I have played basketball for almost 23 years and I gave everything I could to it. I started playing when I was 6 and stopped when I was 29, with a ridiculous amount of injuries. I loved playing, I loved the feeling I’d get when I made a basket or was unplayable in defence. I have a childhood memory of me watching the TV and dreaming of playing in Milan’s biggest arena. I wanted to play with and be coached by the best, which is something I luckily got to achieve. Basketball gave me so many important skills. It taught me discipline, loyalty, work ethic, how to perform under pressure and the importance working in a team, with fantastic leadership. Sadly, at some point in an athlete’s career, it comes to an end. Unfortunately, the truth is that not all athletes are lucky enough to make enough money to retire when they stop playing. The vast majority of athletes have a problem with life after sport. They struggle with financial problems, their mental health and how to live without the structure that their sporting career gave them. And these are but a few issues ex-athletes encounter during the transition from gym to the desk. On top of that, most athletes outside of the USA lack any formal education because they signed a professional contract at an early age. The one thing I wish I had thought of when I was playing, was my life after sport. For nearly all the time I was playing I didn’t think about my future and only focused on the next week. I never thought of life after basketball! Why would I plan for 10 years in the future? I have a game to prepare for! Unfortunately, the future wasn’t that far away and when the time came I was not prepared at all. Nobody told me when I was playing how the “real world“ was. It would’ve been great if I had been prepared for what to do when my body aged and I could no longer play. This is something that I think nearly all of the sporting federations do not do and I wish it was mandatory. Nobody tells you how to transfer your skills what career you would like to have after your retirement, how to organise your pension or how to manage your money. Despite this, few businesses are opening courses and/or training for former athletes. EY have initiated a project which aims at hiring sportspeople due to their mindset. EY is organising a project called EY Personal Performance Programme. The program focuses on blending sportspeople’s mindset and EY’s technical training. The purpose of the training is to help them upskill and prepare them for life during and after sport. “We collaborate with each sporting organisation to design a programme for their individual needs, enabling them to provide the best duty of care to their athletes” state EY. Another interesting program is organised by Randstad called Ranstad next (Italian Program) to give to the former athletes the tools to use and apply in their new life after sport. To conclude, I think that the transition from a tracksuit to a suit is not very easy but if it is done within the right time and with correct journey the skills learned in a “previous” life could be easily transferred to a new work place with a nice shine desk in a skyscraper.
What do you think athletes should do to prepare for their life after sport?