Game Plan Day in Canada: Setting up a post-sport career through sport

I’m falling behind my peers. I’ve put my post-sport career development on the backburner. I’m not gaining experience that organizations will recognize.

These are some of the common post-sport career concerns of Team Canada athletes. But during Game Plan Day in Canada, hosted by Deloitte, athletes had the opportunity to not only debunk these statements, but reflect on how the skills and experiences they’ve gained through sport can transfer to an engaging professional career in any variety of industries. Game Plan and Deloitte are focused on setting athletes up for their future careers through sport, not just beyond it.

Or as beach volleyball player Marie-Alex Bélanger framed it: “Today made me realize that we actually have more tools than we think.”

Game Plan, powered by Deloitte, is Canada’s total athlete wellness program. Game Plan programming and initiatives aim to develop holistic, well-rounded individuals that thrive within and outside of sport, with the attitude that long-term personal, educational, and professional achievement does not come at the expense of athlete well-being.

To celebrate Game Plan Day in Canada, Deloitte hosted a series of events to support athlete career-planning, including a virtual session on March 26 and in-person events in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, and Vancouver on April 4.

The workshops delivered by Deloitte employees featured sessions on topics such as tailoring one’s resume to specific positions, drafting cover letters, and the application of generative AI in the workplace. Several Deloitte representatives at the regional events were retired athletes themselves, able to personally relate to the process of navigating the transition and figuring out what’s next.

These presentations were punctuated with interactive opportunities for one-on-one coaching from Deloitte professionals, as well as group sessions to help athletes develop their personal elevator pitch. For the latter, athletes were encouraged to focus on their identity, their passions, and finding common ground with their listeners.

Athletes then had the opportunity to put that work into practice with a networking session that included professionals from diverse industries across Canada.

“Today was a great learning experience, but also an incredible opportunity to connect with fellow athletes and professionals to really understand the competitive advantage of being an athlete and what that has to offer our future careers,” said alpine skier Steph Currie. “I’m just beginning to realize that there’s a plethora of skills that will transfer over from sport to a post-sport career, and today was a really great day to reflect on that.”

Just some of the transferable skills that came up throughout the day and during the athletes’ conversations with professionals from diverse backgrounds were communication, time-management, commitment, focus, work ethic, and collaboration.

“I think it’s kind of a ubiquitous thing within the sports world, but [athletes are good at] problem-solving. With most sports, you have a problem that you can come at from a bunch of different lenses, and there’s not typically a simple solution. Within my sport of sailing, it’s never a one-dimensional solution,” said athlete Samuel Bonin. “So I’m looking forward to bringing that to the business world, specifically the technology sector, to handle some of the big problems of tomorrow.”

Over the course of the day, many athletes were able to make the mindset switch from “I’ve put my future career on hold” to “what I’m doing now will be an asset in my future career.”

“One of my takeaways from today is that professional experience doesn’t necessarily mean internships or a traditional route, but that we’ve actually been gaining professional experience throughout our athletic careers,” says beach volleyball player Lea Monkhouse.

For some athletes, it was their first time engaging with Game Plan. Others have consistently relied on Game Plan for support throughout their journey on Team Canada.

“I was part of a Game Plan work experience program last summer, and I also use the Game Plan resources regarding mental health and other educational fields, which has been amazing,” says Olympian snowboarder Kaylie Buck. “It’s a special and unique experience that we have as Canadian athletes to develop ourselves as more than just athletes.”

Game Plan operates with the philosophy that you’re never solely an athlete. Thanks to Game Plan Day in Canada, Team Canada athletes got the chance to think about what their post-sport futures look like, and know that they’re already on their way there through the journey of sport.