Bryan Habana urges athletes to consider life after sport

Former Springbok wing Bryan Habana has urged elite athletes in all codes to consider their futures after their careers have ended, promoting education and long-term financial awareness in an attempt to end the poverty of local sporting stars.

Habana, a legend of South African rugby who scored 67 tries in 124 Tests for the Boks, has called on professional athletes to consider where their futures lie when they retire from elite competition.

According to statistics, athletes in many codes retire at a much younger age than individuals in other industries.

‘Under financial stress’

The average Premier Soccer League player’s career has been concluded by the age of 28, and according to Sports Illustrated, 78% of NFL gridiron players are “bankrupt or under financial stress” within two years of their retirement:

According to Rugby Pass: “In the event a player doesn’t play for their country but still manages to save half their net pay over eight years (R800 000 a year), they would run out of money before turning 40”.

In an attempt to combat this level of poverty among former sport stars, Habana’s company (MatchKit) has announced its cross-border partnership with the Global Institute of Sport (GIS) to arm athletes with academic opportunities to up-skill themselves.

“Education was a cornerstone of my professional rugby career,” Habana said on Wednesday.

“It has the ability to broaden an athlete’s horizons for their life after professional sport, and we’re thrilled to be able to provide these unique opportunities for our athletes through our GIS partnership.”

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Sharona Friedman, the GIS president, said they were pleased to join forces with MatchKit in an ongoing attempt to deal with this widespread problem.

“We’re delighted to be able to support MatchKit in their mission to provide better opportunities for athletes off the pitch,” Friedman said.

“Athletes that choose to study with GIS will be joining our community of 6,000 students and alumni including many elite sports professionals from across a vast variety of codes and countries.

“Our aim is to provide them with the tools to lead fulfilling and successful careers in sport far beyond their playing days.”

Through this new partnership, MatchKit athletes will gain access to exclusive thought-leadership content and routes into formal sports education with GIS.