The challenges of a solo-sport career

Key topic

This lesson outlines the hard realities faced by solo-sport athletes.  Solo-sport athletes are faced with a completely different set of problems than the rest of their peers, mainly underlined by loneliness.  Most people think of athletes as one single entity and do not distinguish between athletes of individual sports and team sports, but the differences are substantial and arguably solo-sport athletes have to deal with additional obstacles and challenges.  Today, we will go through the challenges of a solo-sport career and discuss them in detail, with a particular emphasis on the financial challenges of solo-sport athletes.

Learning objectives

• Understand the challenges of an athletic career
• Appreciate the importance of integrity in sports
• Realize that the life of a solo athlete is different than that of an athlete of team sports and thus the challenges that come with it need to be dealt with in a different manner
• Understand that athletes are some of the most financially vulnerable people
• Realize that the financial failure of athletes can be prevented through financial education which will provide them with the tools required to make wise decisions concerning money and finances

Introduction

Society views athletes as overprivileged and high-income celebrities. Although that is true to an extent, it hinders us from appreciating how financially, emotionally and mentally vulnerable athletes may be, due to the nature of their sport careers.

Despite the fact that athletes may be among the highest-paid individuals worldwide, they lack the financial knowledge that will enable them to manage their wealth effectively. As a result, a great portion of athletes find themselves in financial disarray during or soon after their retirement. High incomes, celebrity recognition, family, friends, coaches, bad advisers are among the reasons behind athletes’ financial failure.  The root of the problem lies in the lack of basic financial and life skills and this is what we will try to teach athletes throughout this course:  The financial and life skills that will equip athletes with the means to cope with the realities of their mode of living and the potential pitfalls and traps, financial and otherwise, that they will inevitably encounter throughout their sports careers and beyond.

The non-financial challenges of solo-sport athletes

Thee lives of team-sport and solo-sport athletes differ substantially in that they have to deal with different obstacles and challenges.  Solo-sport athletes don’t have teammates, the events that they participate in are vastly different in organization, structure and location among other things, and the traits required of solo-sport athletes are, as a result, distinct.

The first and fundamental difference between team sports athletes and individual sports athletes is the fact that the latter are “lone wolves”, which in turn translates into various issues:

• The first issue is loneliness: Aside from their coach who is in some ways an authority figure and therefore the dynamics of their relationship are bound to be different, solo-sport athletes train alone, travel alone, they have to motivate themselves and cannot rely on teammates for mental and psychological support. Apart from their coach there is no one there to pat solo-sport athletes in the back and praise a good move, shot, dive and whatnot. These athletes usually spend a considerable amount time travelling and for the most part they spend a lot of time by themselves unlike team-sport athletes. Athletes that are part of teams develop personal relationships with their teammates and they form deep and lasting friendships; it is always great to have friends around, especially in tough situations like practices and games.
• Then there is the psychological aspect of solo sports which is the fact that both successes and failures are the athletes’ alone. To deal with success is definitely easier, although the solo-sport athlete still celebrates on their own. Of course, they can do that with friends and family but at the end of the day, celebrating with people whom you share that success with and participated in that success, is unique. The real problem however, is when solo-sport athletes have to deal with failure. When a basketball team loses a game then the burden and the disappointment fall on all members of the team and the coach; when it comes to individual sports though, athletes absorb the entire weight and force of failure. In short, it might be extra satisfying when you know that you managed to accomplish something without anyone’s assistance but at the same time, dealing with failures is twice as hard.
• One of the beautiful things about being part of a team is that you can count on your teammates to carry you when you have bad day, as you will be required do for them when they are having a bad day. Although teams depend upon the synergy of their constituent parts in order to perform and attain the desirable outcome, when 1 or 2 players are not performing on the required level the team can still go on and win because the rest of the team can make up for the few players who could be doing better. For individual-sport athletes, that is not an option. If they don’t perform, they don’t win. It’s as simple as that.

The second important difference is that solo-sport athletes have to compete in events that do not have the same characteristics as the NBA or the NFL. NBA players only have to travel around the country to compete and those who make it on the national team are occasionally required to travel in different countries. In countries where the distances are smaller than the US, this becomes much easier. But for individual sports such as tennis or track and field, you don’t just compete on a national level. You have to constantly travel around the world to compete, which is tough and draining, especially when you consider that most of the times you are by yourself. Few people appreciate how tough it is to be constantly on the move, while having to maintain your self-discipline and deliver top-notch performances. As a result, it becomes harder to settle down, start a family, raise children and generally find a balance in your private life.

The third difference is that the traits and consequently, the skills that individual-sport athletes have to develop are not the same as those of athletes competing in team sports which in turn have an impact on their private life. For example, athletes who are part of a team are more likely to develop a community spirit and a sense of shared responsibility which has a positive effect on their sociability. Solo-sport athletes, on the other hand, can develop higher levels of resilience and they are also likely to develop full independence. All of these traits have a positive and negative side and the key is to utilize them effectively and efficiently.

