As pressure mounts, athletes take the strain

● The global coronavirus pandemic has already affected sporting finances, putting mental health firmly in the spotlight.

With no sport to look forward to and with the expected negative fiscal domino effect, sports psychologist Kirsten van Heerden said athletes are subjected to the same mental stresses as other people.

“Athletes find it difficult to ask for help because they’re expected to be mentally tough and to deal with pressure,” Van Heerden said.

“There’s a difference between mental toughness and mental health. I can’t say they’re programmed to deal with this peculiar environment. Athletes also suffer from mental health issues like anxiety and depression like the rest of us.”

Van Heerden, who works with the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc), rugby players union MyPlayers and the SA Cricketers’ Association (Saca), said the uncertainty wrought by the virus pressurises athletes from a daily and training route perspective.

“Athletes are super-disciplined when there’s a goal in mind. The Covid-19-induced uncertainty means no one knows when they’ll be competing again. A year from a specific event is too far to be disciplined, so that’s tough for goal-orientated athletes. A lot of them are in the middle of their seasons, so it’s easy to fall into bad habits,” Van Heerden said.

Veteran sports psychologist Jannie Botha said athletes who were on the verge of retirement this year are in a difficult spot financially and mentally because their competition plans have been drastically altered by the spread of the virus that’s halted sports worldwide.

Botha also said athletes who participate in team sports may find it harder to cope with the various lockdowns as compared to their individual sports counterparts.

“I’ve got players whose contracts are finishing in July and that’s put a lot of pressure on them to understand what their future is like because their contracts are ending soon and they don’t have a way to perform to keep their contracts. There’s a lot of pressure on them,” Botha said.