Why I left college athletics
“If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.”
We all know that line. Like many people, I subscribed to this mantra while beginning my career. Deep, meaningful engagement in one’s work is important. If you're lucky, you may be fortunate to love what you do for work too. I’m lucky that my career path is both engaging and something that I’m passionate about. However, if you aren’t careful, loving one's work can lead into the pit of burnout. This is exactly where I have found myself throughout my career. If any of this is resonating with you, consider the advice of Chris Voss in his book Never Split the Difference.
“Hope is not a strategy.”
I’ve spent my athletic training career mostly working in college athletics. Love for athletics is what led me to this field. Passion is what sustained me through the years of working long hours and making sacrifices to make it to where I am today. But, even with all the good memories in Brooklyn, Lowell, the Bronx, and many different stadiums all over the country, I cannot keep going. I have been hoping for a long time that something would change, and I was wrong.
I left college athletics because it's an unstable work environment.
So, who cares? "The great resignation" is something that's been heavily discussed for a while now. The athletic training field is no different. Every athletic trainer I’ve met this year has told me that their institution is hiring, including the institution I was working at. What makes this even more interesting is that few people, if any, are applying to these open jobs in the college setting. A running joke within the field is how everyone’s hiring but no one is applying.
So why is this happening?
Working in Division I athletics is a privilege. If you aspire to work in athletics (particularly if you’re an athletic trainer), you should ask yourself the following questions. How does working 70-80 hours per week (often more), traveling, working nights, and working weekends during a sport season sound? What would you expect to get paid? Would you want overtime? Would you want a day off? Would you expect a bonus at the end of the year?
How much money would you accept to make burnout your baseline job expectations?
I also wasn't naive when I set out to be a college athletic trainer; I knew what I was getting myself into. Athletics is a commitment. But something is wrong with athletics and athletic training; they’re burnout cultures. Merriam-Webster defines burnout as “exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration.” Interestingly, an alternate definition of burnout is “a person showing the signs of drug abuse.” (Please note, I am not equating burnout with drug addiction; they're very different and both equally serious conditions that must be regarded with the utmost respect for those who are contending with them). I would like to say that one who suffers from burnout is likely to be regarded as someone who is ‘addicted to the work’ or ‘addicted to the grind.’ This may be where the term ‘workaholic’ came from, so the comparison isn’t a stretch as far as I’m concerned.
Here's the thing, according to the National Athletic Trainers’ Association 2021 Salary Survey, the average annual salary for the college athletic trainer is under $60,000. Forget about the school or program you’re working with, would you want to work long hours, travel, and little to no days off for $60,000. Before answering that, please understand that is the average salary, most salaries I see posted are lower, so be prepared to not get paid $60,000. Sure, it’s nice getting free clothing, free meals, traveling to some interesting places, and winning championships. I’ve also formed some special relationships with many people over the years, which is a gratifying part of the job, no doubt. But, it’s hard to rationalize missing birthdays, holidays, weddings, time with family, and anything in between for work. It’s even harder to rationalize getting underpaid while working your life away, especially if you’re making $60,000 or less. Some may say ‘it’s not about the money.’ Some may say ‘the relationships and gratification make up for the pay.’ Some may just be lying to themselves thinking that it’s okay to be in a work environment that expects ‘above and beyond’ from their staff, but at a compensation rate that is ‘unsatisfactory.’
Last school year I had a total of 7 days off during the fall and spring semesters. I received no overtime pay. I received no bonus. I did not receive a raise or a promotion after putting forth extra effort for the good of the team. I was not compensated for any additional work that I had done during that year, after working roughly 7 days/week 8-12 hours/day during that time.
How is that fair? What kind of job expects that level of commitment but doesn’t reward or recognize it in anyway? Would you do that in your job?
The dynamics of college athletics, particularly for college athletic trainers, are so out of balance. We are underpaid, undervalued, underappreciated, and under supported. We are overworked, overtired, and over it. I may not speak for every college athletic trainer, but I do know I speak for many. The environment is toxic, lacks growth opportunity, and unfortunately is a system predicated on underpaying people while overworking them.
I reached a point where I felt like I needed to quit my job so I could get my life back. So, I did.
There are some who may say ‘you have to pay your dues to make in this field.’ Generally, I agree with that sentiment. I do also want to ask a few questions:
Are we going to expect people to ‘pay their dues’ but not be able to pay their bills?
Are we going to expect people to ‘pay their dues’ only to not have a sustainable career?
Are we going to expect people to ‘pay their dues’ simply because the generation before in this profession had it worse?
When is someone done ‘paying their dues’ anyway?
Why is ‘the grind’ so romanticized when it is just another way to say you’re exploiting people?
What if the way we always did it was wrong?
I love athletic training, but unfortunately have fallen out of love with being a college athletic trainer. I have heard an athletic director say, “this is athletics, we all know we aren’t doing this for the money.” While it is nice to sound altruistic to say "I'm not in this for the money", I do in fact do this for the money because it’s my job. Also, the pay was never close to worthy of the struggle.
I hope to see things change for the better. I want college athletics to be a sustainable career for athletic trainers and many other professionals like strength & conditioning coaches and sport coaches. But as I see it right now, that is a long way away from happening. Will it take a critical labor shortage of athletic trainers for things to change? I suppose we will have to wait and see...