In recent years, there have been a lot of studies which focus on how the dichotomy of individual vs team sports affects athletes. Based on the findings of these studies we can argue that the picture is grimmer for solo-sport athletes. For example, a study found that depression is a problem for athletes due to injuries, exhaustion and failure. According to the same study, this is a phenomenon much more prevalent among solo-sport athletes. Moreover, several studies suggest that sports that promote both cooperation and competition make the athlete much happier as opposed to those which promote only competition. Thus, athletes of team sports are much more likely to have fun while competing. As far as solo-sport athletes are concerned, they are much more likely to view their sport in a more goal-oriented manner. On the plus side, studies found that alcohol and tobacco abuse/consumption is less of a problem for solo-sport athletes compared to their peers who compete in team sports.

There are countless other differences between team athletes and solo-sport athletes. It is generally acceptable that it is much easier to overcome adversity when you have other people by your side and although solo-sport athletes have their friends, families and coaches, it is still not the same as having teammates who can also understand fully those difficulties. Nonetheless, there is something that all athletes—independently of their sport—have in common and that is the need to acquire financial knowledge, so that they set themselves up to succeed financially.

Solo-sport and team-sport athletes:  The shared challenges of an athletic career

Throughout the years, athletes across all ranges of sport have been idolized by their fans, their countries, and sometimes the entire world, for being able to stand out in what they do.  Few times though, have the masses or the fans considered the amount of pressure that these athletes undergo to be able to keep up with expectations and life in general.  In fact, discussing athletes’ wellbeing or considering whether an athlete has the mental or emotional capacity to continue performing, has long been a taboo in our society.  The challenges of an athletic career are many and a lot of them are shared by both team-sport and solo-sport athletes.  These challenges include, but are not limited to, the following.

• Maintaining top athletic performance
• Building and maintaining confidence and personal wellbeing (physical, mental and emotional)
• Maintaining integrity and staying away from temptations such as doping, gambling, match fixing, etc.
• Dealing with the reality of a short career, early retirement from sport, and preparing for life after sports
• Becoming financially independent by having a viable financial plan that will sustain the athletes throughout their lives
• Balancing relationships because an athletic career can easily ruin personal/family relationships
• Developing and maintaining an image which is positively perceived by the public opinion

Today, we will discuss all of the above challenges and we will go through the skills that solo-sport athletes will need to develop to be able to deal with these challenges and create the life they aspire to have.

Professional athletes and sports integrity issues

An athletic career can bring with it a number of sports integrity issues such as doping, sports betting/gambling and match fixing.  We will briefly discuss these issues so that athletes become aware of what forms and shapes they come in and become better prepared to deal with such situations.

Sports Doping

In 2018, Ulrich, Pope, Cléret et al., published the results of an anonymized survey that was conducted in 2011-12 and asked more than 1,200 professional athletes whether they had ever taken Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs). The astonishing result was that 44% of respondents replied affirmatively. The topic of PEDs is a taboo in sports, but arguably the biggest problem that the industry has been facing since the introduction of controls in 1965 and their institutionalization in 1970.

Doping, which started in the 19th century with the use of alcohol and cocaine among cyclists, has nowadays morphed into an entire underground industry aided by advancements in the ever-innovative pharmaceuticals sector. Some of the most popular methods include steroids, blood transfusions, human growth hormones and EPO, and aim at increasing the athlete’s endurance and strength—according to some studies by up to 38%. In what follows, we will discuss some of the adverse effects of PEDs on athletes such as health, psychological and financial effects, with the aid of the infamous stories of Marion Jones and Lance Armstrong.

A large number of athletes who have been caught red-handed have shifted the blame to coaches, physicians, partners—in the case of the Russian Olympic team fiasco in 2018, the entire state apparatus—and expressed complete ignorance as to what was given to them. Whether they are to be believed or not, PEDs can have extreme side-effects on the individual. They typically include cardiac complications, headaches, nausea and dizziness. In the case of men, side-effects can range from acne and baldness to shrunken testicles and reduced fertility, to high blood pressure and prostate cancer. Women on the other hand, can experience disturbed periods, facial hair and deepened voices. In their attempt to gain an edge in sports, athletes are quite simply jeopardizing their lives.

Psychological side-effects are also common, with many reporting rapid mood swings and paranoia. On top of those, athletes who get caught have to cope with a variety of after-effects as well.  Suddenly finding yourself in the spotlight for the wrong reasons, along with the shame and disappointment it brings to you, your friends, family and fans, is something you can hardly recover from.

As far as the athlete’s finances are concerned, it is almost guaranteed doomsday. In the blink of an eye, sponsorships, scholarships, incomes, savings, physical assets—you name it—everything gone. Marion Jones’ $1 million of endorsements gone, her $2.5 million home in North Carolina along with her mother’s house sold, in addition to the $80,000 per race of forgone income and the five years she spent in federal prison. Lance Armstrong was asked to pay $10 million to SCA Promotions Inc. for years of lying and deception, while all his sponsors— $75 million in monetary value—deserted him without a second thought. Armstrong himself publicly said that his doping debacle cost him a total of $100 million; it even crushed the momentum of his charity, Livestrong.

