The Next Shift: A Guide to Identify Your Core Skills and Successfully Transition from Sports

By Judi Gilbert

Let's Be Honest. We Aren't Athletes Forever.

The Next Shift: A Guide to Identify Your Core Skills and Successfully Transition from Sports is a unique and moving handbook for all athletes who wonder and sometimes struggle with transitioning successfully from sport to their Next Shift. As a young athlete

• Language: English
• Publisher: Judi Gilbert & associates
• Release date: Jun 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781778063503

Book preview

cover_inside.jpg

In Praise of The Next Shift: A Guide to Identify Your Core Skills and Successfully Transition from Sports

One to remember… A book for all athletes and parents too! Judi is to be commended for her ability to take the reader on a journey of personal reflection as they begin to think about their transition from sport to their Next Shift.

As a former professional athlete, I was fortunate to develop many of the skills that my niece Judi speaks about. All athletes must identify the skills they acquired from sport and know how to use them to their advantage when they are no longer able to compete. This book will do that!

Well done, Judi!

Bobby Hull, The Golden Jet, Hockey Hall of Fame Inductee, 1983

Being a young athlete and reading the stories in this book is both inspiring and relatable to me. Learning how I can use the skills that I’ve acquired from a young age and how to transfer them to a working environment is key to helping me grow my resume and confidence and to get to the next level.

Brady Allen, Hockey Player, U18 AA

Judi Gilbert has written a must-read book for anyone who understands the role that sports and competition play in our lives from early childhood, through adulthood and into parenthood. Her journey in competitive sports from a young age gives her a unique perspective and a credible voice on how to navigate the world as a competitor, a parent of an athlete, a mentor, and a coach. Whether she is writing about self-worth, self-doubt, or self-confidence, she guides you effortlessly through the challenges to find your voice and develop your personal brand. I circled and highlighted so many parts of this book and I look forward to using these tools to maximize my performance as a business consultant and as a basketball coach. But most importantly, this book gave me a renewed excitement to be a better supporter of my children’s athletic endeavours.

Linda Martindale, Business Consultant and Lincoln-Sudbury High School Boys Varsity basketball coach. Former NCAA Division 1 college basketball player. Parent of a college basketball player, a college beach volleyball player, a high school soccer player and a high school lacrosse player.

iii.png

Copyright © 2022 Judi Gilbert

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other - except for brief quotations in critical reviews, articles, or groups, without written permission of the author/publisher at judigilbert.ca.

The Next Shift: A Guide to Identify Your Core Skills and Successfully Transition from Sports

Gilbert, Judi

ISBN 978-1-7780635-1-0 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-7780635-0-3 (eBook)

Edited by Christine Bode, Bodacious Copy.

Book production and cover design by Dawn James, Publish and Promote.

Interior layout and design by Perseus Design.

Logo design by Aaron and Angela Bell, Lot48 Film Co.

Printed and bound in Canada.

Note to the reader: The information is provided for educational purposes only.

This book is dedicated to my mom and dad.

Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1: What Is a Transferable Skill?

Chapter 2: Self-Confidence/Belief in Oneself

Chapter 3: Resilience/Adversity

Chapter 4: Leadership

Chapter 5: Humility

Chapter 6: Communication

Chapter 7: Focus

Chapter 8: Teamwork

Chapter 9: Amateur or Professional, Skills are Skills

Chapter 10: Skills, Skills & More Skills

Chapter 11: Identifying Your Transferable Skills

Chapter 12: Your Network/Your Reputation

Chapter 13: What Now?

About The Author

Foreword

My career began as a professional hockey player. I attended teacher’s college, taught at Ridley College in St. Catharines, Ontario, became Athletic Director at Illinois Institute of Technology, and am now a sought-after keynote speaker and author. As I have experienced, sport can take us on incredible journeys.

It is often difficult to know where our journeys will take us, but I believe the skills and experiences I acquired in sport contributed greatly to my success after hockey. I am sure they can do the same for other athletes, whether they competed in basketball, swimming, rowing, track & field, tennis, soccer, or countless other sports.

My name is Dennis Hull, and I am Judi’s uncle. I could not be prouder of Judi for authoring a book that supports other athletes. Having embraced the skills and experiences that sport gave her, Judi embarked on her journey of personal growth and triumph. Her qualifications speak for themselves. A talented hockey player, successful entrepreneur, business owner and author, Judi is passionate about helping others recognize what sport has given them. She is equally interested in showing them how to utilize these attributes when they can no longer compete.

