, they often feel as though they do not have the skills and abilities to be successful in other, non-sport endeavors
• Future planning – kids who only plan on “making it” to the college or professional sport level are at great risk for a number of psychological concerns if they don’t live up to their dreams
• Social support – sport retirement is a lot easier to deal with when you have social support (or people in your life you can turn to for help).

Sport retirement is an inevitable expericne for all athletes, and one that should be discussed and planned for long before the day comes to hang ‘em up.  For more information on this topic, including tips, strategies, and improtant talking points, please check out Positive Transitions for Student Athletes.

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As a graduate student at The Ohio State University many years ago, I studied the sport retirement transition that elite-level D1 athletes and the athletic pressure they experienced as they approached the ends of their careers (in fact, this was my doctoral dissertation). I worked alongside a terrific colleague, OSU Athletic Counselor Mr. Darin Meeker, to develop an actual course designed to help athletes prepare for their lives after sports, naming the course “Positive Transitions for Student Athletes.” Through our experience in developing the academic course, we were fortunate to also secure a college textbook deal, enabling us to write “Positive Transitions for Student Athletes” (Holcomb Hathaway, 2000).While the book is ten years old now, it still has great applicability to many athletes today, as well as parents, coaches, and related sports personnel. In fact, the book is useful to student athletes of all ages (even before they face sport retirement during college recruiting), something we didn’t originally focus on doing while writing the book for college student athletes.If you have a personal relationship with a student athlete today, please check out Positive Transitions for Student Athletes book download. The digital version of the book is almost half off the original book price, and ready for immediate download.The book includes light theory, real-life scenarios, case studies, and exercises. Student athletes will learn about a number of life skills, especially athletic transferable skills, designed to help them gain self confidence while developing coping strategies to successfully transition from sports, regardless of when this transition occurs.Please feel free to send me any questions you might have about Positive Transitions, including my research findings from the original course and study, as well as how the book can be applied to student athletes today (chris@drstankovich.com)www.drstankovich.com