Article 10(2) of the WADA regulations state that if you get caught once, you get a ban of two years—officially no games, matches even training—and the second time, signals a lifetime ban. Of course, only the lucky few get to strike number 2 because you are probably done the first time

PEDs can have devastating effects on athletes; financially, psychologically, on their wellbeing and their career.  But at the end of the day, professional athletes should put everything into perspective and soberly do a simple cost-benefit analysis, in order to discover that doping is not worth risking everything they ever worked for. In a sense, it is like a house of cards; you might be able to evade authorities for years and beat dozens of tests, but it only takes one for everything to crumble!

Sports Betting

Betting is deeply ingrained in the cultural framework of sports and is even viewed as a pre-existing activity which is part and parcel of competitions. In the 21st century, it is hard to conceive of a world without sports betting.  Sports betting was not always as prevalent as it is today and in some places of the world—such as the US—there are still legal restrictions on betting, or at least on certain variants of it.

Sports betting in itself is not inherently unethical or dodgy, but the behaviors and incentives it leaves behind can be malicious and outright illegal. From match fixing to illegal betting there are dozens of scandals that have shaken sports to their foundations and left officials, athletes and fans alike, speechless. Scandals in sports are over a century old and have taken place in all parts of the world from the US to Italy and beyond.

One of the first recorded sports scandals in modern history was during the 1919 World Series when the Chicago White Sox squared off against the Cincinnati Reds. It is alleged that Joseph Sullivan—a professional gambler—bribed 8 players of the White Sox to lose the game. It is also alleged that the arrangement was organized by a gambling syndicate. The 1919 World Series fiasco is considered as one of the worst betting scandals in history.

Anyone who has engaged in sports betting recently will know that it is not just about who is going to win or lose. Nowadays you can bet on almost anything that the human mind can conceive; if you can think of it, it probably exists. Therefore, athletes are also susceptible to betting themselves. What’s the harm in making an additional grand or two (or ten or a hundred)? What better guarantee that John Johnson will miss his next service than John Johnson betting that himself? One would argue that there are laws prohibiting athletes from betting on themselves, but then again, they can always have a friend/distant relative do it for them and it would be next to impossible to identify and prevent that.

Match Fixing

Manipulating the result of a sports encounter is nothing new; games have been fixed for almost as long as sport has taken an organized form. From ancient times, athletes and/or their trainers would be bribed to lose a fight or race, so the winner and their city or country would bask in the glory of their success. In the modern world, match fixing is found in almost every sport and the motives behind it are evident:

• Financial motives – people may try to make money through gambling on a fixture in which they know the outcome before it takes place because they have manipulated the result
• Sports motives – So that one of the game participants will gain an advantage, for example losing a match so you can face an easier opponent in the next round of a tournament

Globalization and the emergence of online gambling, legal and illegal, have amplified the issue by attracting the interest of organized crime, with criminals seeking to fix matches by reaching athletes, coaches and officials on a global scale, in any level of organized sport.

Athletes are in the heart of the problem, being the most common target for criminals attempting to manipulate the result of a fixture.  Sports organizations acknowledge that it is crucial to create efficient reporting mechanisms for athletes in order to fight corruption.

Informing athletes about their options and rights when it comes to disclosing information, and educating them on the rules of their sport in relation to betting and match fixing, can help their voice become even louder.  Unfortunately, the current culture about disclosing information is more likely to discourage athletes to come forward than encourage them.  We advise athletes to refrain from getting involved in such activities and in cases where they become aware of any such activity they should come forward and speak up, ultimately helping to protect the integrity of sport.

The financial vulnerability of athletes

Financial vulnerability is shared by both team-sport and solo-sport athletes.  There are several factors, which contribute to the financial failure of athletes and these apply to all types of athletes. Athletes usually earn substantial amounts of income within the limit of a short time span, depending on the particular sport, but usually this timeframe is 3 to 15 years.  Of course, in the case of certain sports, like golf, the life span of the sports career may last much longer. Most of the time, the athletes’ salaries or tournament compensation are not fully guaranteed and poor performance, injury, on and off the field behavior, can adversely affect their earning capacity. The end of the athletes’ field play, usually marks the end of the substantial earnings.

In addition, athletes earn their money at a very young age, away from their homes and countries, especially solo-sport athletes who tend to travel a lot to compete. Being away from home and the shelter of their families and company of their friends, puts additional pressure on athletes. The high income and celebrity recognition that athletes enjoy at an early age, usually leads them to adopt a lifestyle of the rich and famous, living beyond their means and with no real savings.  The effect of sudden wealth or “sudden money” cannot be handled appropriately, especially by young men and women, who are inexperienced in handling finances.  There are plenty of examples: Mike Tyson, Allan Iverson, Sheryl Swoops, Warren Sapp and many, many, many, more.

