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psychology services made compulsory, just as strength, conditioning and
nutrition are integral parts of a training program.
Professor David Lavallee of the University of Stirling, studies the
transitions Olympic and Paralympic athletes make to other careers
after they retire from their sport. He hopes this will help young
athletes develop a wide range of skills and plan for their future.
The duty of care of athletes is not a new concept and certainly not
as far as UK Sport and its subsidiary the English Institute of Sport
(EIS) is concerned with it being a key focus of their work for some time.
Investment and focus in this area has never been higher and after
the Rio Games, UK Sport, the EIS working with the NOC and
NPC delivered a career and development event for all their athletes,
appropriately named
Athlete Futures
. Athlete Futures uniquely brought
together athletes at different stages of their journey with employers,
training providers and skills developers to provide meaningful
opportunities and practical advice and support to consider what
their futures could potentially be. So successful was this event for
employers and athletes this will become a permanent fixture
in the elite calendar with more services coming on stream.
An Athlete Futures Alumni is the next goal to connect
and reconnect this unique group to create a virtuous
connection with the past and the future - a system that
continuously learns, uses the experiences of those that
have gone before them to mentor and inspire the
new generations of talent coming through.The
world of elite sport is tough, it will always be
so but with the right culture and the right
system of support it can be one of the
most rewarding experiences that an
individual can ever aspire to be a
member of.
UK Sport is showing
the way to make athletes
realise they have a
valuable contribution
to make both during
and after their careers
have finished. Let’s
hope that other sports
organisations also
recognise that they
have a duty of care to
their athletes to help
them cope with life after
competition.