This is what happens when you make professional sports into one of the highest-paying careers. Even if it was just the Olympics, missing out for that length of time could have cost him millions in lost sponsorship deals and who knows how many potential career moves if there are scouts there. Every young athlete goes into pro sports with the mantra drilled into him that he has almost no time to make the most out of his career before he ages out and the money stops flowing.
Yeah, no you’re right. Field hockey in Aus is professional (i.e. we have a pro league), but their is no free-to-air tv rights, which is where the money is, so pay would be… Less than Women’s netball, or maybe even women’s rugby union, which is only semi-pro, lol…
Hockey is definitely still fairly niche here, and we’re like, world number 3 or 4…
Also regarding his “star” status, I had never even heard of him, and I technically went to school with our hockey captain (he would have been finishing up when I started, but still), and grew up playing it… So he’s not that big a name, imho, lol.
This is what happens when you make professional sports into one of the highest-paying careers. Even if it was just the Olympics, missing out for that length of time could have cost him millions in lost sponsorship deals and who knows how many potential career moves if there are scouts there. Every young athlete goes into pro sports with the mantra drilled into him that he has almost no time to make the most out of his career before he ages out and the money stops flowing.
I doubt one player on the Australian men's field hockey team is earning millions per year in sponsorships.
The article refers to him as a "star", so I guess it's possible I'm wrong, but I doubt it considering how few people care about field hockey.
Yeah, no you’re right. Field hockey in Aus is professional (i.e. we have a pro league), but their is no free-to-air tv rights, which is where the money is, so pay would be… Less than Women’s netball, or maybe even women’s rugby union, which is only semi-pro, lol…
Hockey is definitely still fairly niche here, and we’re like, world number 3 or 4…
Also regarding his “star” status, I had never even heard of him, and I technically went to school with our hockey captain (he would have been finishing up when I started, but still), and grew up playing it… So he’s not that big a name, imho, lol.