I hit a nerve a few weeks ago when I sent out my weekly reader. All of my players and athletes get a weekly reader from me. Each week I search for articles of importance that are relevant to training and excellence. This article pertained to life after your competing career is over. Sadly, that is a difficult thing for many people. It is hard to leave the stage when you become a backup performer as opposed to the star performer! The article gave tips about preparing for life after competition. It asked this question and I will relate it to racquetball.
“Are you a racquetball player or are your a person who plays racquetball?”
That has a lot to do with your life after competition. If you are a racquetball player you may have identity problems. Who are you? What is your strength? What do you love to do? Here is an exercise I used to do with my 8th graders when I worked in public education.
What part of a newspaper would you read first? (Me Sports)
Where would you rather live than where you are now? (Me-nowhere! I like ‘Zona)
What do people tell you that you are good at besides racquetball?
In those beginning questions might be your career after sports. For me it went from sports to teaching and coaching in sports. Every person is different and of course we all try to avoid being stuck in a job we hate. Luckily, I have not had that happen since summer jobs when I went to college.
Are you a racquetball player or someone who plays racquetball?