- Written by Sally Hurst & Tim Dale
- bbc news
image source, Getty/Mark Metcalfe
Natasha Gayle speaks to Team England media ahead of the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games
Becoming a professional athlete is an ambition for many, but careers are often short-lived and some struggle to adapt to life after sport.
BBC News spoke to former athletes about the impact retirement has had on their lives.
“I felt a loss of identity.”
image source, Getty/Stu Forster
Mike Tuck said the entire fabric of his life was ‘upended’
“Sports are exciting,” Mike Tuck said.
“It’s an adrenaline rush. It’s not a typical career.”
The Canadian-Englishman played 13 seasons for the Sheffield Sharks basketball team, serving as captain for 11 of those seasons.
He said he had had a “fairytale career” and was unprepared for the impact of his retirement at 39.
“Some mornings I didn’t want to get out of bed.
“The whole structure of my life was turned upside down.”
He said that if you’re a professional athlete, people tell you “when and where to go.”
“And all of a sudden, it’s all taken away from you.”
Mike Tuck currently works as a coach, marketing manager, and pundit.
Mike believes that his self-worth is tied to his identity as a professional athlete.
“Nearly a year later, when people asked me what I did, I still said, ‘I’m the captain of the Sharks.’
Although Mike did not initially consider coaching as a career, he began working as the head coach of the University of Sheffield’s men’s basketball team and realized he loved it.
He said the key was to be “open-minded” about future options.
He is currently Sheffield Sharks coach, marketing manager and pundit for Sky Sports.
“I’m happy. I’m in a good situation and I’m excited about the future,” he said.
“It was really difficult.”
image source, Getty/Nulfoto
Natasha Gale left the boxing program in 2019
Natasha Gale, 35, a former European champion boxer from Leeds, has chosen a completely different path.
She left the sport completely after leaving the GB Boxing program in 2019.
“I was literally bedridden and had a whole schedule planned out, but I spent a lot of time with nothing to do,” she recalls.
“It’s like starting your life all over again.”
After retiring from boxing, she found it difficult to find work despite having a degree in fitness.
“I went from being a Team GB athlete, full-time athlete, podium athlete and European champion to working in a warehouse on night shifts.
“I really struggled. I was really depressed.”
image source, natasha gale
Natasha is currently focused on her family and growing her business
It was only when a friend offered her a job cleaning his rental apartment that she realized she should start her own cleaning company.
She now employs six other people and travels with her partner and young son in a campervan on weekends.
“I’m really happy. If I had continued boxing more, I probably would have gotten injured and I probably wouldn’t have had my son.
“Happiness is the most important thing.”
“Give up completely”
image source, emma sheardown
Emma Sheardown wins national and international medals in para-dressage
Para-dressage champion Emma Sheardown’s competitive career came to an early end due to a combination of circumstances.
The 38-year-old, from Grantham, Lincolnshire, suffered brain damage due to birth complications and was later diagnosed with quadriplegic cerebral palsy.
She started riding horses at the age of two and then discovered dressage.
Emma was selected for the World Class Para Dressage Development Team and won medals both nationally and internationally for Great Britain.
Things have changed since she was selected as a finalist for the 2012 London Paralympic Games.
“Sadly, at the march before my father passed away, I was keen to continue working but the selectors felt I was not in the right mental state,” Emma said. .
After a year of this disappointment, her horse was retired from competition.
“I had acquired a young horse and was thinking positively ahead of Rio, but sadly just 14 months after giving birth to this new horse a tragic accident occurred and we lost him. I lost it.”
Emma was loaned another horse, but in 2015 she received word that she would be removed from the team.
“It was tough because I knew right away that being cut from the team meant I had to give up the sport completely.”
It also meant losing her horse and losing team funds.
“I couldn’t afford to go on any longer,” she said.
“I felt like everything was taken away from me. I didn’t know what to do and that’s when my depression started.”
image source, emma sheardown
Emma Sheardown has found a new career in motivational speaking
At first, Emma didn’t know what to do, but then she remembered that the funding she received required her to speak to groups and schools.
“I really enjoyed it, so I decided to pursue a career in motivational speaking.”
In addition to speaking, Emma has worked with disability awareness and inclusion groups and written a book about her life.
“Honestly, it’s only in the past year that I’ve started to feel hopeful about the future,” she said.
From her experience, she believes that athletes should have a backup plan.
“I know it can be difficult when you play a sport full-time, but it’s important to have another string to your bow so you have something to fall back on if your career is over.”
‘Who am I? ‘
image source, Rob Young/Switch the Play
Rob Young says he wants to help athletes succeed in sport and life
Switch the Play is the UK’s only charity dedicated to helping athletes adapt to life outside of sport.
Co-founder and CEO Rob Young MBE said loss of identity could be a key factor in people leaving.
“If your identity is tied to being a boxer, and that’s all you’ve ever known and how people have known you, and you take boxers away; People will be faced with the question, “Who am I?”
Switch the Play worked with 1,100 athletes last year and aims to help them succeed in their chosen field of life outside of sport.
“If you think about the way athletes work, they tend to be very disciplined people because they have a very clear plan for what they need to do to do their best.” he says.
“That means replicating that mindset and thinking about planning what to do next, but realizing that you shouldn’t wait until it’s done because it’s almost always too late.”
His advice to athletes still competing is to think about what they can do in their downtime.
“What is your passion?
“If you use this to establish your identity and develop skills, it becomes a positive distraction outside of sports and you can start to lay the foundation for your future.”
He also said the sports world needs to do a better job of encouraging and supporting athletes’ “growth as people.”
“It’s about creating a positive environment that prioritizes mental health, not performance or mental health.
“We can develop athletes who are mentally healthy and can perform on the playing field.”
