One-on-One Mentorship

A 6-month mentorship to empower the next generation of athletes in their journey after sports.

Applications to participate in our peer mentorship program are open year-round. You can receive or provide one-on-one support to another athlete. Invest in your personal development, whether you join as a mentor or a mentee.

It’s a win-win.

For athletes with less experience, having a mentor improves their academic, social, and career prospects. Your mentor has gone through their own unique transition away from competitive sports and is ready to share their learnings with you. They are someone who is on your team to act as a sounding board, help you hone your decision-making skills, and accelerate your success. 

For mentors, the relationship helps build leadership and management skills, provides a space to practice empathy to motivate their mentees, expands their network, and provides an opportunity to give back to the sports community.

Young adults with a mentor are:

Mentoring.org

90% interested in becoming a mentor

Mentoring.org

130% more likely to hold leadership position

A program for late career or retiring athletes to…

  • Fast track their post-sports journey and success

  • Benefit from the experience of someone who is well acquainted with the transition journey

  • Get personalized support to move forward with their life goals

How it works

For six months, each pair will meet monthly in-person or virtually. The Athletes Soul team will help define a mentorship goal and provide a simple structure to set you up for success.

​1. Fill our application form: To get to know you, we ask everyone to fill out an application form.

2. Interview with our team: Meet with our team to better understand your experience and motivation.

3. Define your objective: The first session will be with our team to help refine your mentorship objective.

4. Attend our mentoring training: Both you and your mentor will attend a short training & meet for the first time.

5. Connect monthly: Get time monthly with your mentor to make progress towards your goal.

6. Share your learnings: Showcase your learnings, share your story and contribute to our community toolbox.

Meet some of our mentors

  • Roberto Mandje, OLY

    Runner turned Business Leader

  • Marion Clignet, OLY

    Cyclist turned Entrepreneur

  • Markus Rogan, OLY

    Swimmer turned Dr. in psychology

  • Erika Flowers

    Nordic Skier, Runner and Consultant

  • Raphael Poiree, OLY

    Biathlete turned Marketing Leader

  • Yves Dimier, OLY

    Skier turned CEO

  • Ed Cowan

    Cricketer turned Entrepreneur and Investor

  • Marie-Laure Brunet, OLY

    Biathlete turned Performance Coach and Speaker

  • Mike Altman, OLY

    Rower turned Clean energy business developer and strategist

  • Brianna Stubbs

    Rower turned Dr. in metabolic biochemistry and Scientist

  • Martin Hutton

    Soccer player turned Sales Leader

  • Margie Pedder, OLY

    Swimmer turned Marketing Leader

A mentorship story

“ In my transition out of professional sport, one of the topics I discussed with Roberto, my mentor, was about leveraging my experience in sport. For example, a cynical summary of the last 10 years of my working life could be to describe it as “just playing a sport”, and deduce that I have no working experience that could translate to a different job. A more generous account would detail attributes such as determination, persistence, resilience and performing under pressure. “ - Nic

  • Former Professional Rugby Player turned Management Consultant

  • Former Olympian Track & Field Runner turned Sports & Brand Marketing Leader and Coach

FAQs

  • Mentorship gives you one-on-one and personalized support. You get to set your own goal and work together with your mentor to achieve it. You may or may not already have a clear plan for the future and this is a unique opportunity for you to get ahead and get to your desired destination faster.

    We’ve seen great success with late-career athletes proactively preparing for the end of their careers before it happens. We’ve supported newly retired athletes who wanted a sounding board in building their next steps and those who were already on a new professional path. In short, peer mentorship is most effective before your retirement and early on in the transition journey.

  • We ask our pairs to set aside an hour monthly for six months. We ask the mentees to lead the session preparation and scheduling. It’s up to each pair to decide when and how. We offer additional support and guidance in our community so you can learn about the transition journey at your own pace.

  • Our mentors are former athletes and have experienced the transition themselves. After conducting over 80 interviews with athletes, it appears that the optimal period for gaining enough perspective on your journey and being able to impart your learnings to others is typically around 4-5 years following retirement. We, of course, look at each individual story and vet our mentors through interviews. We foresee mentees paying it forward and becoming mentors when they've found their footing, as many of our current mentees have already expressed interest in doing so.

    Want to learn more about our mentoring opportunities, visit our professional membership page.

  • Each pair has a unique goal. In fact, we have not had two goals that were the same. Examples of our mentorship pair outcomes include:

    • A rugby player repurposed his sports superpowers into business skills to fast track his second career job search

    • A cyclist re-prioritized his life goals and got clarity on how he wanted to invest his time

    • A skater felt supported while bouncing back after an unplanned retirement

    We're here to help you craft your objectives and pair you with a mentor who aligns with your goals.

Apply now

This program is valued at $1,000 per athlete and is fully funded by Athletes Soul through individual scholarships. Click below to sign up to join the program or apply to become a mentor.

Looking for something else? Check out our other services

Athlete Community

Find out how hundreds of other athletes are succeeding off the field, during and after their sports career.

Group Coaching

Discover about yourself outside of sports and create your own definition of success with other athletes.

Transition Coaching

Uncover what’s next for you working with a professional coach to take control of your transition and win in life after sports.