We all know sports is good for us. We know it acts as a vehicle for life skills, gives us an opportunity to participate, be the best we can be and helps us develop resiliency during our training and in competition. But what you might not know is that former student-athletes are also stronger and more consistent, in areas of well-being outside of sports than non-student-athletes.
A national Gallup-Purdue Index study of nearly 30,000 US college graduates showed that former student-athletes are more likely to be thriving in four out of five areas of well-being that Gallup measures including purpose, financial, social, community and physical well-being.
At Athlete Assessments we know that sport is played by people, coached by people and managed by people, so it is imperative to get the people side right. And we believe this could have a lot to do with why former student-athletes are better off in many areas of their post sport life.
We talk a lot about building a great team culture and that if you have the “right” culture within your sporting team, you are more likely to achieve sustainable success. Developing this culture is about imparting your values as a Coach, such as loyalty, team work and effort, onto your athletes.
Being involved in sports at a College level means you are part of a team culture, you are surrounded by these values and this would undoubtedly continue through to your everyday life outside of sport.
The Statistics on Former Student-Athletes
Gallup determined that 51% of former student-athletes with consistent community and social well-being have the “support of strong social networks and are true members of the communities in which they live”. This scenario is comparable to the networks and values of a team environment in sport. When you are surrounded by people who share your goals and your values, you are able to thrive and achieve success.
41% of former student-athletes thrived in their physical well-being, which was defined as having “physical health that is near-perfect and feeling active and productive every day of the week”.
When you are active in College, you learn valuable lessons in discipline and training that becomes part of your lifestyle.
Purpose well-being, when a person “likes what they do each day and are motivated to achieve their goals” was also high with 56% of former student-athletes thriving in this element. Once again, we can relate this back to sport and the dedication or motivation exhibited by athletes during training and competition.
So what we can see here is that research has proven sports not only benefits an athlete during their prime, it also assists former student-athletes in their post sporting lives.
The values, disciplines and skills you learn through sport and through being part of a team, continue to be of worth to you throughout your life.
At Athlete Assessments, we’re here to provide you with excellence in service and to help you be your best. If there is anything we can assist you with, please Contact Us.
