What happens when athletes' dreams of going pro are crushed? Filmmaker studying UVic team aims to find out

Courtney Dickson · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 14, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

Raymond Dimmitt arrived successful B.C. in 2019 with large dreams. 

Having conscionable turned 18, he'd moved distant from the United Arab Emirates, wherever helium grew up, to Vancouver Island. He was poised to survey astatine the University of Victoria, an anxious freshman with a past of playing precocious level hoops backmost home.

He planned to play for the University of Victoria's men's hoops team, wherever helium figured he'd bid and hole for a vocation with the nationalist squad successful Thailand, where he was born.

But Dimmitt said helium was "quickly humbled" erstwhile he didn't marque the team. 

"It was a precise eye-opening acquisition to recognize however overmuch amended the level of hoops is present successful Canada," helium said. "It was hard for maine that I had to spell backmost to the drafting committee and fig retired what I'm going to bash with my life."

Now, 5 years later, with a grade successful doctrine and biology studies and some film directing credits connected his resume, Dimmitts is utilizing his lived acquisition to marque a documentary astir the fallout erstwhile athletes, successful particular, find retired beingness mightiness not enactment retired the mode they'd planned. 

"My absorption successful schoolhouse was philosophy, and I consciousness similar present it's my accidental to benignant of archer the communicative that's not being told capable successful this existential quality of what it means to beryllium an athlete," helium said. 

Dimmitt and a tiny movie unit volition travel the University of Victoria men's shot squad for the adjacent 2 seasons, culminating successful their travel to the U Sports Men's Soccer Championship successful 2027, which the assemblage is hosting.  

"Soccer especially, it is an incredibly challenging athletics to marque it professional," Dimmitt said. 

Dimmitt made it wide helium doesn't privation oregon expect the squad to fail but, according to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), precise fewer pupil athletes spell connected to nonrecreational sports careers. 

"I deliberation immoderate of them volition person to grapple with this nature, that this world whitethorn not beryllium successful the books for them, but besides immoderate will," helium said. "But possibly successful this process, if we win properly, we're capable to exemplify however it's OK for the adjacent procreation of athletes to ticker this and beryllium feeling a small spot little disquieted astir a aboriginal that doesn't impact sport." 

Coming to presumption with that world is wholly normal, according to show science advisor Roger Friesen. 

Friesen, who works with immoderate of Canada's apical athletes, including nationalist teams qualifying for the Olympics, said however radical respond and travel to presumption with that feeling varies. 

"Disappointment and disorder is astir apt going to beryllium a precise existent thing," helium said from his location connected B.C.'s Quadra Island.

"Often people's identities are wrapped up successful that dream."

Universal experience

It's thing that tin beryllium applied to thing successful life, Friesen said: sports, music, getting a definite job, having a family, surviving a definite mode — beingness doesn't ever enactment retired the mode we plan. 

Learning however to beryllium "mentally robust" and negociate alteration are important parts of what helium does erstwhile moving with athletes. 

Friesen said people correction is different country helium focuses on. When 1 happening doesn't enactment out, specified arsenic athletics, for example, it's important to cognize what our different abilities and interests are to assistance america determination forward, helium said. 

It's that communal acquisition of coming to presumption with not succeeding successful the mode we had planned that Dimmitt hopes volition get radical watching the movie and talking astir it. 

"If this isn't the astir relatable topic, I don't cognize what it is," helium said.

Dimmitt said helium doesn't yet cognize when the movie volition beryllium finished, but that helium hopes radical who presumption it consciousness seen.

"If idiosyncratic successful the assemblage watching, whether an ex-athlete oregon an ex-musician who wanted to spell pro oregon beryllium precise celebrated oregon whatever, if they're capable to ticker this documentary and consciousness a small spot much understood that a imagination they erstwhile had was not capable to fulfill itself, and that's OK, if you're seen done it, I'd beryllium connected apical of the world."