An athlete is a person before an athlete.

Sports psychology has traditionally focused on how to optimise an athlete’s psychology for the best measurable success outcomes. Yet success isn’t maintained or at the very least sustained when an athlete is burned out / struggling with their mental health. 

So why do many mental skills models exclude the human part of being an athlete?

This has become more apparent with a number athletes stepping back from their sporting endeavours to tend to their mental health. 

We’re surprised but we’re not. The athlete life is a privileged one, often travelling the world where they happen to actually LIKE their job. This makes people think that it’s EASY, because if you love your job then is it even a real job? Apparently not. 

Athlete life is a privilege, but it is not a walk in the park.

An athlete’s worth is constantly scrutinised in a highly competitive environment. Job security is a real threat day-to-day. Combine that with an identify that is heavily bound to that job an athlete will start to wonder, who am I if I’m not an athlete? 

Nothing is forever, athlete life is about as impermanent as it gets. Eventually, the athlete will need to transition into non-athlete life. 

I myself have identified as “a washed up ski racer”. Spending years placing my entire worth on how fast I could ski (which was never fast enough). As you can imagine, this got pretty dark at times.  

So as athletes, coaches, psychologists, parents, partners, physios, trainers, sponsors & friends, how can we better support our athletes? 

1. Start to value athletes as people first, athletes second. 

2. Prioritise a plan B, explore other passions. Athletes need play, to create and have something to fall back on when (not if) their career comes to an end. 

3. Before an athlete is tits deep in a high performance sporting career, give them the knowledge & skills to connect with that which cannot be taken away by poor or no performance outcomes. 

3. Prioritise mental skills that are also relevant outside of sport – how an athlete deals with life’s demands is going to impact how an athlete deals with sporting demands. 

Athletes are people before they are athletes. Reach out, speak up, and value the person behind the athlete. 

Big aroha to all those who are in the arena doing it tough, and to those who have voiced their struggles and are setting a new collective standard in high performance sport.