Life after Sport: What comes next?

Many young adults grow up with the dream of becoming a professional athlete. They dedicate hours and hours of their livelihoods to early morning training sessions, weekend competitions and endless training sessions. 

But what happens if they don’t make it to the next stage? 

Athletes thrive on structure, routine and having a sense of direction or something to work towards. Without that, both UK and American studies have shown that mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression can start to fill the ‘void’ left by sport. 

Therefore, it is crucial for athletes to explore new interests and take the opportunity to connect with their local community. But why move away from sport all together? One route to choose after a life of competitive sport is coaching opportunities!

One of our very own, Paul, had this exact experience. Over a period of 5 Years, Paul played 129 games for Lincoln City including appearances in the playoffs and winning Player of the Year and Players’ Player Awards. He then embarked on 8 seasons in the National League with Tamworth, where he was captain and player coach, Forest Green, Hereford, and Solihull Moors.

Paul’s professional football career began at the age of 12, having spells at Aston Villa, Manchester United and then back to Aston Villa. Whilst Paul’s passion and skill spurred him on, he agrees that much of sport is about luck – being in the right place at the right time. However, the other side of that is when injuries occur at wrong time, which sadly happened to Paul, they can change your predicted path completely. 

As Paul continued through semi-professional and then part-time contracts, whilst juggling other part-time jobs, injuries caught up with him and it prompted him to think about the next step. He had always loved coaching but felt strongly against following the academy route as this did not suit him or his personal views. 

And then it clicked that he just wanted to help others. Not just in football, but in as many things as possible! Just the other day he was teaching some children create art with leaves, sticks and flowers as part of an outdoor learning session. Whilst this is a million miles away from football and Paul never thought he would I would enjoy it, he is a fantastic coach and loves the opportunity to teach! 

Paul has been part of the Onside family for 7 years and doesn’t look like slowing down any time soon!

Onside Coaching franchises offers the opportunity to use sporting expertise, passion, and discipline to deliver sporting opportunities to schools and children in an area local to you. 
Click here to find out about how you could become an Onside frannchisee