The struggling of retired Athletes From constrained career paths
By: Clement Man Yiu Liu, Sean Li, Victoria Liao, and Leo Liu
Gliding upon the powdered snow, 18-year-old Eileen Gu took a sharp turn and made a last attempt to rotate and swirl in the air across the blue-tinted sky -- a left double 1620 with a safety grab. Enveloping her were the enlivening wind and the nonstop clicking sounds of cameras and news reporters gathering to celebrate the dawn of the next Olympic Champion.
Nevertheless, not all athletes enjoy the same treatment surrounded by medals, flowers, and applause. In the pyramidal structure of competitive sports, few make it to the top of the international podium. On the other end of the spectrum, the vast majority never get the chance to compete on a national platform. Growing up from enclosed training organized by the Sports Administration, most full-time athletes, training 8-10 hours a day from a young age, are much less frequently exposed to academic studies and lacked the technical skills which would require years of training. Discriminated against by many human resource departments, retired athletes find it increasingly difficult to secure a "good job" in the fiercely competitive labor market. The fact that many retired athletes face constrained career paths, chronic injuries, low education levels, and ultimately uncertain futures should be brought to public attention.
The National Sports System and Attitudes in Seeking Re-employment
According to statistics from the Chinese General Administration of Sports, the number of registered professional athletes is 50,000, and approximately 4,000 athletes retire each year. Though this group consists of many household names such as Deng Yaping, Guo Jingjing, Yao Ming, and Li Na, there are admittedly far more unknown individuals who have devoted their passion and energy to professional training for many years. Those embarking upon this path quit the traditional “Gaokao” that everyone else is taking and operate on a career solely based on sports.
"[Back in the provincial team,] all you have to do is eat, sleep, and train. The rest is organized by your coaches", said Yao Lei, looking back on his 10-year career as a professional football player. His case is not rare. In China's unique sports system, the country's power is utilized as a whole to cultivate a generation of competitive athletes. The Chinese National Administration of Sports is provided with the fund to allocate coaches and mobilize resources nationwide to provide state-funded training to athletes. Achieved with the national interests as the highest goal, most full-time athletes spend almost the entire day training in the provincial or national team, leaving them with little time to ponder about their future.
From the seven interviews we conducted with full-time athletes between the ages of 14-17, a shocking 71.4% expressed that they had not considered the risks associated with being a full-time athlete, such as severe injuries or failure to stand out among intense competitions. Moreover, only 1 in 7 responded that they had thought about their careers carefully and considered mastering university studies after retirement. The rest confessed that they had no long-term plans regarding re-employment and generally embodied a lighthearted attitude towards their future occupations.
"Maybe I will become an entrepreneur, you know, starting a golf club or something," said one interviewee. However, when asked if he had studied finance or business in addition to his regular training, he replied that it was only an aspiration.
"Take one step and look around before taking another" -- this Chinese idiom perfectly outlines professional athletes' job uncertainties, characterizing their generally naive and unsure ideas about their future. Their decision to place huge emphasis on sports to the detriment of academic studying puts them at a disadvantage when competing for jobs in the labor market.
Are PE Teachers the Final Destination?
A predominantly state-funded industry, the national sports system still lives under the shadows of a planned economy. Without the vigor of capital investments, many athletes are excluded from enriching opportunities such as entrepreneurship. Additionally, athletes' lack of inter-disciplinary skills meant they are mostly deprived of diversifying career choices or multitudinous possibilities in life.
Like the thousands seeking re-employment, becoming a PE teacher seems to be a sensible option: a secure job guaranteed to all retired athletes. However, the path to becoming a PE teacher is often plagued by obstacles, and with more and more people employed in the sports industry, retired athletes face competition from every aspect.
"In niche sports such as Judo, even national champions are far less competitive than mediocre football or volleyball players when applying for jobs in schools," remarked one PE teacher at Li-Yuan Primary School. The biggest impediment to the transformation of retired athletes is their educational background. According to the "Teacher Law of the People's Republic of China" in 2021, PE teachers employed in primary and secondary schools are required to have at minimum a bachelor's degree, and teachers in colleges and universities must have a postgraduate degree or above, while a teacher qualification certification also requires a junior college degree to the least. These requirements naturally set a barrier for athletes seeking employment in the education system.
"If you have good athletic performance, for instance a National First Class Athletic Qualification, you can go to Beijing Sport University or Shanghai University of Sport or any other school for further study without taking the entrance exams, but the criteria is strict. Plus, it is not easy to get any better if you retire at an older age.", said one retired volleyball athlete. "Those who are accustomed to year long training find it challenging to adapt to an immersive learning environment."
According to our survey, 61.1% of respondents reflected that they 'sometimes' encounter discrimination in employment due to their athletic backgrounds. This particular phenomenon is further reinforced by the general public bias against professional athletes with low education levels, whom they regarded as "all brawn and no brains." Their negative impressions regarding athletic applicants undeniably exacerbate the problem of unemployment.
Even those who ended up becoming sports teachers still face occasional difficulties. With the nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19, many sports centers have encountered grave financial difficulties. As a result, some sports coaches have resorted to becoming Meituan delivery drivers to maintain a basic living. "Without the income as a fencing coach, I have not earned a single penny for half a year," 28-year-old Guiwen sighed as he told the interviewers about his delivery experiences at Meituan from February to April 2022.
Those employed as PE teachers also face stagnant development in their careers. "When you enter the school as a PE teacher, you leave the school in the exact same position." The lives of a PE teachers are dull and monotonous, as there are minimal opportunities for job promotions.
The Government's Actions
The government is actively supporting retired athletes in the process of re-entering society. From online universities to employment training courses to financial aid, the Chinese National Administration of Sports is actively promoting the re-employment of retired athletes, prompting them to adapt to the various societal changes. According to a report by People's Daily, over 5376 athletes had attended the employment training programs organized by the Sports Administration. With the help of online teaching apps such as MOOC, over 300 athletes earned the Intermediate Vocational Instructor Qualification, giving them an obvious advantage in job applications. These efforts, however uplifting, only demonstrate limited success on a regional scale; they ensure the survival of athletes above the poverty line but are nowhere near resolving the issue entirely.
Transitioning from a Planned System to A Market Economy: A Burgeoning Sports Industry
“The commercialization of sports is a prerequisite for diverse career potentials.”, commented Edward Dawes, a professional footballer in Shenzhen. With an ever-increasing influx of capital investments, a solid financial base has been established for the development of a flourishing sports industry.
For instance, shortly after the Winter Olympics, Wang Meng, the Olympic champion of short-track speed skating, began running a multi-channel network (MCN) to foster a generation of sports stars. By building connections between the sports stars and the audience, Wang Meng is hoping to tap into the long-term business potential of retired athletes through reality shows and live-streaming.
Furthermore, the advent of new technologies is creating new possibilities for the integration of sports with numerous other fields. After posting his fencing tricks on TikTok, Peiku, a retired epee fencer, quickly attracted over 3,000 subscribers on his WeChat Channel, gaining a certain amount of popularity as a video blogger. This paved the way for him to establish a successful fencing equipment store based in Guangzhou.
“The National Basketball Association generates 6 to 8 billion USD in revenue per season.”, said Dawes, “when comparing the situation of the US with China, we must admit that the commercialization of domestic sports still has a long way to go.”
Nonetheless, unimaginable changes and innovations are continuously propelling fundamental shifts in China’s sports landscape. By seizing the opportunity, retired athletes can fully unleash their potential in today’s opportunistic era.
Documentary: The Struggle of Retired Athletes