What opportunities are you creating for your athletes beyond their sport?

Only a small percentage of athletes will go on to compete professionally. That means coaches, athletic administrators, and player development professionals have a responsibility to help athletes prepare for opportunities that extend beyond competition.

In this episode, Edward Jones II continues breaking down the BEYOND Player Development Framework with the "O," which stands for Opportunities.

Drawing from his experiences at the University of Houston, the University of Kansas, Baylor University, and Beyond The Field, Edward shares practical ways programs can connect athletes with careers, mentors, alumni, entrepreneurs, internships, job-shadowing experiences, and professional networks.

This episode focuses on four important questions:

• What opportunities already exist within your program or institution?

• What opportunities can you intentionally create for your athletes?

• What opportunities are your athletes asking for or interested in?

• How are you connecting athletes to careers, mentors, and networks?

Edward shares several real examples of creating opportunities, including reaching out to university alumni networks, using LinkedIn to connect an athlete with an experienced corporate HR professional, developing professional LinkedIn headshots for players, attending career fairs on behalf of athletes, and connecting a student-athlete interested in entrepreneurship with successful business owners.

One of the biggest lessons is simple:

You do not always need to create something new.

Sometimes the career fair already exists.

The alumni network already exists.

The mentor already exists.

The business community already exists.

The opportunity already exists.

Your job is to build the bridge between the athlete and the opportunity.

Programs should also listen to what athletes are actually asking for. Instead of deciding every opportunity for them, learn about their interests and use your network to help them explore those interests.

The logo on your chest can open doors.

Your alumni can open doors.

LinkedIn can open doors.

Your community can open doors.

Your job in player development is to intentionally help athletes walk through them.

This episode is part of the BEYOND Player Development Framework:

B: Belonging

E: Education

Y: Your Purpose

O: Opportunities

N: Navigation

D: Development Systems

To learn more about the BEYOND Player Development Framework or bring Edward Jones II in to work with your program, complete the BEYOND Framework Assessment using the link in the episode notes.

Developing People. Elevating Programs.

Get YOUR SIGNED copy of the Beyond The Field Player Development Guide: https://forms.gle/AJozwnjEw4UHNaH29

Player Development Newsletter: https://substack.com/@btfprogram

Complete the BEYOND Framework Assessment https://forms.gle/CC6DoBQGF8UkJj5h6