Judi’s ability to weave athlete testaments with her personal and often emotional anecdotes provide the reader with true-to-life examples that will surely resonate. The Next Shift: A Guide to Identify Your Core Skills and Successfully Transition from Sports also allows readers to work through exercises that will help them identify the transferable skills they acquired during their time in sports. They will determine their accomplishments and values and understand how to utilize these attributes to develop résumés, cover letters, and personal statements to support them in their Next Shift.

Although Judi provides the tools for each athlete to assess and examine their skills, she also calls on parents, for they have a critical role too! The following is an excerpt from the book, and it speaks volumes. Attention, all parents! You can play a significant role in helping your child think about their future after sport, no matter their current age. You can help implement the required steps to lay a foundation that will springboard your child from athlete to Next Shift. It is never too early to communicate to young athletes the importance of not compartmentalizing their skills and only identifying as an athlete. It is never too early to explain the importance of being aware of their reputation and how their daily behaviour impacts the perception of others. It is also never too early for young athletes to know that although they may be enjoying much success in sport, it doesn’t last forever. It is never too early for young athletes to start developing the positive character traits that will help them achieve all their life’s goals, whatever they may be.

The key is to believe that we are more than just athletes, and in realizing this, we can continue our journey equipped with an array of skills and experiences that will support us in our Next Shift, whatever that may be and wherever that may take us.

Dennis Hull — Professional Hockey Player, Teacher, Keynote Speaker, and Author of The Third Best Hull

Acknowledgments

It is with much love and appreciation that I dedicate this book to my mother, Jacqueline, and my late father, Bill. I am forever grateful to them for the lasting gifts they gave to me and my siblings. Gifts of sacrifice, mutual respect, and hard work. Gifts of encouragement, independence, and so much love.

I am forever thankful that Mom and Dad made it possible for me to grow up doing what I loved most in this world—playing sports—even though it was a financial burden. Their sacrifice was immeasurable, their love limitless.

My father died in 1994. Although he is never far from my thoughts, I felt his presence more as I drafted this book. Dad, known to his family and friends as Gilly, took great pleasure in all of his children. I know how proud he was of us and how proud of this book he would be. I note in it, that after he gave his blessing for me to play hockey, he became a mainstay at the Memorial Arena in Belleville, Ontario, where we played our home games. I can see him clearly, sitting at the north end of the arena sporting his favourite hunting hat, a pipe in his mouth, and a grin reminiscent of a proud father. I miss those days. I miss him.

As I worked to complete this labour of love, my mother was always there, encouraging me to keep writing. When I finished a chapter, paragraph, or story that I was particularly moved by, she was there to experience it with me, be it joyful or otherwise. Perhaps, it was as cathartic for her to read it as it was for me to write it. My passion for writing comes partly from Mom. There isn’t anyone I know who writes more eloquently.

Truthfully, Mom and Dad, I cannot aptly express how fortunate I am to have you for my parents. Although sport contributed to many skills I use today, you laid the groundwork that allowed me to develop those skills. You encouraged, supported, and believed in me. As a result, you instilled self-worth in me.

It was you, all you. Always.

With Immense Gratitude

I would like to thank Andrea, Anna, Baily, Ben, Emma, Ian, Joe, Nick, Oliver, Peter, Randy, SJ, my nieces Brooke, Jacqueline and Maddy, and my brother Scott, and my uncles, Bobby and Dennis, who willingly shared their triumphs, successes, disappointments, and personal journeys of leaving the sports world to embark on their Next Shift, with me. Each time I reached out to you through multiple conversations, you were, graciously, available for me. You shared your insight and experiences so I could share them with my readers. With immense gratitude, I thank you for your enthusiasm and willingness to help me realize my dream of authoring this book.

To Margot

Thank you for always accepting my notion that I could write this book. You never wavered in your support. On many occasions when I could not see the finish line, your belief in me inspired me. Your encouragement and love motivated me when I needed it the most.

To my nieces, Erika, Karley, Jacqueline, Brooke and Maddy,

Thank you for inspiring me every day.

You have given me incredible joy over the years, more than you will ever realize, and you continue to. It has been my honour and pleasure to