So, how can we take preventive action against financial failure? Many of the factors that make athletes financially vulnerable cannot be altered. Athletes will always be vulnerable, but their knowledge-base and decision- making abilities can greatly improve. The solution lies into educating athletes, so that they acquire knowledge about money, personal finances and financial options, thus giving them the tools to make wise decisions concerning money. As financially educated athletes, you will be able to react in a more prudent manner to situations arising from financial pressures or which involve financial decision making.  Financial literacy is a learned life skill which will help you, not only make sound financial decisions, but will give you great confidence over your financial lives.

We will now watch a 7-minute video on athletes who are not as wealthy as you might think!

Athletes Who Are Poorer Than You Thought

Action Steps – Exercise 1 (5 minutes)

Let’s discuss the clip we just watched:

• Is there something specific that shocked you? Why?
• Are you aware of similar cases?

Common factors contributing to the financial failure of athletes

Despite the widespread belief that athletes after retirement are financially set for life, living in mansions with unlimited money to spend, we often hear stories of athletes going bankrupt, during or after their sports career. In reality, athletes are some of the most financially vulnerable persons of our times and various factors contribute to that:

• Athletes earn substantial amounts of income but within a short time span, usually 10 to 15 years. The average annual salary of an athlete can be anywhere from 50 to 100 times more than the average household income both in the US and in Europe. The end of the athlete’s field play usually marks the end of the substantial earnings, both from field play and from other sources, such as image rights’ commercialization, endorsements, and so forth.
• Athletes’ earnings are extremely volatile. Most of the time, athletes’ salaries are not fully guaranteed and, in addition, poor performance, injury and on and off field behaviour can adversely affect their earning capacity.
• Athletes earn their money at a very young age. Athletes’ earnings peak between the ages of 25 and 34 and they take a huge plunge at the age of 35, as opposed to the rest of the normal work force who reach peak earnings between ages 39 and 55.

Our research has indicated a combination of factors that contribute to the financial failure of most athletes:

1. Athletes’ lifestyle. The high income and celebrity recognition that they enjoy at such an early age leads professional athletes being drawn to a lifestyle of the rich and famous, living for the moment, and revelling in their fame and fortune. Most of them live paycheck to paycheck and blow their money on depreciating assets. It’s not bad to spend money on luxuries every now and then. After all, what’s point of earning so much if you cannot enjoy it. At the same time though, athletes need to make sure that they also set some aside in form of savings and for investment purposes.
2. Also, athletes have a lot of external pressures from family, friends, coaches, and others who have helped them succeed. Family and friends usually seek financial rewards and returns from the athlete as recognition of their contribution to the athlete’s fame. In extreme case scenarios, they live off of the athlete’s wealth entirely.
3. Sudden wealth, or “sudden money,” cannot be handled appropriately, especially by young athletes, who are completely inexperienced in handling finances. The receipt of sudden wealth is an intense and emotional event, and it precipitates new financial challenges and decisions. Athletes must deal with their emotions and confront their fears that may arise from their newfound wealth.
4. Bad Investments/misplaced trust. Advisor improprieties and misappropriations of funds have contributed to the financial problems of professional athletes. Athletes need to make sure that the people they have by their side are trustworthy.
5. Gambling, which, unfortunately, is quite widespread among professional athletes. According to the results of a recent study, 46% of the 490 female athletes and 75% of the 903 male athletes that participated, had gambled during the previous 12 months. Although, as we have previously mentioned, for solo-sport athletes the problem is not as prevalent, it is still a problem.
6. Divorce and child support payments. Divorce has a disastrous effect on the financial well-being of professional athletes, as most of them do not have prenuptial agreements in place before getting married. In addition, a number of athletes have children with multiple people and they are obliged to pay several monthly alimony and child support payments, which are quite substantial.
7. Lack of financial education. Career athletes often do not have the same level of financial literacy as people who took more conventional career and education paths. The unique financial challenges that come from life as a professional athlete, combined with the lack of financial education, usually lead to poor financial decisions which, unfortunately, have an adverse lifelong impact.

Building Confidence is a prerequisite for a successful career

“It is always in my mind still that I can crush anybody. That’s not an issue […] If you don’t believe you can win tournaments anymore, then you can’t do it.” – Roger Federer, Tennis Player, 20-time Grand Slam Winner

20-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer is the living example of the fact that what distinguishes highly successful athletes from less successful ones, is confidence.

Research has long shown that confident athletes feel energized, inspired and excited, focusing on what they need to do in order to perform at their optimal level, making both their training and competing experiences enjoyable. In turn, successful competing experiences bring about confidence and positive thinking, creating an upward spiral of confidence, a successful performance, and ultimately a successful life.

