LISTEN: Hammond Creek Middle School student Harper Weeks speaks with teen athletes about how sports affect their mental health, from performance pressure to coping strategies that help them stay balanced.

 

Whether you’re at the court, field, or gym, there can be many things running through your mind as a teen athlete. Maybe you’re listening to the thoughts in your head, saying you’re not good enough, or maybe you just feel like giving up. But whatever it is, teen athletes are stepping up and discussing the negative effects that sports can have on teenagers and sharing their advice about it. 

Jason Hennon, an 11th grader from Dalton High School, talks about about his experience with his mental health in sports. Jason is a junior elite trampoline and tumbling gymnast who discussed the difficulty of maintaining a positive attitude in a highly competitive environment. 

He mentions how he struggles with perfectionism, anxiety, and ADHD, talking about how the competitions and performances in his sport make him want to perform at his "very best," which can become a setback at times. He then describes the feelings of anxiety as a "mental roadblock" that can be "very trapping," which can lead to depression.

Amelia Porter, who is an HCMS softball player, talks about some of the same feelings and states that her struggles with mental health are "very frequent." For her, perfectionism and comparing yourself to others can be a significant challenge in her sport. 

She explained that seeing others perform "in an amazing way" makes her want to "perfect it even more than them," which can negatively affect how she sees herself as a player and person, but also makes her want to push herself to the extreme, which can end in a bad way sometimes.

When it comes to coping with mental issues, Jason Hennon and Amelia Porter shared the techniques they use to manage their anxiety and stress. 

Jason uses what he calls “hyperfixations,” such as taking a deep breath, shaking his hands, or taking steps back and forth. These things help Jason "calm down, lock in, focus". The biggest lesson he has learned about anxiety, stress, and other mental problems is that, "you cannot let your mind overcome your body," which reminds him that his body "knows what to do".

For Amelia, she has to recognise her own self-worth and hard work. She has to remind herself of this by saying, "you're a good player," and understanding that mistakes will happen, but going home and practicing helps "achieve what you're trying to reach."

Author Taylor Marr, in her book 101 Things Every Young Athlete Should Know, also acknowledges the importance of teens' mental health, especially in sports. Throughout her entire book, she mentions that mental health and mental toughness are just as important as the actual physical work of any sport. Taylor Marr also highlights that maintaining a healthy perspective involves positive thinking.

I myself also struggle with mental health in my sport, as well as these other teen athletes. Like Jason, I participate in trampoline and tumbling, and I mainly struggle with anxiety. I often think that not being able to hit a certain skill or score is the end of the world. Instead of letting my mind take over my body, I have to take a step back and regain my confidence to be able to do what I love.

It’s clear that teens' mental health in sports is such a big issue, not just in our community, but in our world. By doing something as simple as asking around, you will fully understand this major issue. I believe it's now time for everyone to speak up and do something about it!

 

PODCAST TRANSCRIPT:

Harper Weeks: Whether you're at the court, field, or gym, there can be many things running through your mind as a teen athlete. Maybe you're listening to the thoughts in your head saying you're not good enough, or maybe you feel like giving up. But whatever it is, here's some advice and tips from me, Harper Weeks, as well as other athletes and professionals. I'm here with Jason Hennon to talk about teens' mental health within sports. So Jason, what sport do you do?

Jason Hennon: I participate in trampoline and tumbling gymnastics, and I am a junior elite athlete.

Harper Weeks: Do you ever struggle with mental health within TNT?

Jason Hennon: Yes, it's really hard to be yourself in a world full of people who do the same things as you, and especially going into the elite level, um, competition gets so much harder, and it's really hard to not compare yourself to one another. And another thing is that, um, sometimes whenever something gets frustrating or I can't do a certain skill or I can't hit a certain score, it's just really hard mentally, and I am forced to find ways to dial that down.

Harper Weeks: Is there anything in particular you struggle with, such as perfectionism, anxiety, stress, depression, any of that?

