Introduction
In a recent NCAA study, Division I student-athletes agreed that preparation for a career after college is the top item they wanted to see their coaches talking about more. This topic was in even higher demand than discussions on sleep, mental wellness, or financial decisions. But this shouldn’t come as a surprise for parents, coaches, and school teachers. Student-athletes have a lot of uncertainty waiting for them, so it is natural that they want to see what’s coming up in their lives after college.
In some cases, schools are not offering enough training, support, and resources to help student-athletes navigate the intense student-athlete experience. For this reason, in this article, we will address some suggestions for how schools should help student-athletes prepare for their present and future.
Support student-athletes navigate successes and failures
The student-athlete experience is full of ups and downs. It is an intense time that marks important transitions in the athlete’s life. Yet, very few student-athletes have the emotional literacy to navigate the intensive emotional rollercoaster that comes with this stage. Perhaps some of them are fortunate enough to come from families where it was normal to talk about feelings and emotions.
But unfortunately, most student-athletes have no guidance on how to navigate their internal world. As a result, they have no idea what to do with the disappointment and sadness that inevitably appear when they do not achieve the result they want. Schools should not just normalize the experience of failure, but should also direct student-athletes to immediate resources to process their emotions.
Student-athletes who know how to navigate disappointment and deal with failure are more resilient. Besides, they are less vulnerable to mental health conditions and are more likely to take prospective risks.
Encouraging student-athletes to not always rely on external validation
While it is great for student-athletes mental health to hear how great, strong, and amazing they are, they should also learn how to do without these compliments. If they are dependent on external validation to maintain their self-esteem, they will have a difficult time seeing their worth by themselves. Sometimes, the excessive praise comes from parents and coaches with a truly good intention. They want to build their student athlete’s confidence in themselves. But while highlighting their strengths and praising their achievements, adults should also guide the athletes to see their worth even when they’re not the best on the field.
A student-athlete who accepts that their worth does not always depend on them winning will be able to pick themselves up after failure and accept themselves in all circumstances.
Advise student-athletes on career opportunities
Oftentimes, people ask “are student athletes more successful?” The answer depends a lot on the preparation they receive from schools. Educational institutions play a crucial role in helping student-athletes make well-informed decisions for their careers after college. A potential approach for schools is to get insights from the academic trajectories of recent student-athletes to see the available career options.
Without this advice, student-athletes will find themselves confused and overwhelmed with the endless directions they may take after college. Career advisors should have in mind some questions to ask student-athletes about their experience: what do they enjoy in college? What are their natural skills? What have they excelled at in the past? Knowing more information about each student-athlete will make career advice even more efficient.
Help student-athletes know themselves and their strengths
Student athlete advancement depends on many factors, one of which is the student athlete’s knowledge of themselves. Self-knowledge leads to better career choices, increased self-esteem, and increased fulfillment in relationships. Schools should create environments where student-athletes can learn about themselves by reflecting on their experiences. For example, if an athlete does not fit into a new team, coaches and teachers should support them find what stops them from that. In this exploration and reflection process, the athlete looks at their personality, their individual differences, and their set of strengths and weaknesses. When they become more aware of those, they will know how to put themselves in the right situations and teams in the future, and they will avoid making choices that are not aligned with their core. Self-knowledge leads to student athlete empowerment, which is what all schools and coaches should ultimately aim for.
Some questions to help a prospective athlete deepen their self-knowledge are:
- What do you see yourself doing for the rest of your life?
- How are you different from your teammates?
- Where do you shine most?
- What would you rather avoid doing?
- Are there any moments when you feel as if time stops for you?
- What do you do very well?
These answers will improve crucial aspects such as student-athlete training, student-athlete services, and student-athletes academic performance. Besides, it will drastically improve their chances of making good choices in their careers in the future.
Offer student-athletes a mentor
A fortunate athlete will benefit from the support of their families, schools, and coaches. While these support networks are immensely beneficial, they usually don’t fully account for the athlete’s unique needs. Also, parents have not walked in the student-athlete’s shoes to know exactly how to prepare them for the future. As a result, only taking advice as a student-athlete from teachers and parents who walk a different path can be insufficient. Student-athletes are more successful when they have someone with whom they can relate almost entirely. In this case, this would be a mentor who followed a similar career and faced similar obstacles.
One of the best ways for schools to prepare student-athletes for their future is to offer them a mentor to guide and supervise them directly. Student-athletes perform better when they know that they can fail and still plan for a successful future. In many cases, they can see this example in a mentor, who has had their failures in the past and still turned out successful. Without someone to guide and inspire them, it is not surprising how many athletes quit due to their lack of resources to pick themselves up after a failure.
One way in which schools can connect student-athletes to prospective mentors is to bring alumni to their local colleges and let students ask them questions about the alumni’s student-athlete experiences. Through discussion panels and networking events, schools will offer student-athletes the opportunity to choose the right mentors for them.
Highlight the importance of time management
Many distractions want to get the student athlete’s attention in college. Naturally, they’re drawn to new activities and experiences, dates, friendships, and travels. But if they’re going to say yes to every single one of them, they will end up with very little time and an overwhelmed mind. And, as you know, students in general are notorious for struggling with time management. But this doesn’t mean you cannot learn this skill from scratch and become more organized — even if you’ve always lived with a mental to-do list and never owned a planner before.
The multitude of distractions is the main reason why student athletes struggle with time management. They try to say yes to more things than they can physically take on, so they end up stressed, overwhelmed, and panicked.
So the most intuitive thing you can do if you have too many tasks on your plate is to cut out those unnecessary distractions and activities. Have you joined any club or society this year that doesn’t really have much value in your life? Can you do without that many friend gatherings and drinking nights?
See what your time drainers are: those activities don’t seem to take up a lot of time, but when added together, they seem to lead to a lot of wasted time.
To begin, make a list of a typical week in your life.
How do you spend most of your time outside classes and training schedules?
In high school, student athletes have to learn to cut out those unnecessary time wasters so they can channel all their energy and time into things that add value to their lives — both in the longer and shorter term.
Once you have identified the biggest time wasters in your life, see what you’re left with. Then take a planner and fit in the most important tasks in the time left outside classes, training, and competitions.