After 20 Years, I Finally Understood.
Before getting to my larger revelation (I know… cliff-hanger moment here), I think some added context would be helpful. Two passions have been a driving force throughout my life. First is my passion for sports, and second is understanding psychology and human behavior. I like to tell people that ESPN’s 30 for 30 and E60 are my happy places, where they bring together sports and human-interest stories from all facets of the sporting world. They cover not only what happens during the competition but also the human aspects behind every great athlete, team, and championship.
As a former competitive athlete myself, I grew up in a generation where we played multiple sports at a youth level. I participated in various sports but eventually chose soccer as my primary sport and went on to play in college. After graduating, I pursued a career in marketing. While I didn’t make the connection early on in my career, the choice was more closely linked to my passions than I thought. Marketing is all about understanding and influencing human behavior. In addition, I’ve spent a majority of my career in the sports marketing space helping activate marketing campaigns for some of the world’s largest brands, leagues, and athletes. So, marrying those two passion points has been a significant part of my professional life.
During the early stages of the pandemic, l took a great deal of time self-reflecting and thinking about my future path and how these passions can play a role. Then one night, I came across a white paper research document from a sports journal. It was all about the challenges that competitive athletes face when they retire from sport. My first reaction was I cannot believe this. What I was reading was describing exactly the challenges I faced when I stopped playing after college: feeling a loss of identity no longer having my sport, missing the team camaraderie, and finding it hard to establish new workout and health routines outside of the structure I was so accustomed to for so long. After 20 years, I finally understood what I went through. I cannot possibly describe what a powerful and (dare I say) life-changing moment this was for me. It brought a clarity to my experiences and almost some closure for me, even after all those years.
Now, the irony is that this specific research was conducted in the late ’90s, right when I was in the heart of my collegiate experience. What I’ve come to learn is that in the early years of studying athlete transitions in life after sport, much of it lived in scientific journals coming from an academic-oriented place. It took years for the theory to translate into practice. All this is to say that when I was going through my retirement transition, there was very little out there. And in the years following, I never really looked for any support resources. Similar to many former athletes, I moved on with life and navigated this transition primarily on my own.
What happened next? I got a fire ignited in me and became curious. You can do an internet search and find many articles, books, podcasts and even online courses around this topic. But why after all these years have none of these support resources truly scaled to make the greatest impact? This is despite some very smart and dedicated people who have been on this mission to help athletes with this transition for years—long before I started my own journey. The question I kept coming back to was not about the past but about the future. Is the approach we’ve been taking for so long the right one moving forward for the next generation of athletes? Are we reaching them and speaking to them in a way that resonates?
This led me on a path to a year of discovery discussions with former colleagues in the sports marketing world; college athletic administrators; former collegiate, high school, and pro athletes; and sports psychologists. Some of these individuals have expertise in this space and have even created some of the existing support retirement resources for athletes. And the themes that emerged were an acknowledgment that this can be a highly challenging time for transitioning athletes—an acknowledgment that we could be doing more to help. And the elephant in the room is that athletes are simply not as high of a priority when they retire from the sport.
After getting as much background information as I could, I decided to conduct more interviews with athletes. Once again, all the same research I had read was only validated. I heard story after story from athletes about the genuine challenges they were facing: loss of purpose, anxiety, and difficulty establishing new fitness and health routines, among others. But this time, I got to experience it versus read about it, which was incredibly powerful. What came through was also this underlying feeling of being alone and left behind . . . and there was a vulnerability in athletes speaking that truth.
I have to admit that going into these interviews, I had all sorts of ideas about what athletes need and how to better the existing resources, and I was hoping to get validation on those. However, one simple question turned out to be the most insightful: “What support would be most helpful for you?” I heard the desire for community almost unanimously—a way to connect with other athletes going through the same experience.
After spending over a year researching this topic, I knew I wouldn’t be the first to form a community for former athletes. That box has been checked many times. What might be different? But what compelled me was a larger idea about athletes being the solution. At the time, two examples were happening in the real world that were so inspirational to see. The first was how pro athletes across all the major sports leagues have come together to navigate the complexities of the COVID-19 pandemic. The second was the bravery and tenacity of the US women’s national soccer team and their quest for equal pay. I’m sure if we look back, there are countless other examples of this in history. The point is that there is power and impact in athletes coming together.
This led me to think, “What if we approach this challenge from a different perspective?” Rather than a top-down support system where athletes heavily rely on others, we could reverse it into a bottom-up: where athletes and extended networks of athletes are at the center of solving this long-standing challenge, where we focus on unity in the word community, where athletes unite toward a bigger purpose, where we focus on the idea that we are creating a future in which no athlete will ever feel left behind, and where we build a greater movement for those who are part of this community. And that’s how United After Sport was born.
What drives me is knowing that unless we challenge the status quo, things will not change. Small levels of progress will not lead to the breakthrough required to make an impact. I’m also inspired by the fact that anytime we seek change, there is uncertainty. But there can be beauty, freedom, and bravery in uncertainty. And maybe—just maybe—the answer is in this athlete collective to create meaningful change. If I were to place my bet on any group to succeed, then it would be this one. Our hope is that you believe like we believe. Come stand united with us.
Kyle Cleary
Founder, United After Sport