Life After Sports: Kaden Dugle – Finding Purpose Beyond the Diamond
For many student-athletes, the end of a college sports career brings a flood of emotions, nostalgia, uncertainty, and the question of what’s next? For Kaden Dugle, a former baseball player at Asbury University and 2024 graduate in Health & Physical Education, the transition from the diamond to the classroom was both bittersweet and fulfilling.
“It was bittersweet, but I was oddly at peace with it,” Dugle reflected. During his final year, he wasn’t just wrapping up his last season, he was juggling a full-time elementary PE teaching position, graduate coursework, and the everyday demands of a college athlete. “It was a busy year, balancing lesson plans, meetings, graduate classes, and the game I’d been playing all my life. I was getting to still play a kid’s game while living an adult life everywhere else,” he said.
That balance became a bridge between two worlds, the athlete life and life after sports. By the time the season ended, Dugle had already found his next purpose. “When the season ended, I already had a purpose waiting for me. That made it easier to close the playing chapter with gratitude rather than regret.”
Even after hanging up his cleats, Dugle hasn’t drifted far from the game. He continues to coach baseball at Asbury University, the very program that helped shape him. “Coaching allows me to give back to not only the game, but the program that gave me so much,” he said. “The athlete mindset will always be there: the drive to improve, the attention to detail, the eagerness to compete; it just shows up differently now. Whether it’s in my gym or on the golf course, I still chase progress every day.”
Reflecting on his time as a student-athlete, Dugle recognizes how those years built a foundation for his professional and personal life. “Being a student-athlete taught me how to show up no matter how I felt,” he explained. “Balancing teaching full-time, graduate school, and college baseball required time management, focus, and discipline at the highest level.”
Those lessons now shape his approach to life. “Baseball prepared me for life because it taught me how to fail, adjust, and keep going forward,” he said. “Those same qualities have shaped who I am today: a teacher, coach, and man who understands what it takes to perform under pressure while keeping the right perspective.”
As for his message to current student-athletes preparing for life after sports, Dugle’s advice is simple but powerful:
“Don’t fear the transition, prepare for it. Be where your feet are in these last seasons and enjoy it. You’ll soon realize these were some of the best years of your life. Your sport doesn’t define you, but it does prepare you. The habits, the discipline, and the mindset you’ve developed are tools that’ll serve you for life. When your playing days end, it’s not over, it's just the start of a new opportunity to compete in a different arena.”
Next Chapter Friday Feature is a new series highlighting former CCS student-athletes from across the conference who have transitioned from competition to life beyond sports. Each month, we’ll share their journeys—how the lessons, values, and experiences of being a student-athlete continue to shape their careers, communities, and lives after graduation.
ABOUT THE COLLEGIATE CONFERENCE OF THE SOUTH (CCS)
The CCS is an NCAA Division III athletic conference that began play during the 2022-23 academic year. The conference features nine member institutions (Agnes Scott College, Asbury University, Belhaven University, Covenant College, Huntingdon College, LaGrange College, Maryville College, Piedmont University, and Wesleyan College) and sponsors championships across 14 sports. In addition to sharing the member institutions' geographic identity, the name 'Collegiate Conference of the South' is indicative of a shared commitment to academic excellence, which is commensurate with the NCAA Division III philosophy.
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