(reprinted from High School Today magazine, 2009)Research studies show that upwards of 30 million kids play youth sports each year, yet only an incredibly small percentage of these kids will ever go on to play organized sports in college or the professional ranks. More specifically, only about 5% of all high school student athletes will play collegiate sports, with an even smaller percentage receiving partial or full-ride athletic scholarships. Even more discouraging, looking at all the college student athletes playing today, only about 1.5% will go on to play professional sports. Needless to say, that’s quite an attrition rate – yet my experience has shown me that very few families are aware of this reality, and even fewer prepare for this inevitable transition. Consequently, far too many student athletes are left to deal with the disappointment of essentially “being firing from a job they loved,” essentially. Fortunately, coaches can play a major role in helping families understand, prepare for, and deal with the inevitable sport retirement transition most of the kids they coach will eventually face.While it is true that not every child aspires to play collegiate or professional sports, many do. The same is true for parents – while many understand that the odds of their child “making it” are very slim, it usually only takes one or two outstanding games before the “what ifs?” and “maybes” begin to get them emotionally charged, prompting them to ignore their rational, logical way of thinking. Sadly, when emotions take precedent over sound thinking, the sport retirement transition often gets overlooked. This common oversight results in more high school student athletes who are left to deal with the same emotional response patterns that college and professional athletes have dealt with for years. In short, kids today are following a grieving pattern very similar to that of college and professional athletes when it comes to sport retirement.Why younger athletes are facing the same emotional difficulties as college and professional athletes isn’t quite certain, but there are several plausible reasons to consider. First, today’s generation of kids begin playing organized sports very early in life, sometimes as young as 4 years old. In addition, many kids today also specialize in one sport very early – and in some cases play that particular sport year-round with few, if any, breaks (from sport participation). As a result of early sport specialization and year-round sport participation, it is quite common for kids to develop an identity around athletics. This is referred to by researchers as an “athletic identity.” This athletic identity can become very problematic when it becomes an exclusive identity. This means that the child begins to define all of his or her self-worth through athletic accomplishments, while simultaneously ignoring or overlooking other important aspects of his or her personality and identity (i.e. a successful student, a gifted artist or musician, etc.).Research studies have consistently shown the greater and more exclusive an athletic identity, the more likely a child will be at-risk for things like depression, anxiety, anger issues, substance abuse, low career maturity, poor future planning, and even suicidal ideation when faced with sport retirement. This makes sense when you think about it. If you only defined yourself by one thing in your life (which you loved doing), and you were forced to abruptly quit having no alternative plans, how would you feel about yourself? If you are like most people, it would be a difficult and challenging time re-establishing your personal identity and what you have to offer the world. For most young athletes, the recognition of the sport retirement transition is usually abrupt, unplanned for, and not typically welcomed.Coaches can play a vital role in helping kids successfully transition through sport retirement by considering the following tips:> Make sure you understand the realities of how few kids “make it,” and be sure your staff is aware of this, too. The sooner you commit to the notion that coaching is about the overall positive development of young people, and not just their preparation to become college/professional athletes, the better the overall experience will be for everyone.> At your pre-season meeting, be sure to discuss these realities with both parents and student athletes. Use your better judgment in balancing this realistic message with inspiration, letting them know that while making it to the pros may be very difficult, it still may be worth going after for kids who show exceptional talent. The key is to send a positive and upbeat message that also includes the realities of post-high school athletic participation.>When families are not aware of the odds of “making it” in sports, they often spend enormous amounts of time, energy, and money doing everything they can to help make the dream of playing professional sports a reality. When a young person is overly-involved in athletics, to the point that it is all he or she does, it is quite likely that the young person is not doing other things that might be more prudent with respect to future planning, including work, volunteer, and internship experiences. The result of this athletic lifestyle after competitive sports end is usually a young person left without much confidence, as the youngster has not experienced many vocational opportunities due to previous athletic commitments.> Another way coaches can help young athletes gain confidence and transition successfully from sport retirement is to help them identify and use their athletic transferable skills in other settings (i.e. school, career, etc.). Athletic transferable skills include, but are not limited to goal setting, communicating effectively with teammates, dealing with adversity, being a good decision maker, and rebounding from adversity.> Do not assume that your kids know about athletic transferable skills! In my work with thousands of college and professional athletes, I have consistently found that few of those athletes have identified and recognized the value of athletic transferable skills, leading me to suspect even fewer young athletes have made this discovery. The reason for this oversight has to do with two things: 1) Most athletes assume everyone else is learning the same skills that they are in sports, and 2) Most athletes undervalue the significance of athletic transferable skills because they do them so often they take them for granted! The point is, as a coach it is imperative that you discuss athletic transferable skills early and often with your student athletes.> Keep in mind that the number one variable that helps people heal in life, aside from medicinal procedures, is having a support system of people around to help keep feelings upbeat and optimistic. Interestingly, when it comes to sport retirement, the very first thing to go is the support system! In other words, it is a common, unfortunate occurrence in athletics that the “fans” who support the athlete when he or she is playing, are the very same people who are nowhere to be found when the games end. Compounding matters is that most athletic programs have no formal transition programs set up, and the reality is that the new recruits and upcoming stars will always garner more attention than the athletes exiting sports and going through retirement.> Sport retirement is something every student athlete, coach, and school program needs to acknowledge and discuss. Sport retirement is inevitable for every athlete, and even the star athletes who might have a chance to “make it” are only one career-ending injury away from having their dreams end.It is important as a coach that you normalize the sport retirement process as much as possible, beginning by having conversations with your student athletes early and often about the odds of “making it.” It is important that you help teach kids how the skills they are learning through sports (athletic transferable skills) will help with future success, even after they are no longer able to compete in high school, college, or professional athletics. Sport retirement can be one of the toughest experiences a young person goes through in life, but fortunately a caring, sensitive coach can make all the difference in the world and help make this transition one that leads to bigger and better accomplishments in life!Dr. Chris Stankovich is a sport science performance consultant and an advocate for positive youth sport development. For more information on educational products, seminars, or professional consultation please visitwww.drstankovich.com or email information@drstankovich.com