Mission accomplished!

My time as Game Plan Champion has come to a close. For my fourth and final job shadowing initiative, I organized a full day of interactions between athletes and executives at the world renowned brand building firm Sid Lee. This company is known around the world for its creative approach to making marketing campaigns for some of the biggest brands such as Cirque du Soleil, Adidas, Coca Cola, the Toronto Raptors, and the list goes on. It took two months of planning, from pitching the initial idea, waiting for approvals and then coordinating a date where athletes and Sid Lee employees would all be available at the same time during a very busy summer period. Luckily, everything fell together and 5 athletes who were studying in related fields got to experience how the company operates from the inside. I appreciated Sid Lee’s honesty about their world and challenges as well as their willingness to answer any questions athletes had. Overall, the job shadowing project was a great success and I would like to thank Groupe Touchette, Bell,Deloitte and Sid Lee for agreeing to take part. Furthermore, I would like to thank Game Plan team members Marie-Pier Langlois , Genevieve Saumur, Elise Marcotte and Rudy Grow for help with coordinating and getting the word out to interested athletes. Finally, I would like to thank the athletes Kim Hyacinthe, Georcy Stéphanie Thiffaud- Picard, Louis Krieber Gagnon, Audrey Lacroix, Audrey Houle, Marie-Claude Molnar, Aurelie Rivard and Philippe Beaudry for stepping out of their comfort zones for a day and being very professional throughout the entirety of their job shadowing experience.

From left: Rudy Grow (Game plan representative), athletes Philippe Beaudry, Audrey Houle, Aurélie Rivard, Audrey Lacroix, Marie-Claude Molnar and Sid Lee account director JF Bergeron.

The objective was to give athletes a glimpse into the world outside of sport and give them motivation and direction towards making a plan for their post athletic careers. It may not end today, it may not end next year, and it may not end in 5 years. But the athlete career will end eventually, and that is not the time to start thinking of the next step. The next steps start years before, much like the preparation for an Olympic cycle. Athletes need to have that same Olympic mindset in preparing a post athletic career plan. It takes time to build skills, create new relationships and complete an education outside of sport which is why it`s important to invest some time in those activities even during the athletic careers. I encourage all athletes to use the amazing resources at your disposal with the Game Plan program. These resources will only continue to improve because there is a motivated team behind the program and everyone understands the importance of this initiative for the future of athletes’ success in sport and in life. It was a privilege to help out in a very small way and I will continue to help in any way I can in the future. I believe in the Game Plan program and I know its relevance in the world of sport, education, health and business will only continue to expand in the coming years. Looking forward to seeing the program grow!