Of course, athletes are often presented with obstacles, like losing a competition or making mistakes, which may hinder their confidence. Unfortunately, quite often, such obstacles create a vicious cycle of self-doubt, low self-confidence and a drop in athletic performance. If athletes lack the ability to overcome failures, it may be difficult to recover their self-confidence. It is evident that sports performance and confidence interrelate, and indeed, winning competitions is a powerful way to boost confidence, but it should not be an athlete’s only source of confidence.

With the right mindset, athletes can overcome setbacks, and failure may even help them become more focused on their life goals, encourage them to assess what went wrong and become strategic about how to be better prepared in the future. In this respect, athletes should acknowledge that confidence will be built over experiences and they should strive to build a “resilient” confidence. Elite athletes have described resilient confidence as an “unshakable belief in their ability” to do anything, which enables them to stay confident even when they are not performing well.

This resilient confidence is actually the key to success, as it allows athletes to rise over obstacles, but also, in contrast with arrogance, encourages them to work hard in order to become better. This type of confidence, at its core, emanates from the understanding that if you put in the work, the results will follow, urging athletes to focus on what they can control (that is, their efforts) rather than things they cannot control (that is, the results).

With resilient confidence, athletes are able to stay confident even when they are not winning, because it shifts their focus on always performing their best. Fundamentally, it rests on the athletes’ faith in their ability and preparation. Seeing that resilient confidence is essential in the development of athletes, cultivating it should become an integral part of athletic education.  To build resilient confidence as an athlete you are advised to do the below simple rules:

• Identify if there is anything that holds you back from achieving your goals; is it fear of failure, or even fear of success? Recognize your fears and work on overcoming them.
• Focus on the things that you can control and do not get drained in things that you can’t, like your opponents, the weather, field conditions, etc.
• Do not compare yourself to other athletes: focus on yourself and what you need to do in order to prepare in the best possible way.
• Prepare: There is no substitute for hard work and training; knowing that you have trained long and hard will give you confidence. When Roger Federer was asked how he stays confident he said: “There is no way around hard work. Embrace it. You have to put in the hours because there’s always something that you can improve.”
• Accept that failure is part of sport and that it forms an integral part of your athletic experiences; embrace it, learn from it, and don’t let it get you down! Recognize that facing challenges is necessary in becoming the best you can be!

Helping athletes build resilient confidence is an integral part of the holistic model of athlete development and you need to devote the necessary time and effort to train in this particular area.

Action Steps – Exercise 2: (5 minutes)

Describe the number 1 factor that has helped you flex your confidence muscle as well as the number 1 factor that has had a negative effect on your confidence.  Can you share any confidence-building strategies that you have personally used?

Athlete wellbeing is paramount to having both a successful career and life

An athlete’s wellbeing is primarily concentrated on the following factors: physical, mental, emotional and financial wellbeing. All these factors are interrelated given that one affects the other and altogether affect the athlete’s ability to perform in the field and to lead a successful life. In short, wellbeing focuses on the athletes’ ability to understand their potential and be able to cope with the stress that comes with life’s everyday challenges. In an ideal situation, the athlete should be able to understand that while competition and striving for success are important, there’s life beyond sports and being an athlete is not what defines them as a person. The ability to be physically capable, financially independent and mentally stable allows an athlete to feel more secure, be happier and perform better on and off the court.

Nevertheless, an athlete cannot achieve wellbeing without being engaged with the broader society and that’s where athletes’ engagement comes into play. It’s important for athletes to be connected to their communities, share experiences and contribute in a meaningful manner in an attempt to “take off” their athlete hat and be treated as a regular human being. This allows athletes to connect with society not only professionally but also at a personal level, showing the world that there’s an individual that goes beyond the athlete. By being engaged, athletes improve their wellbeing which consequently makes them feel more comfortable with their body and better performers both on the court and in their everyday lives.

Everyone seems to be talking about athlete wellbeing and welfare lately, which involves creating a safe environment for athletes while competing and training for their sport, as well as ensuring their safety and wellbeing away from the game.  Additionally, athlete welfare involves the creation of an environment in which athletes can develop skills and competencies outside of sport that will add to their personal development and wellbeing, which is not related to sports.

Our program is a complementary tool which enhances athlete welfare and wellbeing and it adheres to the holistic model of athlete development.  It considers financial education to be a prerequisite of athletes’ wellbeing and it emphasizes the need for athletes to understand their personal financial interests, be able to navigate through the risks of personal financial management and be prepared to safeguard their resources from the hard work they are putting in their sports careers.  Our program addresses the concept of a dual career and the need for athletes to create career outlets and options beyond the sport industry and also exploit their full potential.  We further address the needs that surface in the athletes’ post-sport career and ensure that athletes have educational skills to complement any other skills to be used in the job market.  We believe that education promotes entrepreneurship, as well as adds value, allowing athletes to develop entirely new revenue-generating streams.

