Time for athletes to plan for life after retirement is now
Kenya's Faith Kipyegon (left) poses for a photo with National Olympic Committtee of Kenya (NOC-K) President Paul Tergat after breaking the World record in the women's 5000m event during the IAAF Diamond League "Meeting de Paris" athletics meeting at the Charlety Stadium in Paris on June 9, 2023.
What you need to know:
- Just like every good thing in life, sports careers must come to an end
- Sports can sometimes be very cruel because retirement is always one injury away
- Since sports has an emotional connection, the fall of sports people is normally and unfortunately more pronounced and attracts an equal measure of media coverage
Early last year I had the pleasure of travelling with Dr. Paul Tergat to one of the Nike shops in the Southern part of France.
Business came to a standstill. The shop stewards in their beautiful Nike outfits swamped him for photos.
One of the stewards placed a video call to the parents so that they could say hello. I still recall how emotional that call was. The daughter later explained Tergat was one of her dad’s idols.
Tergat stopped competitive running over 10 years ago. How has he maintained appearances and fame that grows by the day?
Excellent career transition is the key.
A successful sports career has all the fine things of life associated with it. Fame is perhaps the biggest plus recognition which translates to special treatment everywhere.
In Kenya, for some reason, our sports people are not VIPs. We have chosen to give that honour to another class in our society. However, beyond our borders our sports people are greatly celebrated, honoured and treated like stars. I believe they have earned and deserve this treatment.
Just like every good thing in life, sports careers must come to an end. Sports can sometimes be very cruel because retirement is always one injury away. In certain sports, the retirement age is in the early 20s when in most other careers this is the starting point.
With this in mind, preparation for retirement must start immediately one begins their career. The fame, money, fun and influence can easily diminish or fade off. Since sports has an emotional connection, the fall of sports people is normally and unfortunately more pronounced and attracts an equal measure of media coverage.
While retirement plans should be for all careers, there is special interest for sports people.
The National Olympic Committee of Kenya this week continued with the education of active sports people on their career transition. The workshop was conducted under the auspices of the NOC-K Athletes Commission which is led by Humphrey Kayange, another Kenyan legend who has also transitioned from active playing very well.
The athletes were drawn from across NOC-K affiliates. Kady Kanoute facilitated the second day in which she took the athletes through aspects of personal branding, finance management and career planning amongst other critical topics. She is an Olympian and former professional Basketball player. This programme demonstrates how successful athletes can mentor and educate other athletes.
There is a strong emphasis on dual careers where athletes are encouraged to pursue education or develop skills which can benefit them. It was also a forum for top athletes in Kenya to share their experiences and expectations from administrators of sports.
Their expectations are something we as Sports Administrators strive to meet because we are here to serve them.
While at it, we are blessed to live in a generation in which a Kenyan broke two world records within a week. Congratulations Faith Kipyegon and your excellent technical team led by our own Patrick Sang!
Mutuku is the Secretary General at the National Olympic Committee of Kenya.
