When it comes to sport participation, most athletes overlook (or devalue) the life skills they learn while competing. This is not surprising, especially when you consider how regularly athletes (of all ages and skill level) are expected to do things like communicate, set goals, learn time management, and rebound from adversity — over time, these behaviors become normal. For most athletes, they do not immediately see the connection between developing the confidence to run a play on the field, and using that same confidence to stand in front of a class and deliver a presentation. In fact, quite often the skills learned in sports tend to become compartmentalized and tied only to sports, that is until a coach or parent directly points out the great utility of athletic transferable skills. To be clear, athletes are not lacking intelligence when they do not make the connection how athletic skills can be transferred from sport to life, but they instead take these skills for granted (because they do them every day), and/or falsely assume that all people learn the same skills, even if they never played sports. The good news? When athletes do begin to identify and use athletic transferable skills, they enjoy better mental health, greater self-confidence, and increased chances for future life success.
Athletic transferable skills
When kids sign up to play sports, they immediately begin learning skills around communication, team building, focus, setting goals, and overcoming adversity. In fact, kids learn countless skills playing sports, and they learn these skills often without even knowing it! Sports require discipline, attention, focus, and resiliency, and these skills are not limited to your child’s soccer or baseball team. While these skills are learned in sports, they apply to nearly all life situations. In fact, simply learning the responsibility of being ready and on time for practice is a mindset and approach that can be used for school — a connection few kids tend to make.
Listed below are some of the more common life skills kids learn in sports that have application well beyond sports:
- Goal setting
- Communication skills
- Conflict resolution skills
- Resiliency
- Focus
- Leadership
- Time management
- Decision-making
- Balancing sports with school
- + countless more!
Just think if an applicant for a job came in to interview with you, and as she talks about why she thinks she is the best for the job she rattles off a list of athletic transferable skills similar to the list above? What would you think of a candidate possessing all of those skills?! Ironically, while many athletes feel behind their non-athlete counterparts when it comes to career development, a strong argument can be made that they are actually ahead of non-athletes when you think about all the athletic transferable skills athletes have developed that are invaluable to employers.
An extra bonus…
Interestingly, as athletes transition through sport retirement they are often left struggling with self confidence, as well as redefining their personal identity outside of sports. For psychologists and other helping professionals, using athletic transferable skills as a therapeutic approach to helping athletes gain confidence and improve their career profile can be incredibly helpful. As athletes learn that they really do possess an entire inventory of important life skills, they feel better prepared to retire from sports, and more confident that they can be just as successful after sports as they were when they competed.
Final thoughts
Sports can teach us a lot about what it takes to be successful in life, but only if we identify and apply athletic transferable skills toward school, career, and life challenges. Life success, just like sport success, requires that we learn how to focus, regulate our emotions, set goals for future success, and develop resiliency for when things do not go our way. This message is important for kids to hear, especially as they near sport retirement and are not aware of the value of the skills they have learned through sports.
drstankovich.com
