Have you ever watched a Canadian athlete perform at an event or on live tv? Watched them win a medal and make their country proud? It’s always an amazing experience to watch athletes perform on the World Stage. Unfortunately, what is not shown is the time, dedication, and sacrifice that athletes make to reach those moment of success. One of the sacrifices that athletes often make pertains to time – specifically, time to develop traditional work experience that is so important to any future career. Fortunately, there are a few companies including Trend Innovations that are willing to help our Canadian athletes make up for their lost time by providing flexible work opportunities.
The Downfalls of an Athletic Career
Elite athletes often dedicate at least 40 hours a week to training for their sport, that’s equivalent to a full-time job. Combine that with a heavy travel and competition schedule, and you’re left with zero time for a side job. But often there is not enough funding for Canadian athletes, and many are faced with balancing work and training to pay for their basic living and athletic costs. To add to insult, the jobs that are available to these athletes are extremely limited. Athletes often lack some of the required work experience years or availability expected by most employers for any above minimum wage job. Even once an athlete retires and has more availability, their job opportunities may not improve. Athletes can feel ages behind other people in the workforce because instead of building up their business resume or LinkedIn profile, they were representing Canada on the world stage.
What Athletes Have to Offer Companies
What employers often overlook, is that most athletes have perfected a few key characteristics that are highly sought after and add major value to any company. Elite athletes are hardworking, resilient, driven individuals, fluent in goal setting and bringing new unique ideas and experiences to the table. These along with several other savvy skills typical amongst high performance athletes are what is commonly known in the sports world as “The Athlete Mindset.”
While athletes may not have some of the traditional requirements for a particular job, they are arguably some of the most dedicated and motivated people out there. You do not make it as an Olympic level or professional athlete without being able to adapt and learn new skills and systems quickly. So, despite possibly lacking some of the classic work place training, you can be sure an athlete is going to put in the work to become successful at whatever they choose to do.
Trend Innovations Recognizes the Value
A company that recognizes the value of an athlete employee is Trend Innovations. In partnership with Game Plan Canada, Trend Innovations has connected with several athletes providing a variety of work opportunities. These opportunities are crucial for supporting athletes in Canada, whether they are actively competing or retired. Game Plan Canada was created to address athletes’ wellness as a whole, not just in the athletic realm. This program is doing its best to provide athletes with the resources they need to live whole lives and transition successfully from sport into another fulfilling career.
Yet, Game Plan Canada can only do so much. Canadian companies need to do their part by providing more flexible work options for athletes. Not only to support the athletes but to benefit the companies as well. As the President of Trend Innovations, Jelena Neylan stated, “We value athlete employees because they already have such an amazing foundation of work ethic, resilience and an aptitude to get things done.” Trend Innovations provides skill training and mentoring for a variety of positions. Once athletes have mastered these skills, the result is an extremely valuable employee.
While Trend Innovations is still a growing business, they are doing their part to support Canadian athletes. In partnering with Game Plan Canada, Trend Innovations has already been able to take on several athletes from different sports, including Boxing, Volleyball, Tennis, Figure Skating, Fencing, and Freestyle Skiing. This community driven company provides athletes with flexible work hours, skill development, remote work, and mentorship for a variety of roles within the company. Trend Innovations hopes that more Canadian companies will follow suite and support their Canadian athletes during sport and after.
