about us

our why

Whether you were an athlete or not, we can all agree it can be difficult to navigate life post-grad. There are a lot of things that come flying at you that you may not be ready for.  If you have read up on our avatars and relate to them in any way, then we’re sure you’ll relate to this as well.

Being an athlete is a huge part of people’s identities. Everything you do revolves around it and sometimes it’s all you know. I have memories going back to 5 years old at soccer tournaments just looking forward to those orange slices and frozen grapes. Fast forward to high school, going from a lacrosse game straight to prom. Fast forward again to college, taking chemistry tests in the conference room of a hotel in Virginia Beach because our team was at nationals. 

The point is, being an athlete takes up a lot of time, and then, all of a sudden, it’s over. Just like that. No more games, no more carb loads, no more bruised-up arms and late-night bus rides back to campus, none of it. It’s all over and you’ll never get it again. You’ll never be on that team again, you’ll never have a big game to work towards again, and you’ll never be running suicides because someone was late to practice or forgot their cleats. And no one prepares you for it; something you’ve spent the majority of your life doing ends in an instant and you’re left to grasp life without sport.

Now you’re navigating adulthood, maybe a new job, a new city, maybe you’re living at home going to grad school; either way you’re taken out of one environment and placed into an entirely different one with no warning. I’m not trying to make this some big sob story for athletes, everyone goes through big life changes, all I’m saying is that you’re not alone, and sometimes it feels like that. 

Athletic Regular Person Society was built to meet you at the intersection of being an athlete and a regular person. A place to train like you used to, find resources on the transition into adulthood, hear from other former athletes who have gone through the similar experiences, get tips on nutrition and fueling your body properly, and relate to and receive support from a community of former athletes turned regular people. Join the team, be an ARP.

our values

There are arguably a lot of qualities that contribute to a happy life, but we have narrowed it down to the five listed here. We hold ourselves accountable to each of these values and hope you do too. We believe they are the base for a happy, fulfilled, and purposeful life and can all be found in sport.

Click each value to read more about what we mean by them.

  • sportsmanship : one of the first lessons you learn as an athlete and also one of the most important. to us, sportsmanship means being respectful of others, their opinions, beliefs, and decisions; much like having to respect the call of a referee or umpire, whether you agree or not. part of life and navigating adulthood is realizing that not everyone thinks or acts the same as you. you have to recognize that and learn how to manage respectfully. in a work setting, to have sportsmanship is to acknowledge a colleague's idea, recognize the positives, and suggest an adjustment. often we are not in control of what happens to us, so in a world of reactions, be proactive.

  • connection : one of the necessities for human happiness. to us, connection means going to happy hour with the girls, watching the game with friends, asking your parents about their day, giving a compliment to a stranger, or learning the names of the baristas at your local coffee shop. humans were built for connection, and we had some of the deepest connections with our teammates, and it can be hard to replicate that. but think about the last time you connected with someone on something, whether it was an opinion, a hobby, or a shared love of a sports team. I bet it was a pretty good feeling. we want you strive to make more of those connections.

  • passion : the intense, enthusiastic emotion towards something. you hear passion used a lot with side hustles or 'passion projects,' but to be passionate doesn't mean you need to dedicate your life to it. to us, passion is less about the pursuit of something and more about the persona of passion. be passionate about your morning routine, be passionate about calling your long-distance friends, be passionate about your knowledge of football players, be passionate about your plant babies, be passionate about your nutrition, just be passionate. it is an emotion that drives human existence and purpose and it’s one we can’t go without.

  • resilience : otherwise known as grit, tenacity, mental toughness, walk it off, rub some dirt in it, you get the idea. to us, resilience means challenging yourself, pushing yourself past what you thought your limits were, getting outside of your comfort zone, and maintaining a growth mindset. in sport, this is often used as a way to motivate a player to keep pushing, for better or for worse. as adults, we may not have an ankle injury we need to play through, but we can use resilience to get through our struggles of the day for a better tomorrow. don't let the spilled coffee, bad driver, or poorly timed red light take over your day, take a deep breath, reset, accept the challenge, and move on.

  • consciousness : a fancy way to say self-awareness. to us, consciousness is the state of being aware and acknowledging your existence, faults, mistakes, triumphs, experiences, and surroundings. in the modern world it is easy to get into the habit of going through the motions: wake up, work, eat, sleep, repeat. consciousness means being intentional. be intentional about the time you spend with people, are the people you surround yourself with uplifting you or tearing you down? be intentional about the time you spend alone, do you doom scroll on Instagram or do you learn a new craft? be aware of the words you speak, do you use negatively connoted words or positive ones? complacency is the enemy of excellence, so stay conscious.

Meet our Avatars

These are the fictional characters that ARPS had in mind when being created. Click to read more, and see if you relate.

  • Becca is a former soccer player. She played in college but had to redshirt her senior year due to an injury. She thinks about playing on that team every week; being on the field, under the bright lights, sweating with her teammates, out of breath, hoping that the conditioning will end, and growing closer with them because of it.

    She thinks about those game-winning assists and traveling through the airport together decked out in their school gear, with matching backpacks, and sweatpants. She misses being that close with a group of girls and of course, being in the best shape of her life.

    Tori works in marketing now and plays pick-up soccer on the weekends with some of her work friends but it’s sporadic and not very competitive.

    She’s tried pilates, but doesn’t feel like a good enough workout for her. She always leaves feeling like she barely sweated. She follows a few people on Instagram who give good athletic-based workouts but rarely gets around to trying them out.

    So, she goes to F45, every day, at 6:30 AM, in an attempt to feel like she is still going to morning workouts.

  • Chase is a former football player. He played throughout high school and misses the sport and his teammates more than he would admit.

    He works in real estate and goes to the gym 3-4 times a week but his workouts usually consist of ego/bro lifts, and he doesn’t warm up, even though he knows he should.

    He has tried running but it wasn’t for him. He misses the ability to come together several times a week and play a sport, showcase your athleticism and competitiveness, and exhaust yourself to the point of pouring ice-cold water on your neck and chugging Gatorade.

    He likes to meal prep but typically doesn’t get around to it cause it takes too much planning and time. When he doesn’t prep his lunches for the office, he typically runs out with some colleagues to grab Chick-fil-A or Whataburger. And typically feels shitty after it. He knows it’s important to fuel his body but doesn’t know where to start.

    Oh, he is also under the impression that if he were to go back for the alumni game, he’d crush the current team… come on Chase, be fr. 

  • "We don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing."

    George Bernard Shaw