Thought Leadership v1
Why the Transition from College to Pro in Track & Field is Broken + How We Fix It.
🗓 Thursday June 19, 2025
For most college athletes, the end of eligibility marks the beginning of a well-paved road for those who aspire to go pro: drafts, agents, contracts, and media deals. In track and field, there is none of that. No draft. No guaranteed income. No clear next step.
Given this grey area, thousands of talented and highly motivated college track athletes will give up on their post-collegiate careers due to the inaccessible landscape of going pro.
The transition from college track to the professional world is riddled with uncertainty. The obstacles that most athletes face are:
Unclear pathway: There’s no formal development league, draft, or rookie infrastructure and most athletes are left to figure out the logistics on their own.
Lack of financial support: Most athletes go pro without a contract, sponsorship, or even basic travel stipends. Many rely heavily on grants (if eligible) and working full-time jobs outside of training.
Limited coaching & resources: Once you graduate, access to coaching, facilities, and medical care often disappears. With marketing and branding being a huge part of going pro, many athletes also navigate that path alone due to a lack of resources.
How ProTrackletes aims to fix this:
At ProTrackletes, we believe that the path to a professional career in track and field shouldn’t be difficult. In building a central hub where track athletes can gather resources and learn from existing pros, our goal is to support athletes in every aspect as they make the leap from college to pro. Here’s what we’ll provide:
Education: One of our biggest priorities is educating athletes on how to actually go pro. We’re building digital resources and online educational pieces to help aspiring pros navigate that path.
Community: ProTrackletes is creating a network of aspiring, current, and former athletes, coaches, agents, therapists, mentors, and more to spark conversations about the world of professional track and field. We encourage these connections to promote transparency and learning from one another.
Access: We want to help athletes get connected with brands and professionals so that they can capitalize on all areas of their career. From marketing and PR to mental health and nutrition, ProTrackletes is opening the door to make going pro more accessible.
Track and field is stuck in an outdated model, and ProTrackletes is here to change that. We’re here to help talented athletes turn potential into professionals, not just for a season, but for a sustainable career.
