I’m fortunate to have had a long and successful professional rugby career. Of those lucky enough to have a professional sporting career, the majority will not choose how or when to end their career, and 90 per cent will need to begin a second career to ensure financial stability.
The mental struggles players go through during their departure from top-flight sport, I know only too well. This is backed up by a growing amount of empirical evidence (plus countless anecdotes of those who don’t want to come forward), of the negative impacts of transition, where effective support has not been in place.
This is an issue that affects a lot of people, and with the current government Duty of Care Review underway, the pressure is mounting for clubs and teams to step up and take this issue seriously.
Switch The Play works across all sports with organisations, practitioners, and athletes to put in place plans to help prepare for and manage effective transition.
The work we do raises a few common questions. Do organisations understand what good practice looks like? Is there clarity about where the duty of care both begins and ends?
There are important considerations for sporting organisations in terms of both helping athletes to better prepare for transition, and also coming through the other side of the change curve.
We are looking to work in partnership with all organisations with a duty of care in sport, and we are eager to raise awareness, share our collective experience, and drive a unified response to this vital agenda.