The bell rings at 3:15 after a long day of school. For most students this means finally getting a break to go home and rest, but this doesn’t apply to all. For student athletes, their day is just getting started.
Student athletes’ lives are much more complex than what is seen at the surface. They have to tackle balancing packed schedules, are held to high expectations in both their academics and sports, and the biggest challenge, overcoming their own mind.
In these athletes’ lives, schedules become jam packed. They have to balance school, homework, school sports, club sports, a social life, and other extra activities. Junior Kaia Swaim knows this all too well. Swaim is known for her presence on the soccer field as well as in the classroom. She attends her daily practices and training following her full school day and assigned homework. “It’s definitely hard trying to find a balance between it all, sometimes you have to sacrifice things you don’t necessarily want to, but that’s life,” Swaim said.
Another junior, Bella Donatti also finds this as a challenge. Donatti is involved in track, softball, FCA, and still finds time to work. “Having a busy schedule can get to be so overwhelming, being on the go all the time makes me feel like I always have to be doing something, I have to remind myself that it’s okay to take a break,” Donatti said.
An insane amount of pressure is put on these athletes to perform in every aspect of their lives. They already have so much to deal with and expectations from teammates, coaches, teachers, and parents just adds to the stress. These high standards get exhausting and can lead to anxiety or cause the athletes to be burnt out. The common fear of not performing and letting others down creates heavy burdens that they have to carry. Outside sources such as social media also become a factor in intensifying the pressure. Due to these platforms, it is so much easier for these student athletes to be compared and for their performances to be analyzed and commented on by others. These are struggles that interfere with the challenge of maintaining a healthy mindset and lifestyle.
All of this creates the perfect storm for anxiety, burn-out, and depression. Everything that weighs on athletes’ shoulders can rip their love and personality away from them. It sounds dramatic, but it can truly be a problem.
Kristy Schweer, a self-employed volleyball trainer, coach for Iowa United and mom, has experienced this first hand with many athletes. Schweer notices that whether in sports or school student athletes are expected to give 110% in everything they do, but that’s physically and mentally impossible. “These athletes are expected to give everything they have, that they forget that they are going to have off-days. I think they believe they need to be perfect in everything, when in reality life is never perfect,” Schweer said. She says that all of this internal and external pressure leaves the athletes feeling like they will never meet the standard and drags their self worth. “I’ve seen it happen before, the happiest and most positive kid on and off the court can fall out of love with the game and lose any confidence they have had before, it’s really, really hard to watch,” Schweer said.
Amanda Guillen, a former division 1 basketball player and current mindset coach for athletes, also comments on this saying, “being a student athlete is something really hard that takes a huge toll on your mental health, I help my athletes focus on what they can control and tune out the outside pressure.”
The life of a student athlete is very mentally and physically taxing, but something can be done about it. The first step is having a growth mindset. It is never going to be easy, in the beginning it almost feels more exhausting trying to battle your mind, but in the long run a growth mindset will allow for athletes to live a happier life. Remember, athletes are people too.
