Transition time for athletes...
Olympic rowing bronze medallist
Nathan Twaddle has first-hand experience of what it is like to go through the
transition from being an athlete into another career.
In Nathan’s case, he went from
being a rower to being an Athlete Life Advisor -- and lead of the Maximise
Potential Athlete Life (MPAL) Programme - with HPSNZ.
Already in his mid-30s when he retired from his sport, Nathan had been aware for some time of the need to have options for a career after sport, and had put time and effort into expanding his skills and experience. “I worked on building my knowledge and contacts around possible future careers,” he says.
Already in his mid-30s when he retired from his sport, Nathan had been aware for some time of the need to have options for a career after sport, and had put time and effort into expanding his skills and experience. “I worked on building my knowledge and contacts around possible future careers,” he says.
Nathan recently organised a
forum to help those Olympic and Paralympic athletes who returned from London at
a crossroads in their sporting careers.
The forum was for athletes
contemplating another campaign, looking at future opportunities, or considering
retiring from their sport.
So, with that in mind, 17
London Olympian and Paralympians from rowing, athletics, bike, yachting,
Paralympics and swimming spent an afternoon in Auckland to share ideas and hear
about the experiences of others to help them consider their future plans. London Olympian and New Zealand
Men’s Black Sticks player Andy Haywood and three times Olympic rower Scott
Brownlee (Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney), who are on the staff at Fonterra, gave
their perspective on the opportunities and barriers that juggling both a career
and Olympic sport presents. After that session, Scott and
Athens Olympian Chantal Brunner reflected on their transitions out of sport.
While there are challenges in transitioning out of sport, athletes do succeed
in other careers using the skills and experience they have gained as an
athlete.
The forum gave the athletes the
opportunity to discuss ideas and share perspectives with the realisation that
many of their peers face the same challenges and opportunities on a daily
basis. Nathan says a common concern
for the athletes is the ``huge amount of uncertainty in terms of their sport
planning and what might get them up in the morning and excited about life once
they are no longer an Olympian or Paralympian”.
Having that Olympic experience
though does give athletes the confidence to be brave and overcome challenges
when faced with something new. Nathan says that even now, he
tries to apply the same focus with new challenges and ideas he is faced with,
and is happy to not be good at something for a while - as long as that doesn’t
involve a rowing boat! “Working on the process rather
than the outcome seems to be a place to start and a good point to reinforce
with myself,” he says.
At the end of the session, the
athletes went to Team New Zealand’s base in Auckland where Emirates Team New
Zealand grinder and Sydney 2000 Olympic gold medallist Rob Waddell (who went to
three Olympics) gave the athletes the opportunity to look through the base, and
hear about the systems they use, their approach as a team, and he also shared a
few backyard secrets about how they tackle their competition. The visit
was the day after competitors Oracle smashed their only boat, putting their
programme back three months.
“Rob is such a great example of
how that internal drive in the face of adversity is a quality so many athletes
have,” Nathan says. “They can use this skill in other facets of their lives, if
they just apply the same principles and are comfortable with being challenged,”
Nathan says.
Bringing the Olympians and
Paralympians together for a day also allowed Nathan to reflect on his own
transition from being an athlete. Being on the `outside’ of sport is
still not easy for Nathan, even now. “It was hard not to be seen as
‘elite’ anymore and have that change in identity,” he acknowledges. “It is
still an on-going process.” It has been almost two years
since Nathan retired and while rowing is still a large part of who he is, he
has found fulfilment in his current role.
“Life is still incredibly full
and rewarding, with both a young family to keep me busy and a great job with
many interesting projects to keep me engaged,” he says.
“The feedback from
the day was really positive,” said Nathan. “I think the interest is there to
continue holding these forums when competition and training schedules allow.
Ultimately we want to keep delivering information and connections that athletes
value, so that will determine the extent to which we do this but I’m really
encouraged by the effort of those that attended this forum.”