Understanding the feelings of players when they practice, leading up to the game, the nerves and pressure that surrounds them when it comes to game night and the bleachers are packed with eager fans ready to watch their team win.
The players stress multiple things approaching an important game, which causes a lot of self-pressure up to 66.6% and a fear of failure up to 64% overall. This puts a strain on their mental health, which leads to common diagnoses such as anxiety and depression.
Siwon Youn junior football player understands that the mental side of the game is just as important as the physical side.
Many athletes keep their feelings and stress bottled up, which negatively affects their mental health, performances and academics causing Athletes grades to drop. If they focus too much on their performance, their academics are affected and vice versa.
“You devote a lot of your time and effort and life into it and it affects a lot of aspects of your life like school and social,” Frankie Kubitschek, senior football player, said.
It’s like taking a test in school. If you don’t perform well then you don’t really get a retake. — Frankie Kubitschek
Football can feel like more of a job because of the dedication and time they put into the practices, the rugged workouts and the outside training that needs to be done. The amount of time a sport can take up along with school on top of that, it is crucial that they get into a type of balance.
For example, Kubitschek can “definitely appreciate the time away to focus on other aspects” as if he doesn’t have a lot of time for himself or for academics which can make it difficult to find footing when making the decision to do a sport.
Playing an intense sport such as football commonly leads to major and minor injuries and burnout. Many young athletes can be turned off by this kind of stress. This leads them to not perform well in all aspects such as academics, sports and even their social life. They can become too drained to put any effort into anything.
“The pleasure and satisfaction of being a part of a team and contributing to something bigger than yourself is hopefully something that negates any of the constraints or challenges that come with it,” head football coach Beau LaBore explained.
Participating in team sports can also reduce anxiety, depression and attention problems not just cause it. Many athletes find football as a release for their feelings and they also feel a community within their team, which helps them feel a sense of security which is vital in a tough period such as high school.
“We preform for each other. It’s like one person can’t make a team, but one person can definitely break it,” Youn said.
