How To Build Your Identity Outside of Soccer

May 23, 2023
By Holly McGrath

We recently talked about how to transition to life after college soccer. An athlete’s identity is rooted in their ability to compete, perform, and operate in a team environment. Unfortunately, there are limited resources for helping athletes transition to life after sport. That’s why it’s so important to explore what sports identity is, along with ideas on how to build your identity outside of soccer.

Kristin Cannon, athletic director and NCAA coach, weighed in, ”Some colleges and the NCAA have workshops now to address these topics, but it doesn’t seem too widespread. We need to support our student-athletes not only while they compete for our institutions but help prepare them for a change in their identity. Sports identity is a real thing. It’s part of social identity theory. Sport identity highlights the importance of sport in validating and strengthening identity.”

There are essential questions Kristin highlights to her athletes. Unless you play professionally, your athletic career is over. Who are you now? What will fill you up as much as when you were playing? More importantly, how do you deal with losing a large piece of your identity? Let’s take a more in-depth look at the actionable aspects of rebuilding your identity after soccer.

How To Rebuild Your Identity

Make yourself a priority. Take time alone to reflect. Start to learn what a balanced life looks like now that you aren’t consumed by college soccer. What are your strengths? Weaknesses? Likes? Dislikes? What does your ideal life look like? This means looking at your nutrition, exercise, sleep, alcohol consumption, and more. Evaluate where you tend to lean into excess consumption and learn how to scale back to find balance.
Take care of your mental health. Consider talking to a therapist to help you talk through and process your life transitions.
Learning how to cope as an individual vs. having team support. Transitioning from a team-related commitment to an individual wellness commitment can be challenging, resulting in self-neglect due to lower self-motivation levels. Leaning into why you should take care of yourself and what health looks like on a personal level is important.
Travel. Take some time to travel and learn who you are. Learn how to enjoy yourself.
Find the same team atmosphere. A supportive, competitive, fun, strong leadership, “everyone rowing in the same direction” type of vibe – in the real world. Is it through volunteering for a cause bigger than yourself? Search for a job that has an ideal team atmosphere. Try pick-up soccer leagues. It may take a little trial and error.
Try new outlets. Paint nights. Journaling. Photography. Dance classes. Aerial yoga. Adult education classes. Weight lifting. Fitness classes. You never know what new passions you will discover now that you have time to explore.
Connect to your community. Social media and the town you live in are full of communities you can connect with after soccer. Is there a church nearby that has a young adults group? Join your town’s community and continue your love for soccer by coaching at the rec or high school level. Choose to live in a physically active community. See how other athletes have made a difference in their communities.

Sports as a Profession

You don’t have to say goodbye to athletics forever. “Even if you aren’t a professional athlete, you can still make athletics your profession,” said Cannon. “You have spent your whole life being involved with sport. You are an expert in some way. You can coach or be an athletics administrator. You can work in youth, high school, college, or professional sports; for national and international governing bodies. These industries need people in marketing, PR, advertising, law, social media, sports science, analytics, operations, finance, psychology….” she continues.

The options are endless. It’s up to you to get out there to try new things, take time to reflect, and study who you are. Recreating a new identity outside of sport is exciting. Soccer will always be a part of you. Now, you get the chance to create the next season of your life. What makes you…YOU?

Featured Image via Adobe Stock @Rawpixel.com