The Recovering Athlete by Cletus Coffey
Our featured speaker for January 21, 2021, was the impressive Cletus Coffey, speaking about “The Recovering Athlete.” Cletus is a graduate of Cardinal Newman High School, where he excelled in football, basketball, and track. His Cardinal Newman Career included two trips to the NorCal finals, All-Conference first team honors at receiver and cornerback, a 30-3 record in basketball in one year, and State Finals in track & field for three straight years! He played football at Lewis & Clark for four years and spent four years playing professional football in the Arena league! Cletus is married with three children and is the son of the amazing Past-President Harry Coffey!
Cletus’ first story was about his trip to Evanston, Illinois to visit the headquarters of Rotary International with his dad. While he and Harry were waiting for their tour guide, they wandered and “found themselves” in the President’s office where Harry made himself comfortable in the RI President’s desk. Harry also met with founder of Rotary, Paul Harris. Harris did not get a word in edgewise!
Cletus’ story, however, did not begin until he was forced to retire at age 26. As he said, very few athletes retire voluntarily. Once they are forced to quit, they often have trouble transitioning into the non-sports world. Their dedication to their athletic careers sometimes causes them to focus on their craft and block out distractions. As athletes, they are not encouraged to go out into the world. As a result, they may not have fully learned the key ingredients to success. They sometimes suffer from depression, substance abuse, confusion, a sense of loss, and other personal struggles after they retire. One of the biggest hurdles for a retired athlete is that their lifetime personal identity as “athlete” no longer applies. They are often addicted to their sports identity and lost without it.
Cletus himself also felt the pain and confusion when he retired. He bounced around in sales jobs he did not like. He reached into his own personal history to learn more about himself and what motivated him. He discovered that he is a natural entrepreneur. He successfully started three businesses and began to feel like himself again, even if the businesses were not successful. He also started his present business, “Recovering Athlete,” which focuses on improving the lives of former athletes by helping them overcome the loss of their careers and transition into new careers. It is a 12-step process. The key points are understanding the ‘loss of belonging’ after sports retirement, finding out what else the recovering athlete is good at, and understanding how to find the athletic “high” outside of sports. Cletus also works with others in similar fields, such as retiring musicians and military.
Thank you so much, Cletus, for helping us understand the problems of retiring athletes and how they can start the process of recovery. Well done and good luck!
