Retired female athletes test their mettle in the world of business
Print Edition
AFTER retiring in 2014, Liu Xue, a javelin thrower, founded a sports training center for middle school students.
It’s an entirely different arena for her, without coach and teammates, everything now depends on herself, and she says it is all about personal drive and motivation. “Between sports competition and starting a business, the only common feature you need is perseverance,” she says.
After exiting a world of medals and flowers, more and more retired Chinese female athletes are choosing to start sports-related business. But the picture may be more complicated for them. Athletes are in need of the appropriate skills to make a success of post-competitive life.
That is the view of Liu Wei, a seven-time table tennis world champion who earned a PhD from Peking University, and is now an associate professor on the campus.
“They (female athletes) have outstanding athletic ability, but it doesn’t mean they know related business well. They need training and new sets of knowledge in order to move into a new field,” says Liu Wei.
Everything is not always plain sailing for these female sports entrepreneurs.
Xu Sha opened her own martial arts club after retirement, but didn’t see any profits until three years later.
“There are too many things that I didn’t know for the business, such as how to rent a proper place, get a license, keep the students,” Xu says, adding that it’s a big challenge to learn these things in the 30s.
In 2016, Xu’s success became a model for other retired athletes. She was invited to speak at the General Administration of Sport of China to share her experience.
Olympic table tennis champion Deng Yaping is surely one of the most famous female athletes in China. After retirement, Deng became an international student, sports official and media practitioner. Now, she is running a sports industrial investment fund bearing her name.
Deng says female athletes have serious advantages as entrepreneurs. “They are more persistent, they can endure hardship, and that’s the key to make achievements in business.”
Deng suggests that more policies are needed to encourage entrepreneurship among retired female athletes, including sports funds, grants, loans and tax incentives.
“Useful training and policies will create more opportunities,” she says.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
