Dual career benefitting Charter on and off the field

To celebrate and acknowledge National Careers Week, Kookaburras goalkeeper and qualified Engineer Andrew Charter outlines the value of planning for and having dual careers.

Charter is a prime example of how high performance sporting pursuits can go hand in hand with a professional work career and the benefits that can be reaped from both.

An Asset Integrity Management Consultant for BHP, Charter’s journey from university to employee highlights that athletes do not have to wait until their sporting career comes to an end before needing to find their feet after sport.

Olympian, World Cup winner and dual Commonwealth Games gold medallist among a host of other achievements, these have been accomplished while Charter has been studying or working.

Having graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering, Mehcancial Engineering, plus a Master of Oil and Gas Engineering at The University of Western Australia, Charter’s current profession sees him assist in the coordination, design, development and integration of high-end solutions that add value to the business. View Andrew’s full LinkedIn account.

Hockey Australia Athlete Health & Wellbeing Manager Rohan McHugh caught up with the Kookaburras’ number 30 to explore his dual career journey and thoughts on the importance of having something aside from sport.

Why do you think talking about National Careers Week and successful stories of athletes with dual careers during and post their sporting career is important?

AC: “I think particularly with Olympic sports which are not financially remunerated, it’s important to reiterate the value of having something outside your sport. This is particularly for young athletes. You see them come in and all they want to do is their sport. But you need to prepare yourself for life after sport while you’re doing it because in the future it will take out a lot of the stress.

I’ve been in the national men’s hockey program for ten years, have set myself up professionally and now I don’t have to stress about what I do at the end of my sporting career. A lot of guys who don’t work towards a career during their sport get towards the back end and start to stress and ask themselves things like, ‘do I need to do a trade now, do I need to do a degree?’ This ends up creating issues with athletes’ transitions out of sport.

There are also a lot of benefits of having something outside of your sport. It gives you an escape or release. University and work was an escape for me and meant that I wasn’t constantly thinking about hockey and vice-versa. They both complement each other really well and I think that’s something athletes need to think about.”

What is your definition of dual career for an athlete. What does ‘dual career’ look like?

AC: “It was a bit ambiguous initially. Sport is a career and it is important how much effort we put into it, but the second career is something you are striving to achieve. It doesn’t necessarily mean you have to have employment at the time, it can be building your pathway to employment or a professional career or trade. It’s not just having a career, it is having a pathway to it.”

When you started studying at university did you think it was going to be possible to balance study and work with the demands of hockey?

AC: “I started uni in Canberra and then transferred over to WA when I moved over for the national squad. I was doing a Bachelor of Engineering and it took a little while to find the rhythm and how many units I could do. It requires flexibility from your side and also from the university. The elite athlete university program was very good for me in terms of being able to drop units, reschedule exams or have some more freedom with online learning.

Engineering is a four year degree but it ended up taking me about nine years to complete and graduate. Engineering opens up a lot of doorways, it shows you have the ability to problem solve and find solutions.

I took a year or two off to focus on hockey and I was probably the poorer for it because it had a negative impact on my hockey career. I went back to do further study and then just after the Rio Olympics I transitioned into a consulting role for a mining company, which is what I have been doing for the last five years.”

Has your employer been flexible and understanding?

AC: “They were understanding when they employed me. I guess the biggest learning and the thing I would try to preach to everyone is that you have to be clear with your employer. There’s no point hiding a tour that you’ve got to go on or hiding team hockey meetings and then the day before telling your employer that you’ll be late in at work tomorrow.

They are doing you a favour by employing you and you’ve got to give back that respect in return. If you can tell them what your schedule is as early as possible it will make them much more comfortable. I know the times I have had issues with clients has been when things have been popping up last minute because they can’t plan for that.”

What have the Kookaburras done to support your job career?

AC: “The Kookaburras are the epitome of flexibility for an Olympic sport in my opinion. In my whole time here since 2011 we have been able to train outside of work hours except for lead up to major tournaments. It has meant I’ve effectively been able to work or study on a full time basis for the majority of my career. They allow us to finish training at 8.30am and gym is usually scheduled around that as well. The support from an Athlete Wellbeing & Engagement standpoint has always been good and they are understanding when exams come up. I think the Kookaburras have always understood that having things outside of sport benefits the team overall. They are aware that if people are just hockey or sport centric, it can create a lot of other stresses.”

What advice would you give to athletes who are hesitant to jump into dual career for fear of it getting in the way?

AC: “For me it would be to give it a go. Don’t fear it. Everyone I know who is in a dual career, whether it’s studying or having a professional role, they see it as a benefit. Yes there is less financial stress but it is about going home and not just thinking about your sport all the time. You might have a poor training session but then you go to work and you don’t think about it. When I wasn’t in dual career, that training session would sit with me, so it gives you something else that you can excel at and have a good time doing as well as hockey.

It does seem like a lot of hard work if you haven’t done it and it might feel hard for the first few months when you are finding your feet, but there are plenty of people who have done it before and networks that can help you out.”