Ever wondered what it would be like to have the longest relationship of your life suddenly end in a break up? And add in quite the grieving process too? At first, you probably thought about death, but that’s essentially what a student-athlete goes through when they are graduating, or for some even earlier if they get injured or cut. One identity fades as another is born.
I read a recent article, “If You Plan to Play Sports in College, How Will You Prepare for Real Life?”, which featured an interview with Ken Shropshire, CEO of the ASU Global Sport Institute. He addressed the issues of time demands, and the current model of collegiate athletics as it pertains to the student-athlete.
To answer the question posed by the article, Oliver Luck, NCAA Executive Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, provides some great perspective on the approach one must have.
“Being a student-athlete teaches you how to overcome your mistakes with a professional attitude and outlook,” says Luck. “Being a student-athlete gives you the skillset to manage and prioritize time demands and like most student-athletes, you will go pro in something other than sport.”
Simply put that if you are involved with student-athletes as an administrator, or coach, most will develop the needed life skills and skill sets throughout their experience. However, they made need a hand or bridge of support to help them prepare for real life success after being a student-athlete. Sometimes in life, “You don’t know what you don’t know”.
And for many, even if they are aware of this transition, it is put off to be dealt with until they must stare the issue in the face. As a former student-athlete, you just don’t want to believe it is going to happen until it actually happens. For those who deal with student-athletes on a day to day basis, get them to realize the issue earlier than later because they will thank you one day in the future.