After the season : a career and life planning counseling program for former collegiate athletes

Many student athletes dream of competing professionally in their sport of choice. This dream turns into real occupational goals for many athletes. Unfortunately, the vast majority of student athletes will not achieve these goals and must forgo them. Many student athletes foreclose on an athletic identity without exploring other identities, which affects their personality development, their career goals and academic participation. With a foreclosed athletic identity, many are not ready to function in a non-athletic world. They must change their personality, identity and career goals without the same support structure enjoyed as an athlete. There appears to be a need to assist these former athletes in preparing them for life after athletics. This project looks at the causes and effects of the foreclosed athletic occupational identity and offers a counseling program contained in Chapter 3 designed to assist the former athlete in developing a new identity and new career goals.