If nothing else, COVID-19 is forcing many of us to reflect on life and life choices. As an elite athlete and sports professional, I would like to join my voice to those of my colleagues to share my views with those athletes who are contemplating a professional life post-COVID-19. My reflections may also help those who are already professionals but are uncertain about the impact of this new reality on their future.
If you are a track and field athlete who is not yet a professional but considering the option of going professional when the opportunity presents itself, this is the time to look at where you are on the journey and to identify whether you are ready to become a professional. What drives you to want to be a pro athlete? Are you driven by the sound of the voices giving you information about your earning power? The sound of your family indicating how it would be helpful for them and for you? Do you understand what it means to be a professional? If you think you do, did you get your knowledge from enthusiastic friends and coaches who believe it is the best thing for you as you are better than the rest, or will soon be? Do you understand the mental capacity and resilience needed at the professional level? Do you understand the change your life’s direction will take as you enter the professional phase?
In addition to your answers to the questions above, your answers to the following five critical questions would help you in assessing your preparedness for the professional world:
* Will my earnings cover my tertiary tuition and college living expenses, if I decide to continue my studies?
* How much will I have to pay my coach and for how long?
* How much will I have to pay a manager and for how long?
* Can my coach double as my manager?
* How much will I have to pay my medical personnel (massage and physiotherapists)?
If you choose the alternative of doing your tertiary level studies via scholarship, some of the above costs would be absorbed in your scholarship offer. In making the choice to go pro early (even if you are a ‘big star’), the paradigm will shift and, as such, working through these questions with an experienced pro athlete in your field of sport is critical to beginning your professional journey.
There are other financial obligations with which you would be faced as a young professional. The answers to the next five questions will prepare you to determine the value of your proposed contract and, invariably, how your brand as an upcoming “star athlete” would be impacted:
* Will my contract cover the cost of paying my coach, my manager and my medical personnel?
* What will my contract dollar value need to be to cover my basic cost of living?
* Have I identified how much I want to/need to save (profit) each year?
* Am I aware of what taxes I will be paying on all fees/monies earned?
* Do I understand the language of the scouts/managers?
If you have already taken the step and agreed with those supporting you that you will be earning enough money, you can decline the scholarship and go pro. Once you have declined the scholarship offer to go pro, here are the next five questions you need to address:
* What is the cost of tuition for 4-5 years for your first degree?
* Has this been considered in your professional contract?
* If you choose not to further your studies, will your contract cover your medical expenses, or the medical insurance needed annually?
* Is your contract strong enough to cover or assist with the cost of legal advice needed for transactions and possible payments on long term fixed assets?
* How much leverage/input can or will you have on the final decision on the contract?
* If you are the primary income source for your family, do you understand what that means or have you defined what you need it to mean, and the costs associated with it?
If you have taken the above questions into considerations, you would come to understand that you are joining the world of entrepreneurship. As such, you would need to expand your scope of understanding by drafting a proposal that speaks to the answers to the questions above. You do not have to do this on your own. It is best for you to acquire the information by assessing and evaluating various basic business plans to prepare you to be part of the conversation with your representatives (coach, manager and agent). That way, when you finally sign your contract, it will be from a fully informed position, as you seek to be the best within your sport.
Grace Jackson is on the staff of the St Augustine Academy of Sport and can be reached at Grace.Jackson@sta.uwi.edu
