Are Sorenstam and Henin Really "Retiring," Or Are They Just Choosing to Change Careers?

Thursday, May 15th, 2008

Are Sorenstam and Henin Really “Retiring,” Or Are They Just Choosing to Change Careers?

Within 24-hours of one another, top-ranked pro-golfer Annika Sorenstam and #1-ranked tennis pro Justine Henin announced their “retirement” this week.

Many news outlets painted a picture of surprise and speculation – what are the reasons these women are quitting at the top of their game? Are they unwell? Are they pregnant? Are they afraid of losing? Do they have something to hide?

Now, I don’t know their sports very well. And don’t know what the average shelf-life is for professional athletes. But it’s perhaps this distance that gives me a different perspective – one that doesn’t question why they’ve called it quits, but understands why it would be natural for them to do so.

We live in a day where it’s not longer presumed we’ll be in the same job, or even with the same company for the duration of our careers. So why are athletes held to different standards? And why is it so surprising when they do decide to hang it up as professional players?

Headlines that scream out about these women “retiring” seem a bit sensationalist and put the focus more on the sport than then individuals. As Henin said in a news conference,

“This is the end of a child’s dream. I feel like I already lived three lives. I gave the sport all I could and took everything it could give me. I take this decision without the least bit of regrets. It is my life as a woman that starts now.”

And good for her! What’s admirable about these two women is not that they walked away from huge potential earnings (Henin won $5 million in prize money alone last year.) It’s not that they could have done more to beef up their positions in sports history books. It’s that in the face of all of that, in the face of all their training and influence of outside forces (coaches, sponsors, the leagues they help drive revenue for) they knew themselves and they knew what they wanted. And it’s that kind of ego-less self-possession that makes a true hero and role model worthy of little girls’ (and others’) admiration.

That is also in part, why it seems so bizarre to sensationalize the fact that they’re retiring from their respective sports. Last time I checked, there were plenty of other jobs in the golf, tennis and professional sports industries. All these women are doing is quitting their jobs to do something else – something worker-bees do every day in across every business sector.

It remains to be seen how Henin and Sorenstam will stay connected (or not) to the sports they’ve dedicated so much time, passion, and energy to over the last years. Maybe they’ll become commentators, maybe they’ll open sports camps, maybe they’ll take up flower arranging. The point is, it doesn’t matter.

Yes it’s sad to lose true competitors, true athletes and true professionals. But it’s an awesome sight to see women knowing what they want in life, and, as in their previous years in sport, truly committing to giving it all they’ve got. That prize in and of itself, is more than any tournament championship can offer.

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