What’s the point in getting an education when you’re a huge talent in sports? Most of young athletes don’t find it very interesting to focus on school when they see their future only on a soccer field. I have to say that doing both (soccer and school) is tough when you start to practice on a very serious level. When you’re 16 years old and have 2 sessions per day, it’s not easy coming home in the evening and open a book to study. It’s even tougher when everybody’s telling you how good you are and what a huge career is in front of you. 90% of youngsters loose the motivation about getting an education when they see that they might not need it…right now.
But you’ll need it, sooner or later. That’s why I will present you 3 good reasons to get one along your career in soccer:
- Education will secure your future:
A career in professional sport is short. Let’s say you have 10 to 15 years where you earn good money. Usually, when you’re good and have a big salary, you don’t worry much about the future. You have big expenses, high quality lifestyle. But, time will come when the money will stop coming in when, in the meantime, your expenses won’t drop down. So, while you’re playing, THINK ABOUT YOUR FUTURE. You have two ways of doing it. Either you get a diploma in the beginning of your career, or you focus on your game and start a fresh education some years before your sporting career ends. In both cases, you will have at the end a qualification and the abilities to be successful even after you stop playing at the pro level. Be aware of something: the real world is scary. While you’re playing for a pro team, you’re in a cocoon. Everything is taken care of for you. After that, you will be left alone and you will need new solutions. My advice is to stay in sports, because it’s a world of which you know the rules. But even for that, you need an education. You want to be a coach, you need a licence. You want to be an agent, you need a licence. You want to be a director, you need a degree. So take care of those things soon enough, do not be lazy. Here are two scary facts that will make you think about the things we said:
(source:Sports Illustrated)
- By the time they have been retired for two years, 78% of former NFL players have gone bankrupt or are under financial stress because of joblessness or divorce.
- Within five years of retirement, an estimated 60% of former NBA players are broke
- Education will give you autonomy:
Getting an education will make you smart. It will give you general knowledge and you will be able to understand the world a little bit easier. Having the brains to analyze a situation and make a decision is definitely an advantage in life. I believe nobody wants to be a grown up child always asking others to help them make decisions. Being intelligent gives you freedom, helps you behave in public and allows you to manage your life as you think it’s best for you. In a world where you will have thousands of people telling you what to do, it’s good to be smart enough to decide on your own. You won’t be the hostage of agents, lawyers, directors or coaches…so you won’t have the risk of somebody taking advantage of you.
- Education will give you discipline:
Sit at your desk with open books and work for 2 hours even when you don’t want to, does it sound familiar? Yes, it’s like going to practice at 9 am and spend 2 hours training when your motivation is low. Jesse Owens said We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort. It is clear that without the ability to overcome a lack of motivation and submit yourself to hard work even when you are tired. Things you learn at school help you get that discipline and give you the ability to build a plan and follow it seriously.
Online education is a great solution for professional athletes. You can get more informations on online degrees all over the internet. Here for example:
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