'YASDI to assist athletes plan for life beyond sports' says Khotso Mokoena at the launch of his institute

Olympic silver medalist Khotso Mokoena is on a mission to help athletes find their identity outside of their sport to make their transition to retirement smooth. Mokoena launched his Youth Athletes Skills Development Institute (YASDI) of Competency on Saturday October 26 at the Southern Sun Hotel in Rosebank.  The institute aims to equip athletes with critical skills such as entrepreneurship, character building and leadership to prepare them for life after sports.

Mokoena's YASDI aims to help athletes prepare for life when they retire. Photo Credit: YASDI.

"We are supporting a new paradigm of education where we want our young people and athletes to be problem solvers and have the competency and skills to take them beyond. I realised over the years that musicians and athletes struggled after stopping their line of work. It wasn’t because they wasted their money. It's a part of it but the major part is that they didn't have the skills to transition. That's when I realised a program that would assist in getting these competency skills is very important." he said.

Explaining how YASDI came about, Mokoena said after not making the long jump finals at #London2012, he realised that his days as a professional athlete were coming to an end and it was time for a transition. However, during the transitional period from 2012 to 2016, he realised that he wasn't ready because he lacked the skills needed to pursue a new career outside being a professional athlete. In 2016, he went back to competing while equipping himself with the right skills to prepare himself for retirement.

Mokoena won a silver medal in the long jump at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Photo Credit: Roger Sedres.

"The program is here to help sportsmen and women to live a purpose-driven life. It's here to help athletes so that they don't experience what others experienced in retirement or make the same financial mistakes others made. I believe this is a program that will assist them to get on the right path," he told #TheTopRunner.

Also present at the launch was World Championship 400m hurdles bronze medalist LJ van Zyl. He praised Mokoena's initiative saying it would assist in addressing the difficulties faced by athletes at the end of their sporting careers. Using his own life as an example, van Zyl thanked his strict mother for forcing him to steered plan for a life after sports. Despite the difficulty of being an elite athlete and a full-time student, the Olympian who today works as a lecturer at the University of Pretoria persevered and is reaping the rewards today.

Olympian LJ van Zyl attended the launch of YASDI. Photo Credit: Lebohang Pita.

"This program might be the solution. It’s valuable. There are so many athletes slipping through the cracks or have a 10-year career and afterwards fall into debt and end up worse than before their athletic career. So, this program is going to make a huge difference. When you are a national champion and are going to the Olympics, the last thing you think about is what's going to happen once you are done competing. My mom forced me to study at Tuks. I’m now doing my Phd. It's my fourth degree."

Mokoena said the program is available nationally with plans to expand into the rest of the African continent in the near future.