Action Steps – Exercise 3: (5 minutes)

From a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest, how do you rate yourself on the following:

1. Physical wellbeing
2. Mental wellbeing
3. Financial wellbeing
4. Emotional wellbeing
5. Community engagement

Please justify the rating you have given yourself in each category.

The holistic model of athlete development as a solution to the challenges of being an elite athlete

Athlete development has been the focus point in sport operations for decades.  However, there has been an evolutionary approach to the entire process that has been shaped by socioeconomic and cultural developments, as well as emerging needs of athletes themselves. The Holistic Model is the latest trend, which in essence is athlete-centered or athlete oriented, meaning that the athletes’ overall well-being and social welfare is being considered, in addition to the sporting development of the athlete. Holistic athlete development describes the process of developing skills, attributes and values, which will assist athletes in achieving success in life, regardless of the level of success they achieve in sports.

As you very well know, athletes are not blessed superheroes or fine-tuned sport machines that compete day in and day out for the millions of dollars in compensation, providing entertainment to audiences and a lot of work output for sport media and social media. Athletes are, first and foremost, human beings with needs that extend beyond those related to their chosen sport and they are people that have a professional life span limited to just a few years during which they play professional sports.

The holistic model of athlete development takes into account their physical abilities, their sport-specific skills in competing, and their perception and understanding of the sport and its needs. Additionally, in this model one can observe the input of sport-related science, specifically related to rehabilitation and recuperation from sport activity, proper hydration and nutrition, physical preparation and medical care and of course mental readiness (psychological support) to cope with a heavy sport schedule; the need to focus and work hard while maintaining a sport-life balance that is at least bearable to the athletes and their families. The new addition to the model, however, is the personal development aspect for athletes, that has been trending in the sports industry for the last few years.

Given that athletes have on average a rather short professional career; the fact that athletes do not have the time or other resources to invest in professional development away from sports; the fact that athletes are proven to be highly financially vulnerable for a series of reasons and the fact that the sport lifestyle has in the past restricted athletes from carrying a normal daily life, the need has surfaced to provide athletes and their development with a complementary set of skills. These skills can be life skills, educational skills, ethical and normative behavior, cognitive skills and so on.

The sports industry is currently signaling that “We Care”; if the athlete cannot get a professional contract and drops out of sports, we care.  If an athlete drops out of professional sports due to illness or injury, we care.  If an athlete ends up bankrupt, we care. If an athlete is depressed and feeling hopeless at the end of their career, due to lack of professional options, we care. This is the underlying message and the bottom line in the holistic model of athlete development. The industry is taking a stand in producing elite athletes, who are also educated, skillful, balanced individuals, who will not vanish when their athletic career is over.

Let’s discuss what exactly these new additions are in the Athlete Development curriculum. An important factor in the model is the so-called Athletic Talent Development Environment (ATDE), which is comprised of all key stakeholders in the development process, including family, friends, the school system, athletes’ peers, as well as everyone that one would expect to be present such as coaches, other athletes, etc., essentially combining the micro and macro environments of athlete development.

Nowadays, athletes should be taught basic life skills, should be mentored and empowered, they should be in a simultaneous dual-career path (education and sports) and of course the latest trend is the need for athletes to become financially literate, which is a unique skill that reaches beyond just a supplementary form of development, rather it should be characterized as essential and paramount.  Athletes should also be exposed to social responsibility, inclusiveness, diversity, a new set of moral standards that follow societal expectations and needs, and through sports they should be guided to becoming better individuals; not necessary acquiring more qualifications, but definitely more quality.

Sport is considered to be one of the biggest vehicles for development and positive change. Whether on a personal, or community level, national and international, sport has the ability to affect change. This holistic model of athlete development can instill attitudes and behaviors, can teach qualities such as persistence, perseverance and resilience, which will facilitate learning and excellence on and off the playing field and especially in other areas of life away from sports. This development model is able to teach adherence to teamwork and values, respect to rules and regulations; it can develop social and leadership skills; physical skills and general athleticism for life long involvement in sport and physical activity; it teaches life skills such as a healthy lifestyle, personal hygiene and awareness of good sleep, rest and recovery practices; it teaches the importance of education as a tool for professional advancement (including the advancement of a pro career) and the extremely valuable life skill of financial literacy that can literally guide athletes throughout their lives in whatever they choose to do in or out of the sport industry.

In closing, let’s put ourselves in the position of a former superstar who has gone from hero to zero in less than seven years post retirement. What if it was you? What would you have wished you had as a backup plan?  Well, this is exactly what you will learn through this program so that you do not find yourself in that position!

We strongly believe that a holistic view of developing athletes contributes to the personal growth and maturity of the athlete.  It prepares athletes, not just for being successful in their sport, but for being successful in life after sport as well.  It helps athletes develop both hard and soft skills which are necessary, not just for their sport but also for their life as a whole.

