Aja Parham believes she is not unlike many other former student-athletes who find themselves thrust into the job market with little preparation for how to handle their finances or plan for their futures.

A former basketball student-athlete at Boston College, Parham budgeted her time at college between two elements — her studies and basketball.

"It was all about sport and school," she said. "You don’t necessarily think about the after-college job aspect. There’s such an emphasis on making sure you work out during the summer —-and you’ve got to be at school for a certain amount of time during the summer. You never get the job experience a lot of kids get. I definitely feel like (nonstudent-athletes) are in different situations where they have to deal with money, unlike most scholarship athletes."

The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., an NCAA corporate partner, recognized that students such as Parham likely outnumber those who are equipped to create household budgets, start savings accounts and have the input to make smart financial decisions.

In conjunction with the NCAA, The Hartford created a national education program aimed at helping student-athletes understand the realities and complexities of personal finances. Called "Playbook for Life," the program includes a financial guidebook, a Web site (www.playbook.thehartford.com) and visits to college campuses by "Team Hartford," a group of former student-athletes who tell their personal financial experiences to help current student-athletes make the right decisions. So far, 10 campuses have hosted the program and more than 60,000 copies of the Playbook are in circulation.

The Playbook offers advice and education on topics such as credit cards, saving for retirement and different types of investments. In addition to educational information, the guidebook also provides worksheets for making financial goals, calculating net worth and creating a household budget.

"We’ve found that the Playbook for Life provides the right information at the right time of life for young adults preparing themselves for the real world," said Ann Glover, The Hartford’s senior vice president of corporate relations and chief marketing officer. "The guide is written for students, with their input, to answer the tough personal finance questions they have."

But what makes the program truly special, Glover said, is the involvement of Team Hartford members who bring the important concepts to life.

"By sharing their own mistakes and lessons learned, these individuals help steer today’s young people onto the right track toward their financial future," she said. "I hear all the time from people who finished school years ago that they wish they had had a resource like the Playbook when they wrestled with finances for the first time."

Financial future

The Hartford will release an updated guidebook this month, featuring tips, worksheets, resources and advice. The new version will target all students but retain its athletics theme. It also includes expanded sections on budgeting, renting, managing credit and tips for preventing identity theft. Real-world experiences of former student-athletes like Parham also are included. Because the guidebook and the Web site are resources available to anyone, not just student-athletes, Glover said the program contributes to the "financial literacy of a population that needs it."

"Our primary goal is continued growth and improvement of the program and expanding the universe of young people we can help. Each new NCAA member institution we work with teaches us something that helps us grow and improve the Playbook for Life program," she said.

Jennifer Rizzotti, women’s basketball coach at the University of Hartford and a former student-athlete at the University of Connecticut, was one of the first people connected with the project when her institution became involved more than a year ago. Rizzotti said she liked that the Playbook for Life was easy to understand and dealt with practical issues.

"It really can help set these kids up for their financial futures if they’ll follow some of the advice. They don’t have to do every single thing in the booklet — they can just do one or two things and already be off to a better start than the average person," she said. "I just think it’s important because we often graduate from college not being educated enough about finances and our future. This is what The Hartford is trying to do — teach these kids something before they leave."

Parham, who spent the summer coaching and completing an internship at the University of California, Los Angeles, will play basketball in Europe this fall before applying to graduate schools. She became involved with Playbook for Life at the 2006 Women’s Final Four in Boston and said the program inspired her to start saving her money instead of spending it on nonessential things.

"Before, it was just, ‘I’ll make money, I’ll spend money,’ as opposed to, ‘I need to put this away, put this aside,’ " she said. "Even thinking about different finances that I have to pay, different bills and things like that, they’re all little things I never really thought about before ... (Playbook for Life) opened my eyes to things that I didn’t necessarily recognize as an athlete. When I talked to some of my teammates about it, it helped, too — none of us had really talked about it. We just talked about playing this sport, going to this school. A lot of us were somewhat behind because regular students have those internships and make some money and put it aside accordingly."

Parham’s first experience with personal finance came when she earned an internship with ESPN that required her to pay her own rent and budget for food and other necessities — "things you don’t really do as a scholarship athlete," she said.

Remember the future

Research from The Hartford indicates that many student-athletes have a misconception of how much money they will earn after graduation and how far those dollars will go toward living expenses. Parham said she would advise current student-athletes to be aware of the limitations they face and try to get a job during their college years if possible.

"If you have your own job, you’re making your own money and you look at it differently," she said. "Think about what you might want to do and force your coaches to allow it to happen. A lot of coaches require you to be on campus during the summer, and most jobs are not going to allow you to be at home for a month, then here for a month. More than anything, student-athletes need to just be aware of their financial future."

The 2006-07 version of Playbook for Life kicked off with a presentation by former University of Notre Dame football player Allen Pinkett at his alma mater. Pinkett addressed fourth- and fifth-year student-athletes, giving tips and advice on financial planning. He was joined by Bill Poutre, an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship and head men’s golf coach at the University of Hartford. The presentation is available in a "Webinar" at the Playbook Web site. Officials are planning additional events for this fall and spring 2007.