EP48: Grant Clintsome - Using his NHL Mindset to Help Athletes Transition

If you are a current or retired athlete, this is the episode to listen to! The #MakeYourMark Podcast focuses on guests who are inspiring and are making an impact. My guest today @Grant Clitsome is using his NHL experiences to help build a program designed for athletes to transition out of their sport easier. Talk about finding my sweet spot! We could have gone on for hours on such a critical topic!

"I remember at the end of the camp, Hitch [Ken Hitchcock] pulls me into his office and he says, 'Grant, you're gonna be an NHL defenseman, you just need to go back to Clarkson and keep doing what you're doing.' So that was pretty inspiring, and that was a moment where I said to myself, 'okay maybe I can do this.'"

Grant had to retire earlier than he had hoped because of a back injury, but he has taken advantage of his athletic mindset, and been able to recreate the daily structure that was such a critical part of his athletic career and turn it into the After The Game program.

I'm excited to collaborate with Grant and elevate the athletes that he's working with, showing them all that they have an incredibly bright future ahead of them after they leave their sport. Make sure you give this episode a listen, especially if you are closing in on the end of your career, or have retired from your sport. Send me your experiences, would like to hear from you!

"I had no idea what was going to happen with hockey and I didn't anticipate to make a career out of it. That was my goal, but if it didn't work out or I had an injury or whatever I wanted to make sure I had a backup plan and I had my education. So, that was the big selling feature for me."

"After the surgery, I came back and played a little bit the following season, then re-herniated the same disk. I had a second surgery and that's when it just didn't heal the same way and the doctor's recommended I stop playing."

"When you're playing in the NHL you have a schedule every month that's handed to you and tells you where to be and what to do at every second of the day. Your meals are all lined up and ready for you, your travel is all lined up and ready for you. There's just so much structure. Then you go from that environment to just the complete opposite, which is no structure and you're the one now having to create your own structure. (you can end here for website quote if that helps) It's challenging but I think the biggest thing for me was to stay busy. If I was just sitting doing nothing I would go crazy, and that's when you start to get into that dangerous spiral of depression and mental struggles."

"I think if we can help players prepare for this [life after hockey] before they're even close to retiring, I think it does so many things for them. From simply a mental health standpoint, I think it gives you a very healthy distraction during the season. There's so much pressure associated with performing at such a high level throughout the season. It gives you something else to focus on, and channel your energy, and grow and develop as a person outside of just the athlete." 

Some Topics we talk about in this episode: 

4:29 "When there was no snow on the whole lake you could just skate for miles and miles" [Growing up in northern Ontario]

8:02 "I was woken up by my mom knocking on my door saying, 'the Columbus Blue Jackets are on the phone'" [NHL draft experience]

10:37 "The pep bands and the whole student section - it was love at first sight...I wanted to make sure I had a backup plan and I had my education" [Decision to play college hockey]

12:43  "It came down to opportunity and the ability to play and be able to develop" [Attending Clarkson University]

16:18 "That was kind of a moment where I said to myself, 'okay maybe I can do this'" [Realizing that pro hockey was within reach] 

19:35 "I didn't sleep for a second. There was no way I was falling asleep" [First NHL call up]

21:57 "Wrist shot top corner on Roloson...it was pretty cool having everyone there to see it" [First NHL goal]

24:38 "I was looking forward to a fresh opportunity and being able to re-establish myself" [Trade to Winnipeg] 

26:34 "It just didn't heal the same way and the doctors recommended I stop playing" [Conclusion of hockey career] 

29:28 "You kind of go from feeling totally sheltered and supported to just feeling like 'okay, now what'" [Adjusting to new life]

31:06 "I like wine a lot, and I like to learn. So I thought, 'what better thing to learn about'?" [Post hockey endeavors]

37:45 "Every athlete goes through some sort of major adjustment" [Involvement with the After the Game Program]

45:46 "It can always be better. There can always be more engagement and more awareness" [Resources provided by the NHL] 

50:10 "Get them working on it while they're still playing, to me that's the ultimate goal" [The objectives of the ONE Sports' transition program] 

52:25 "An athlete brings so much more to the table than they often realize" [Leveraging your athletic background]

53:53 Hit Your Mark

How to get involved

• Be sure to connect with me on Social Media @MarkMoyerCoach and go to my website, www.markmoyer.com to get access to the tips and strategies that my coaching clients get directly.

• If you would like to be a guest on the Make Your Mark podcast and/or know someone else who has either been an athlete, in a role within the sports industry, or a military veteran, and have made a successful transition into a new role, I'd love to hear from you! Just send me an email [email protected] and we'll discuss!

• If you would like more information on how I can get you unstuck and moving forward with your transition, let's talk. We can see whether it makes sense to work directly with me, or I can give you other options, but don't let your transition wait another day, let's connect!

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How are YOU going to Make Your Mark today? Go get 'em!