Jason Hennon: Um, I struggle a lot with perfectionism, anxiety, and ADHD because for perfectionism, it's really hard growing up in a sport that requires so much like perfection, like you're constantly being scored and judged. So I always want to do my very best, and whenever I don't, it's not a very pretty sighting. And anxiety, it's really, really, really hard to do such big skills, whether it's forwards or backwards or sideways or whatever it is, it's just really hard to overcome like these mental roadblocks and challenges because there's so many things that I feel like I have to do, and sometimes it can be very like trapping. And that can lead into depression also.

Harper Weeks: Is there anything you do to relieve the stress or anxiety or to just not push it down, but stop it for that moment?

Jason Hennon: Yes. Um, for example, whether it's taking a deep breath or shaking my hands or taking three steps forward and then three steps backwards, there's a lot of like, I guess, hyperfixations that I do, and that kind of helps me calm down, lock in, focus, um, think about what I need to do, how I should do it, and it's really hard to not get caught up in the moment. But a big thing that I've learned from the sport is that you cannot let your mind overcome your body, and at the end of the day, your body knows what to do. So it's really important to not be so caught up in what's in your head rather than what you know you can do.

Harper Weeks: Thank you, Jason. I really enjoyed your visit today.

Jason Hennon: Thank you, Harper, for having me.

 

Harper Weeks: I'm here with Amelia Porter, a seventh grade student at Haymon Creek Middle School, to get her feedback and advice on teens' mental health and sports. So, Amelia, what sport do you play?

Amelia Porter: I play softball for HCMS and softball for a travel ball team in Dalton, Georgia.

Harper Weeks: Do you ever struggle with mental health within softball?

Amelia Porter: Uh, yeah, all the time. It's very frequent, and um, it depends on how you like learn to handle it. If you learn to handle it in an like earlier in life, it kind of gets easier as you go on in life.

Harper Weeks: Do you ever struggle with anything specific like stress, anxiety, perfectionism, anything like that?

Amelia Porter: Um, a lot of perfectionism and like also comparing yourself because perfectionism also goes with comparing yourself to others because you see others do things in an amazing way, and you want to do it just like them and like perfect it even more than them. And so it kind of just affects how you see yourself as a player and as a person.

Harper Weeks: So, are there any ways you try to deal with your mental health?

Amelia Porter: Yeah. Honestly, there's a lot of techniques, but the ones that I use most frequently is like realizing that you're you, you're a good player, and like, you're going to make mistakes, but just like try and like realize your worth in your sport. And also like go home and practice. If you want to get better and you want to be like other people, then you have to practice and do something that will help you achieve what you're trying to reach.

Harper Weeks: Well, thank you so much, Amelia, for coming in and letting me interview you.

Amelia Porter: Yeah, of course. Thank you for having me.

Harper Weeks: You've heard a little from me, and you've heard from other teen athletes. Now it's time to hear what the professionals have to say about teens' mental health and sports. Taylor Marr, the author of 101 Things Every Young Athlete Should Know, mentions throughout her entire book that mental health and mental toughness is just as important as the actual physical work of any sport. For example, in Chapter 26, Taylor Marr states, "Maintaining a healthy perspective is another aspect of mental toughness that involves positive thinking." There's no doubt that sports, competitions, and individual athletic performance are important; however, these things are just smaller parts of your overall life. What I've learned from this is that sometimes we think something like not being able to catch a football or not being able to score a goal is the end of the world, but in reality, it's not. It's just our mind taking over and our bodies not being able to control it. Over the past couple years, I myself have struggled with mental health in my sport, so I fully understand the hardships of playing a sport but also having to deal with mental health. Like Jason, I participate in trampoline and tumbling. Not many people are aware of the sport I do, so it's very hard sometimes to relate with others besides my teammates. Most of the time, I wrestle with anxiety. I overthink many things and start to panic. However, with the help of my teammates, parents, and coaches, I am able to stop my mind from taking over my body and calm down. By just doing something as simple as asking around, you will start to understand why teen mental health is such a big problem, not just in our community, but in our world. It's now time to speak up and do something about it.