The skills athletes need to design and project-manage a successful life plan

To design your desired life plan you need to be aware of who you are, your special skills and of course your weaknesses.  In addition, you need to understand where you are in life right now and what, in broad terms, are your life goals.  These life goals should cover the different aspects of your life such as health, family, relationships, career and finances.

We all need a plan to go through life and if you don’t have one, now it is a good time for you to come up with a working draft of this life plan.  Your plan needs to include and cater for your personal life, work or business life as well as your financial life, considering your values and what matters most to you.

If you have not done it already, you need to start thinking about what you want to accomplish in your life and what your mission is.  If you have not already discovered your passions and talents outside of sport, maybe now it is a good time to look into that.  Given that you are a professional athlete, it means that you are passionate about sports; however, there must be other things that you are passionate about or at the very least, good at.  Do not exclude your other passions or talents from your life plan.  Embrace them and include them in your life plan, even as an option.  We all know that sports careers are difficult to build and don’t last long, therefore you need to have all your options open and available.

To build a successful career and life plan you need certain skills and these skills are the ones they don’t usually teach you at school.  Financial and life skills do not usually form part of formal education and most people develop these skills through trial and error, by dealing with uncertainty, failures, and whatever life brings to them.

Our purpose here is to equip you with these skills which will enable you to build the life you aspire to have and deal well with whatever life brings.  You must have already developed a number of these life skills as part of your sports career:  discipline, consistency, grit, determination, resilience.  We will supplement these skills with simple financial concepts so that you acquire a well-rounded view of how finances work in every phase of your life and how you can create a financial plan that will serve your greater life plan.

Action Steps – Exercise 4 (5 minutes):

Ask the athletes the following questions and try to get at least a couple of answers from different persons to have a meaningful discussion with the whole class.

1. Have you been thinking about your greater life plan and what you want to accomplish in life?
2. Do you ever think about your post sports career, what you could be doing and the fact that sports will not be a part of it?  How do you feel about that and how can you get yourself ready for such a case?
3. Do you know what you are good at, outside of sport, and how you can use that in a future non-sport career?

Overview of the financial and life skills course and how it helps solo-sport athletes

This course seeks to assist athletes in all aspects of their lives that are unrelated with their athletic performance. It has been designed and tailored around the challenges, tasks and realities that solo-sport athletes have to face off-the-pitch. As previously mentioned, very few people understand the loneliness and stress associated with solo sports. Athletes who are part of a team have people to share their joy, sorrow and anxiety with. The same cannot be said about solo-sport athletes. Thus, this course seeks to prepare athletes for the hardships and realities that they will face along the road, as well as, to equip them with the tools that will enable to navigate all those decisions and choices they will have to make. Throughout this course, athletes will engage with these concepts and techniques in a practical fashion so as to enable them to absorb them in full. We will dive deep into financial concepts such as banking, debt, investments, interest rates and tools including assembling a team of advisors, commercializing their individual sports brand and so on.

We set below the roadmap of the course along with its components and the desired learning objectives.

• Financial Psychology

Financial psychology relates to our behavior towards personal finances and financial decisions regarding money, budgeting, investing and so on.  Family, society and culture play a huge role in the development of the athlete’s financial psychology.  Money is a social tool and our attitudes, beliefs and practices connected with it, are heavily influenced by the people who surround us.  In this lesson we discuss how the pursuit of money is all about trying to meet either emotional or psychological desires and identifying these desires will give professional athletes greater control over their financial behavior.

• Creating your support circle

Solo sport athletes are advised to have a support circle which will help them in the implementation and management of their financial and life plan.  They first have to deal with fulfilling their support needs by having a mentor, an athlete mindset and performance coach, etc.  In addition, athletes need to become acquainted with how to assemble a competent financial team to help them design their financial future.  There are important lessons to be learned from a plethora of athletes who have financially failed and this is what we are communicating to athletes in this lesson.  A common denominator often, is the trust athletes have placed in the wrong professionals.  We have all heard of a number of cases all over the world, where lawyers, accountants, investment advisors, agents, etc. have defrauded athletes by advising them to invest in various potentially “high and fast profit” schemes.  In a lot of cases, athletes not only lost the money they had originally invested but also ended up being accused of tax fraud.

• Personal Financial Planning & Money Management

Personal financial planning is a lifelong process and athletes are guided through the specifics of it in this lesson. Athletes are and will be making financial decisions all their life; sometimes they will foresee situations and plan deliberately, sometimes, well, things just happen, and they will be forced to make instant decisions.  Creating their financial game plan means making deliberate decisions now that will allow professional athletes to get closer to their goals while reflecting the realities of being an athlete.

