This curriculum is proposed as a means to help college athletes prepare to make the transition from being an athlete with a performance purpose to being an athlete with a health-and-wellness purpose upon retirement.
This curriculum is not intended to provide a specific plan to help each individual athlete, in each sport at each institution.
This curriculum is intended (i) to emphasize to the individual athlete that they will — at some point — have to transition from their sport, whether it is a career ended by injury, graduation or simple retirement, and the importance of planning for the future before the beginning of “normal” life; (ii) to provide the individual athlete with a basic understanding of the foundations of their health and well-being in three different areas ( “pillars”): physical health, mental health and personal identity, and the interplay between them; (iii) to provide to the individual athlete a framework to research and discover on their own the various solutions and methods that may work best for them individually to ensure their health in those three areas after they retire; and (iv) to engage the individual athlete to begin thinking and taking steps toward the transition while they are in their performance period.
meet the experts
Identified Experts To Build Curriculum
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becky clark, phd
Dr. Becky Clark is a licensed clinical social worker/psychotherapist, mental skills coach, sport diplomat, and mentor with a private practice in New York City. She has consulted with Olympians, Paralympians, and Deaflympians, college, youth and recreational athletes throughout her career. As a therapist, she specializes in working with athletes with and without disabilities.
Dr. Clark earned her PhD in Kinesiology with a specialty in Sport and Exercise Psychology at Temple University and MSW in Clinical Social Work from New York University. Dr. Clark is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC) and Fellow of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology and listed in the United States Olympic Sport Psychology Registry.
Dr. Clark is a former college basketball player for Pat Summitt and the TN Lady Vols, 3x Deaflympian (1 gold and 2 silver medals) for the USA Deaf Women’s Volleyball Team, competed in the 1991 U.S. Olympic Festival and has ran 7 marathons. She was a torchbearer for the 2002 Winter Olympics Torchbearer Relay Team.
kate ziegler, mba & Olympian
Ask a World Champion or Olympian what it felt like to win gold and you’ll likely hear “Amazing!Most incredible experience ever! So proud!” Most are lying. The truth is most felt relief - a release of all the pent up fear and self-imposed pressure of letting themselves and others down. How do I know? Because I lived it.
I shut down emotions and turned up the grit. I lived through burnout and brokenness. I suffered from mental and emotional health issues that I felt too ashamed and afraid to share. This is why I’m on a mission to help other athletes and performers avoid the same pitfalls and pains.
leslie fisher, phd
The overall goal of Dr. Fisher’s research is to increase athlete empowerment and coach/sport psychology professional awareness through the development of culturally sensitive and socially just projects informed by:
* Feminist Sport Psychology
* Cultural Sport Psychology
* Critical Consciousness
* Intersectional Theory
* Poststructural Theory
lars dzikus, phd
Undergraduate Exercise Science Universität Hamburg, GermanyMA Cultural Studies in Sport The Ohio State University (1998)PhD Cultural Studies in Sport The Ohio State University (2005)
Dzikus is a member of the North American Society for Sport History (NASSH) and the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport (NASSS). He has published in Sportwissenschaft, Journal of Sport and Social Issues, and The Sport Psychologist, among others. Dzikus serves as the department’s Director of Graduate Studies. He has received the Chancellor’s Excellence in Teaching Award (2018), the department’s George F. Brady Teaching Award (2012), and received the K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award from the American Association for Higher Education (2005). Dzikus has assisted German professional soccer teams visiting the United States as a translator and liaison.
James H. Bemiller, JD
After ten years of private practice primarily in insurance defense law, Jim joined the faculty in 2005 to teach legal aspects of sport. He has served as a regular reviewer for the Journal of Legal Aspects of Sport and conference abstract reviewer for the Sport and Recreation Law Association.
Jim has an extensive coaching background. He has coached Olympic, World, and NCAA champions in the pole vault and is author of the chapter on the pole vault in the USA Track and Field Coaching Manual. He is invited regularly to present on coaching theory, most recently at the prestigious German Sport University in Cologne (2018). He is a member of NASSM, SRLA, and the Knoxville Bar Association. He also serves on the advisory committee for the National Pole Vault Summit.
curriculum
Thrive after sports
MENTAL HEALTH
You Are Not Alone
"I had two or three months . . . that I really struggled. I didn’t get out of bed. I didn’t answer mates’ phone calls, I was eating terribly, drinking heavily. A tough time. And look, I didn’t know at that stage it was a form of depression.”
Barry Hall, Soccer Player
physical health
Stay Fit and Motivated
“[W]hen you are training 35 hours a week you can eat a lot. When you’re not training 35 hours a week, I could eat like I was training at that Olympic level. I put on a lot of weight, had no routine, stopped all forms of exercise.”
Libby Trickett, Olympic Swimmer
identity
Expanding and Embracing, Not Erasing Your Identity
"…like I was put out to pasture, literally. It was like, I’d been on of [her coaches‘] greatest resources and athletes and all of a sudden it was over. You don’t hear from them…"
Lauren Jackson, Basketball Player
DR. SARAH HILLYER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE,
CENTER FOR SPORT PEACE AND SOCIETY
UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE,
CENTER FOR SPORT PEACE AND SOCIETY
who we are
CSPS helps global leaders develop innovative solutions to socio-political challenges using sport.
We work to create a more peaceful, equitable, and inclusive world.Through its work as implementing partner of the U.S. Department of State Global Sports Mentoring Program, the center has worked with international sports leaders and U.S. mentors on five-week exchanges, where the leaders develop Action Plans for sport-based social change in their communities.
These plans have contributed to the creation of national sports leagues and federations for women and people with disabilities and impacted legislation to make countries more inclusive and accessible.