WINNING THE MIND BATTLE
KIDS and sport – what a great mix. Being involved with any type of sport helps children and teenagers build healthy minds, healthy bodies, friendships and life skills.
Sport also teaches them about competition – teaches them how to be a good sport.
They can be charging to a finish line, shooting for goal or hitting a four. The next time they maybe can’t believe they were beaten or missed the shot or got caught.
Sport gives children the opportunity to experience emotional highs and lows.
It can also teach them how to be part of a team, win well, bounce back from a loss and cope with things like injury and disappointment.
These are great lessons but it is how they cope and how they grow up in the sport.
Nowadays social media plays a huge part in most people’s lives and there’s pressure from expectation of success, performance and how you look and act.
Athletes can sometimes seem like they are superhuman and “lucky’’ to be where they are but did you know that many are probably suffering more than the average person in a lot of ways.
At the top levels, they are always dealing the pressure to succeed and win, constant verbal abuse and criticism from fans and coaches plus consistent physical stress.
How to deal with all these pressures can sometimes take their toll. It is important to know how to handle different situations now. A sports psychologist works with athletes to achieve their optimum mental health and wellbeing. They ultimately, are working to improve sporting performance.
They can help athletes who are recovering from injury, who are underperforming, struggling with pressure, or help to improve motivation.
Part of the Academy programs includes presentations on sports psychology.
Topics include goal setting, mental toughness, coping strategies, dealing with the balancing act of school and sport and many others.
In attending these sessions with our professional presenters, it never ceases to amaze me how many children, regardless of age, are impacted.
When asked to write down something that they are troubled by, regardless of sport or general life, the responses are varied and in some cases quite surprising.
In talking about them though, the athletes are developing and learning new coping mechanisms and “tools’’ to deal with them.
They are no longer alone. We hear of many sports people who have struggled with injury, pressure, retirement, bullying and general life.
In Australia, athletes of the calibre of Ian Thorpe, Greg Inglis and Matthew Mitcham have spoken publicly about their struggles with depression.
It happens more than you know. Personally, I suffered from depression when transitioning into a non-athlete.
I was a mum and a working person, coaching after work and was trying to be everything to everyone, but myself.
I broke the routine. I was so used to doing things for “me’’.
After struggling for many months, I was able to realise I needed help and went for help.
It’s hard for a super-driven person to dial back their workload and change their approach.
It’s no different than shin splints or a stress fracture.
It is important to speak to someone – whether this is your coach, a friend, family member or doctor, it’s important for athletes to have a strong network in place.
If you’re in a deep hole, or you know someone who is, get help. Be patient.
As an athlete or young person who is struggling, it is important to connect with others, even if that feels impossible.
Talk to someone about what you’re going through. That first step is often the hardest.
If only we could talk about our mental health as easily as we talk about our physical health.
The conversation around mental health is just now coming to light and I look forward to seeing the stigma and fear around these issues be erased for the next generations.
If you ask any former athlete, they’ll probably say the competition faced on the track or in the field or on the court can be small compared to what you might go through when you retire from the game you love.
The pressures of life can get on top of us all no matter how young or elite you are.
The Academy is extremely proud that we are addressing this increasingly important area of sport and life.