Think back to the days of wine and roses...do you remember the wonderful moment when you signed with a top US team – and your life started moving at a mile a minute?
Over the course of the last six months or so, we have all been witnesses to a feud between Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United’s management and ownership. Months of rumours about Ronaldo’s off-the-field behaviour and attitude towards his teammates, managers and club owners culminated into an explosive interview of the Portuguese superstar with the British journalist Piers Morgan.
The end of any playing career is a bittersweet and emotional moment, as players must leave behind an important part of their lives, which they had cherished for years; training routines, travelling abroad, performing for their fans and celebrating their achievements. The prospect of letting go all of these and transitioning to a completely new way of life may be intimidating and stressful due to the uncertainty it comes with. Being emotionally and financially prepared is critical for a smooth transition to life after sports.
An athlete’s retirement day may come earlier than expected, due to various reasons, including the nature and intensity of their sport or due to injury. Therefore, athletes are required to have a retirement plan in place, so that they are sufficiently prepared. Since it is difficult for athletes to leave behind the sport they dedicated their whole life to, some may decide to pursue a path within the sports industry, to stay close to the action.
A critical realization professional athletes must make is that retirement from sports- voluntary or involuntary- is inevitable; with the average age of retirement being slightly below 30, depending on their sport. With a short earnings window, and numerous cases of athletes declaring bankruptcy right after retirement, it would be ideal for athletes to find that they have fully prepared and planned all along, when the day of retirement comes. With statistics reporting, that more than three-quarters of former NFL players were bankrupt within two years of retirement and 60% of former NBA players went broke within five years of retirement, planning from day one of gaining professional status is crucial. Professional athletes find themselves at the peak of their earnings early on in their sports career, creating the need for proper management and preparation to ensure that it lasts a long time.
The possibility of retirement- unexpected or planned- can be undoubtedly a challenging thought for an athlete who has sacrificed their time, effort and even personal life for the sake of their sport. However, retirement from sport is inevitable and it is best that when that time comes, an athlete finds themselves ready; having already prepared and planned for it, both financially and mentally, from their very early days. Athletes may retire for a number of reasons, ranging from injury and deteriorating physical condition, which is especially the case for NFL athletes, to poor mental health or even changing priorities and personal reasons, as was the case with tennis legend Serena Williams, who recently stepped away from tennis to focus on motherhood and growing her family.
