When the stadium goes
Professional sports bodies are channeling more resources into preserving retiring athletes’ mental health. Katarina Williams reports.
LIFE as a professional athlete was both a blessing and a curse for Sione Faumuina.
The league star was just 18 when he debuted in the NRL, considered by many to be the toughest sporting competition in the world.
Well-publicised bouts with alcoholism, a relationship breakup with Temepara George, and several torn up contracts later, Faumuina found himself on the sporting scrapheap in his early 30s.
Despite amassing more than $1.5 million during his career, Faumuina was jobless, had no qualifications, barely a cent to his name and was forced to move in with his mother.
He is among one in two professional sport players that ends up being thrust into retirement unexpectedly. And just like Faumuina, most former players struggle to cope with life after the fame and fortune.
Mental health and financial problems are some of the lifealtering challenges former athletes such as Faumuina have to face.
However, professional sporting bodies are now taking proactive steps to support elite athletes’ transition into retirement, recognising they have a duty of care to provide especially mental health support.
The complex issue is being widely debated following the death of Wallabies’ player, Dan Vickerman.
While many expressed shock at the South African-born, Wallabies enforcer’s sudden death, those close to the 37-yearold claim he struggled to adapt to life away from the stadium.
In Faumuina’s case, there were signs early on in his career that he was battling powerful innerdemons.
Club-ordered counselling and Alcoholics’ Anonymous meetings had little impact. Even hitting a child with his car while driving to training drunk was not enough to scare him straight.
Once his chequered career wound down to a whimper, Faumuina – who had no plans in place for life after league – reached rock bottom.
‘‘Players weren’t worrying about tomorrow. A lot of players live in the moment, then they reach retirement and it’s like the rollercoaster’s finished and it’s time to get off,’’ Faumuina said.
Faumuina’s battle with the bottle only worsened while he was in a deep depression.
‘‘I struggled to find something that gave me the same rush as sport. Having gone from sport to retirement – it was like I had been planted back to being 18 again.’’
Often relegated to the bottom rung of the job ladder, forced to cope without team camaraderie and daily structure, while missing the perks elite athletes typically enjoy can be an ordeal for many navigating retirement.
‘‘After spending 15 to 20 years building up a barrier... it’s almost a sign of weakness to admit you’re struggling, because when you’re struggling, you’re giving the coach a reason to drop you,’’ said New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association chief executive, Heath Mills.
‘‘It’s much harder for people in sport to speak up, because that’s not what they’re wired to do.’’
Mills has seen a recent spike in requests for help from former players – some experiencing difficulty in establishing new identities outside of sport.
‘‘I have seen athletes who have double degrees, had good work experience, [were] very successful at sport and still struggle in career transition. It isn’t just doing the work to prepare for [retirement], it’s the mental health aspect, those feelings of loss of self-esteem and no self-worth.
‘‘You’ve got to remember these aren’t under-performing people... because to be successful at the elite-end of sport, you have to perform. There’s no 90-day trial. If you don’t front up and do the job, you don’t get paid.
‘‘For years, they’ve got all their self-esteem from sport and suddenly, that’s gone,’’ Mills added.
New Zealand Rugby Players’ Association chief executive Rob Nichol said one in two players will be thrust into retirement - either due to injury, non-selection or not being contracted.
Around 85 percent of players will go from commanding more than $200,000 a year to earning less than $60,000. Their research shows players were also likely to be unemployed for up to six months within their first two years of retirement.
In response, both cricket and rugby have set up professional development programmes aimed at preparing players for life after sport by providing financial training, education, career guidance and mental wellbeing support.
‘‘They’re all funded by the players and their sole role is to work with players on their personal and holistic development,’’ Nichol explained. ‘‘Being a rugby player is not what you are, it’s ultimately just what you do. We need to get that message through really strongly.’’
Among rugby’s professional development managers is former Phoenix footballer, Ben Sigmund – one of two managers based at Wellington Rugby.
After spending 15 to 20 years building up a barrier... it’s almost a sign of weakness to admit you’re struggling, because when you’re struggling, you’re giving the coach a reason to drop you.’ HEATH MILLS