• Banking, Credit and Debt

It is very important for athletes to develop an understanding about how banks work so that they can manage their banking to their best interest.  Properly managed bank accounts can reduce expenses and protect the athletes’ personal information.  Making purchases on credit is a major part of everyday life to the point that it is being frequently abused and may be transformed into excessive debt which is not manageable.  By understanding ‘good’ and ‘bad’ debt, athletes will be able to utilize debt when and where it best suits their overall financial and life plan.  In this lesson we present the basic banking operations that most closely relate to the athlete’s current and future needs and discuss the different banking risks associated with credit, debt, and credit history.  Moreover, this lesson discusses the risks of loans and being in debt, as well as presents ways of keeping debt under control.

• Risk Management and Insurance

It is important for athletes to identify and manage potential risk as well as recognize different types of fraud so that they can take measures to protect themselves from such risks.  Athletes can protect themselves and their personal finances in a number of ways whether that means buying different types of insurance to cover basic and sport specific needs, protecting their wealth and their family, or limiting the disastrous financial effects of a divorce.  This lesson outlines the elements of risk and insurance.  It also discusses the concepts associated with risk and insurance and offers advice as to how professional athletes can treat these elements at different points of their lives, both within and outside of sport.

• Investments and Creating Long-term Wealth

Bad investment decisions contribute greatly to the financial problems of professional athletes.  Athletes have been an easy target for many shady financial predators, who promise them ‘sweet deals’ with huge returns in a short period of time.  With so many ‘get rich quick’ schemes out there which try to sell the improbable dream, athletes need to have the knowledge which will help them make educated decisions for themselves, and control their emotional responses to risk and the market.  In this lesson we will go through the process of getting prepared to invest and we will pinpoint what to look out for and what the risks are.  We will also look into the importance of investment diversification and we will go over real estate investing.  At the end of the lesson, we will present the ‘being investment ready’ checklist which will inform athletes whether they are aware of what they need to know to be investment ready.

• The Economic Environment, Contracts and Taxes

Personal financial planning is affected by several macroeconomic factors.  Therefore, when professional athletes plan their financial lives, they should take into account conditions in the wider economy and in the markets that make up the economy. Since professional athletes enter into various types of contracts, whether sports contracts, sponsorship contracts, endorsement contracts, etc., it is important that they are well-verse with some basic information about contracts and how taxes affect their income.

• Building and commercializing the athlete’s brand and NIL

Professional athletes have a relatively short career playing sport, living most of their life from earnings made off the field, which is why it is important that they are proactive when it comes to their financial planning. One of the many pillars of good financial planning is building the athlete’s personal brand in order to maximize their earning potential off the field during and after their sports career. Indeed, an athlete’s sports career may end, but a strong brand will continue to exist, assisting in building wealth beyond the athlete’s sports years.  By developing their personal brand, professional athletes will be able to monetize the success of today in the long-term.  A well-crafted brand strategy can transform an athlete from a sports-related VIP to a business-related VIP with a life time duration.

• Post-Career Development, Business Fundamentals & Entrepreneurship

Every athlete will retire from sport at some point.  Research shows though, that athletes are often unwilling to plan in advance for their post-sport careers.  The transition to a post-sports career becomes even harder because most athletes don’t have any previous work experience in a full-time job and may have missed out on education due to their sporting commitments.  In order to avoid suddenly finding themselves lost, athletes need to plan ahead for life after sports.  In this lesson we provide an overview of the world of work as well as entrepreneurship and we present athletes with various post-sport job career and entrepreneurial options.

Through this program, athletes will:

• Realize that a sports career is short and that they need to have a greater life plan;
• Learn to consult and surround themselves with trustworthy professionals;
• Be able to set a budget and follow it;
• Be conservative with their finances;
• Learn to say “NO” to family and friend requests for money;
• Prepare themselves for a second career;
• Make smart financial decisions;

In short, the targets of this program are:

• To alert athletes of the necessity of a greater life plan
• To give athletes the tools to design, implement and project-manage their life plan and adapt it as needed
• To make sure that athletes obtain a basic financial understanding, which will help them make sound financial decisions because such decisions usually have a lifelong impact
• To educate athletes, so that they are able to identify who the right people to advise them are and create a strong support system which will help them realize their full potential to thrive financially
• To make athletes aware that developing their brand and working on their personal marketing strategy will help them stay up-to-date and in the spotlight for much longer than how long their athletic miracles endure

Lesson wrap-up

This was our introductory lecture where we tried to acquaint you with the financial and non-financial challenges that athletes come up against. We started with the non-financial challenges of solo-sport athletes and then shifted our attention to the challenges of an athletic career and integrity-related issues, which are shared by both team-sport and solo-sport athletes. We then discussed the financial vulnerability of athletes and went over some of the factors that contribute to this vulnerability. We then looked into the skills that athletes need to design and project-manage a successful career and life.  Finally, we went over the outline of this course, what to expect from it, its rationale, and so on.

At this point, we will wrap-up today’s lesson.  First, we will go over the learning objectives of this lesson and we want your feedback as to whether they have been achieved, and then we will address any questions you may have.  Please feel free to ask anything you’d like in relation to today’s lecture and we would love to hear how the concepts we discussed today relate to you and your greater life plan.