Image from The Ithacan: These athletes are speaking out about their mental health struggles they have had through the years.
By Emma Hyder 25′
“I was a competitive dancer on my collegiate tour team. Our coach once made us line up by weight and cut anyone above a size 4 out of a routine because we were ‘too big.’ I was a size 6 and didn’t get to dance that number.” This is just one of many things that coaches and peers do to athletes to make them feel like they’re not good enough for their sport. This is something that has been happening for ages and it is making kids not want to try out for sports or make them quit when they start. This for many reasons has to change.
This problem that we have on our hands is current to what is happening right now in sports because the mental health problem is already at an all time high, and now with the pressure of coaches, teammates and spectators, the athletes are having trouble performing to the standard that people are setting for them. Coming from an athletic background and doing sports my whole life I know what it is like to have people wanting you to do one thing, and then when you can’t meet that standard, how it feels. I feel like you’re letting down the people that need you and that is something heavy to hold on your mental health. Athletes get in their head and overthink when they don’t do something they were expected to do and that is something heavy on your mental health
There are solutions to this problem but it is going to take a lot of time and change of mindset from everyone. Some way to overcome this problem is not putting all the pressure of the outcome of the teams performance on one singular athlete because it is a team sport and multiple people control the outcome of the game. This can be from the athletes, coaches, or spectators. Coaches can think their star athlete can save the game but that is affecting them a lot mentally to think everything is on them if it doesn’t go their way in the end. Another way we could change this problem is by not getting in your own head when you make a little mistake because that can send you into a spiral and make you overthink every little thing you do. This is something that can only be changed in the athlete’s mind. For example when you’re a track athlete, you have multiple events and you could do horrible in one but then an hour later have a PR in the next. It is all about making it a learning experience, not being too hard on yourself and trying to fix what you did wrong the next time. There are many more ways that this problem can be fixed but there are just two of them.
If these solutions help for the athletes and work out in the end then people will be more open to joining the sport in the first place and performing well when they do join. Young people and even parents that want to try something new for their kids but hear some uneasy things about it might be nervous because they don’t want to feel overwhelmed by something that is meant to make you happy. Once this problem is fixed then the number of young kids in athletics will rise and the depression and anxiety rates will go down in athletes. If this problem is left with no solution, then the kids in sports rate will keep dropping more than it already has. It is getting harder and harder for kids to want to come out and join a new sport because it seems like it is a negative outcome for most athletes. This problem can be left to fester and there has to be a change soon.
If you’re not a coach, teammate, or parent you can still help this problem be solved by encouraging kids and telling them sports is just something to make you happy and it is not your whole identity. This may not seem like alot but if it is going to someone that is really depressed and anxious about their sport, it can be a sigh of relief for a little while. Sometimes all someone needs is someone from the outside that doesn’t know what’s going on in sports to tell you to let go. It feels like a relief because they can just see that you’re becoming very overwhelmed.
With all of that being said this is a problem that has to be changed fast before it becomes something that can’t be reversed. For many people sports are a relief and with how things are on track right now it is becoming a chore for many people. This has to be changed before it is too late.
The Raider Press 