Why should I worry about this now? It's only going to distract me from my goal of being an athlete

You have worked so hard to get to where you are standing now, why would you focus your time on something that is going to take you away from your dream, when you are living your dream right now?

We believe you should play for as long as you can, for as long as your body allows, as long as that’s what you want to do.

It’s crucial to acknowledge these possibilities and have a sense of what you enjoy outside of sport. That way, if the unexpected does happen, the transition can be smoother for you. We also believe that knowing what gives you meaning and purpose away from sport, can bring your life more balance away from the court and make you a better athlete when you’re on the court.

Throughout the course of a season, performances and results can go up and down. If you’re like most of us, then this can result in a constant emotional roller coaster of ups and downs.

Good games make you happy during the week. Bad games make you unhappy during week. It can be very easy to get stuck in a cycle of bad game = bad mood, bad mood = bad training, bad training = bad game and the cycle repeats itself. It then becomes very hard to change that momentum.

Some athletes will sadly deal with these tough times with harmful coping mechanisms like drinking or gambling which long term can cause further struggles in performance and of course terrible ramifications on personal life and well-being.

Having something outside of sport that you are working on, even it’s as small as learning a language or instrument, writing a book, painting pictures, or taking a short course in something you’re curious about like social media marketing, can help bring balance to your life. As you attempt to master a new skill. Even just for an hour a week. This can help free your mind from that “emotional roller coaster” feeling, because all your meaning and purpose does not rely on “just” being an athlete.

That one hour a week, can boost your mood and self-worth because your brain enjoys the feeling of making progress. We can use these personal interests and activities to boost your mood. Good mood = good training. Good training = good game.

It can be especially helpful during injury rehabilitation as during these periods we can almost never rely on sport to boost our mood or self-worth.

Many of the best athletes in the world have side projects and passions they pursue outside of sport on a weekly basis. So if it’s good enough for the best in the world. Then it’s good enough for you too.

We don’t want to talk about the long term too much. You’re enjoying your career now. But some day in the future, when you finish competing. Someone will ask you, what are you interested in?

And that future version of you, will be very grateful that you explored your personal interests throughout your sporting career.