Maybe I should become a debt collector, or maybe just a high flying businessman, its basically the same things isn't it? Trying to get people to give you money they owe you!
I was toying with the idea of becoming Mayor Of Durban, some of you guys might have seen my ramblings on Twitter, but that does involve eating a lot of Bunny Chow, and I'm not sure I'm up to that challenge just yet. Heartburn and ring-sting almost everyday! I'll be the grumpiest mayor ever, probably fire half my staff within the first week.
But I guess in many ways I can count myself lucky...no not just because I am handy with a broom and the city always needs more janitors...but because I did have the chance to pick up a degree and brief post graduate while I was working my way up the ranks to where I am now. I was lucky in that I took interest and chose to study something that was a lot more flexible. And no I didn't study to become an acrobat or yoga teacher (sorry, too easy) but did my triple major (see what I did there? tried to make myself interesting) in English, Media and Writing.
So I was lucky in that my professors took bribes, JOKES, my luck came in with them understanding that I was a professional rugby player (helped that some of them were rugby fans) and so had a bit of a crazy schedule...OK not all my lecturers, but the important ones...and that my degree depended more on essay writing than testing. So missing test dates was never a problem, although pulling all nighters after a rugby game to bang out a '10000 word essay on the Post-Romantic influences in Modern 20th century narrative prose' for the next day wasn't the fun-nest.
What this flexibility, and the irony of having a few injuries at the time that allowed me to focus more exclusively on my studies, all combined into; was becoming a graduate of The University Of Cape Town, something I am intensely proud of to this day.
I was one of the lucky ones though, and so becoming a starved writer after rugby (I'm not going to mention becoming a marketer cause I really didn't enjoy my post-grad) is a possibility. But what about those guys that have missed the boat altogether? What about those kids you were unable, or unwilling to study after school while pursuing a rugby career?
It's scary when put into perspective the dangers of just missing the professional rugby career path with nothing else to fall back onto. After all, we often see how many hundreds of very talented rugby players our school system churns out every year, but only a handful make careers out of their talent, and fewer still long term ones.
Imagine being a younger player who directly after school pursued a rugby career (or any sporting career for that matter) and neglected an education in the process. And imagine that same individual just misses out on making to the top where he can live off his earnings till he retires. What then?
And with the move of rugby into an increasingly professional aspect, kids are encouraged earlier and earlier to neglect one for the other. Of course there are a select few who use rugby to go through university in this country and others, after all that is one of the beauties of the sport; its ability to open doors and create opportunities. But there are also the unlucky few who end up having to sacrifice their bodies until there's nothing left to sacrifice.
Sure many may have family businesses and farms to head to after all is said and done but again they fall into the 'lucky few' category. And a lot of sportsmen are enterprising enough o use their profile to pursue careers they love, Ryk Neethling is a good example, I recently bumped into him at a wine tasting exhibiting his own wine that he not only bottles but blends himself...
I think we also need to understand that a rugby career, although having possibilities of being lucrative, is reserved for the top earners in the sport, and still pale in comparison to other professional sports the world over or business positions. Yes I admit (and happen to think its a good thing) that rugby is growing and expanding, thus more money surrounds the sport and so younger players shall earn more than I did for example, but the numbers we are talking aren't staggering, and being a contact sport each career only lasts so long.
So what are the solutions? Practice your debating skills for a future in politics! Joking.
I emphasize the importance of an education for a rugby player, because not only does playing rugby enable one to find a good education more easily and readily, but an education last a lifetime when rugby can only last you so long. And believe me when I say that not only do you become a better player on and off the field, but a better more rounded person.
Ok I'm going to end it there, I can seriously write for hours and days on the significance of different related topics on the whole 'Life After Rugby' and 'Educate Yourself First' kinda idea...but I think you guys get the idea.
P.S. Vote for me! Mayor Of Durban! Here's my election poster...You like?
Skeato
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