Sports can be the best thing in the world and bring people more joy than they ever thought possible. They can also bring people extreme depression and anxiety when they start to become less fun. While losing is upsetting, it is the mental aspect of the game that causes athletes to be unable to play anymore. The pressure that athletes feel at every level is immense, of winning, losing and making mistakes, but it is much deeper than people realize.
The pressure of sports that leads to mental concerns, such as anxiety, can start right when kids begin youth sports. Youth sports were made to give kids a chance to play simple sports at a recreational level, to make friends and learn the rules. While this is still the goal, they have become much too competitive in many situations. Kids are pressured to win and perform at a high level, even when they are starting out and just playing for fun. Parents and coaches alike often push their own agenda of winning and success over learning and having fun. While kids might not feel the mental effects and stress at this age, it makes them have to overcome unreachable expectations. Throughout childhood, athletes have their own desire to win and play well without their parents or coaches getting mad at them for mistakes. When a kid makes a mistake like dropping a ball or falling, their parents should make them feel better, not put more pressure on them.
As kids continue to play sports into middle school and high school, the pressure only mounts. Athletes also commonly begin to develop a lot of stress at this point in their lives. Parents and coaches start to put immense pressure on their athletes to win and not make mistakes. Athletes at this level are also still having their brains develop. Dealing with the stress of school and friends is very challenging at this age and adding high sports expectations can push kids over the edge. This is a problem that is found at nearly every highschool that Park isn’t immune from. Students in football and basketball are playing at a very high level with extreme pressure. It seems our coaches do a good job of supporting players and making sure people still enjoy playing. There is lots of turnover though in many of the athletic programs of students just not wanting to play anymore.
When athletes reach higher levels in college, they are still merely kids and have immense pressure on them, which can push them to quit. Many college athletes, especially at a high level, already have a lot on their plates with sports, classes and figuring out their life plans. At the highest level of collegiate athletics, athletes breaking down mentally is so common that it’s glossed over constantly. Athletes in football, basketball of both genders and many other sports are expected to play to perfection by fans and anything less is seen as embarrassing. College athletes as young as 17 are scrutinized, hated and tormented by opposing fans. When Duke’s star point guard JJ Redick was merely an 18-year-old freshman in 2002, he was so hated that opposing fans wore shirts with obscene language, threats and vulgar phrases. While fans saw this as comical—and still do—at the time, Redick considered quitting the sport. The amount of pressure he was under from his fans and the hatred he got from his opponents made him see no reason to continue to play.
Another problem with pressure on college athletes is that they are able to be bet on commercially. Popular sports betting apps such as Prize Picks allow users to spend as much money as they want on collegiate athletes as young as 17. This gives people even more reason to hate and verbally abuse athletes pushing them to hate competing and want to quit. When athletes underperform in big moments, they are relentlessly hated and many leave the game entirely. There is more than enough for sports bettors to bet on without having to subject kids to hatred because they had too many. This is one of the biggest reasons that athletes break down and lose the love of the game. Fans think that if an athlete has a bad game or even a big game anything different than what was bet on, it’s the athletes fault and they deserve the blame. Betters often spew hatred on social media which players normally hear and often are saddened by the hate they receive baselessly.
Mental health has been under-acknowledged in sports since the moment they were created. Athletes are supposed to be warriors, gladiators incapable of feeling any pain or discomfort. Many athletes feel frustrated in themselves for mistakes, even if fans, coaches or parents aren’t getting on them. This can lead to major depression for athletes as well. During the pandemic, many athletes struggled with the challenge of not being able to play and having no other way to make money, especially at lower levels. Minor league baseball player Drew Robinson started his career right before the whole league was shut down for the pandemic. He had no contact and no support and felt that without his sport he had nothing to live for. He was in a very dark place and wasn’t sure if there was any way out. He was able to get the help he needed and has been able to have a successful career. The pressure and depression he faced nearly led him to not have any chance to play again.
Sports are beautiful but can be ruined by the mental problems they can lead to. Athletes work to become the top of their field, but mental health concerns can end it all. It is imperative that mental health is a much bigger topic in sports at every level. This will allow sports to be as enjoyable as they can be and make sure everyone can play them as long as they want.
