By Decentric - 4 May 2017 8:33 AM
On ABC last night was a programme where it showed established professional sports stars suffering depression after retiring.
Most reading this know how Lucas Neill has publicly disappeared after losing some vast amount of money in poor investments.
A mate of mine has a lost book that has many League One players in England question whether a football career has been worth it, earning a fraction of what EPL players earn.
One tier down from HAL, the NPL offers pretty serious football whilst one can have a simultaneous career. I know tradespeople, doctors and teachers all playing NPL at the highest level below the HAL. I argued the merits on a state based football forum on the advantages of sustaining a career whilst playing football at a pretty high level in the NPL.
Benjamin, a current player agent/scout, has elucidated current Victorian NPL players have refused to accept one year contracts for HAL clubs.
I think South Melbourne's John Lukic is a teacher. In Tasmania this is replicated by Hobart Olympic's Shay Hickey who is also a teacher, but unlike Lukic, to my knowledge has never received a HAL offer. Paul Bremner of Clarence United is also a doctor. I also have kids doing the same who are working professionals but play top tier NPL football.
Brett Emerton is kept busy in retirement by managing a lot of his housing investment properties.
What many sportspeople including swimmers, Stephanie Rice, and another triple Olympian, whose name escapes me and has had a long history off unemployment, an Aboriginal AFL player (who is currently not even playing state league football, but suburban AFL), cricketer Nathan Bracken, basketball great Lauren Jackson, and the great George Best, all state is they they miss the huge crowds, the constant coaching attention, media attention, fan adulation, the moment they retire - often forced by injury.
From so much exercise it creates endorphins that counteract stress. Retirement often transfers to less physical activity.
Also, Cricket Australia and Swimming Australia have done nothing to assist former athletes according to the aforementioned.
What would former HAL regular, Jobe Wheelhouse, feel after being bizarrely sacked from the Jets and perplexingly was never offered another HAL contract? He went straight into the anonymity of NSW NPL football.
There are only a handful of jobs available for media pundits and coaches after players retire. Nathan Bracken is now a labourer in his father in law's asphalting business. A few years ago he was adulated as the number one One Day bowler in world cricket.
Current NPL players would never have this come down as they play in front of smallish crowds and have the ongoing grind of juggling career and football. The moment they retire they are prepared for life after football. Moreover, they have more financial stability than current pro footballers.
Thoughts?
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By JDB03 - 24 May 2017 11:09 AM
+x+x+x+x+xBrett Pullen played just six games for Ad City in the nsl- and nobody knew he was Tasmanian anyway! What club did you support when you were a football mad seven year old in England? My take is that given the difficulties many top sportspeople have with adapting to life as soon as their pro sport career finishes, in the case of football it may be better to play NPL, simultaneously forging a career outside it. So are you suggesting we should tell a kid to give up his dream of playing at the highest level and play npl in case they might suffer depression when they retire? Just to add to this, why couldn't a pro footballer start to set up his life after football by completing courses in their preferred carrier path? Building course, trades course, I.T course and so on. I think its up to the individual as to how life after football may affect them. I think to link all of the people you have with struggles is fair but im sure that there are a lot of ex footballers that are also doing ok. Pretty sure this is a requirement of players in the NRL under 20s.
I would think that its a standard practice for most pro clubs. I know MC have a careers person for this exact reason. Players can forward plan there after life.
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