Kiwi sprint cyclists set up job recruitment company to help athletes ease into retirement

Sam Dakin and Callum Saunders have set up their own job recruitment company.

Kiwi sprint cyclists Sam Dakin and Callum Saunders are tackling the issue of what athletes do in retirement, before their careers come to an end.

They've launched their own business, which is an athlete job recruitment company called Athlete Community Link.

"If you shorten Athlete Community Link, it's ACL which is a common sporting injury which ends people’s careers," Dakin said.

The website is designed to help athletes bridge the gap into the working world, while businesses reap the benefits of highly-skilled employees.

"It's an entire industry that is not utilised... You've got athletes with PhDs, with master's [degrees], with experience — not even a degree but experience travelling around the world, things you learn in races and high-pressure situations,” Dakin said.

Athletes can jump on the website portal and apply for jobs posted by Waikato businesses. The athlete can then decide how many hours and what days they'd like to work.

"If someone wants to work two hours a week and they just want to get out of the house then we'll find something for them," Saunders said.

The Waikato is the sporting hub for many of our high-profile athletes all competing in cycling, canoe rowing and triathlon.

"We're not looking to chase jobs that are full-time 40 hours employment. We're looking to match people with flexible part-time projects,” Dakin said.

Cycling NZ head sprint coach Rene Wolff says some athletes don't have any work experience by the time they retire.

"Sport is quite a short lifetime and it's really uncertain so you need to be prepared for your life after, or your life next to it," Wolff said.

Website builder company Rocketspark have helped the guys get set up with their new business, which many other athletes are delving into since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Something interesting, just with Covid, how everyone is looking at a plan B — not just athletes but small businesses. Everyone’s going, 'Actually, the world as I know it is different,'" Rocketspark CEO Grant Johnson said.

"Just being an athlete doesn't cut it all the time, so allowing someone to have that experience in a flexible capacity and not compromise on their sport, we'll set them up perfectly for retirement," Dakin said.

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