What causes youth athletes to worry

Youth sports provide opportunities for kids to learn, have fun, and build relationships that are hard to find anywhere else. But what causes youth athletes to worry? Kids deal with pressure to perform, stress, lack of confidence just like professional athletes do. The problem is that many youth athletes don’t have the perspective, knowledge, or support to deal with these issues.

Youth sports is much more than learning moves and winning games. It’s about providing them with the lessons and experiences that will help them for the rest of their lives. Coaches, teammates, trainers, and parents are all responsible for helping young athletes with the necessary tools and solutions to help kids master the mental side of the game.

One thing that takes a lot of funenjoyment out of the game 🏀 is a fear of losing.

It’s on parents and coaches to create an environment where players don’t fear losing.

— 90 Percent Hoops (@90percent_hoops) July 28, 2022

What causes youth athletes to worry

The first main cause of worry for youth athletes is not performing well. A lot of younger athletes put their entire identity into the sport or sports they play. It’s what they spend most of their time on, it’s how they make their friends, and it helps them build self-awareness and self-esteem. As adults, we identify ourselves by our jobs/careers, our family, etc. For youth athletes, they identify themselves by the activities or hobbies they engage in.

So, when a young athlete does not perform well, they tend to take it personally. It affects them on a physical and emotional level. Most kids lack the ability to separate who they are from what they do. A lot of kids fear that a poor performance means that they are not good enough or not worthy enough to have success. Sports can build up self-esteem and confidence like very few other things can, but it can also tear down self-esteem and confidence quicker than anything else.

What causes youth athletes to worry is that a poor performance may affect the way they see themselves. A kid might think he is an awesome basketball player and better than anyone else. But when that kid has a bad game, it may cause them to change the way they see themselves.

Dealing with blame

One thing that many youth individuals struggle with is accepting blame. When a kid gets in trouble, they tend to look for someone else to blame. It always has to be someone else’s fault. This is because most kids are not equipped to deal with shame, which comes from being blamed for something. If a kid misses a game winning shot, or turns the ball over on the last possession, they will feel like it’s their fault for the team losing the game.

Not only will kids feel shame for this, but they will also try to avoid being in situations where they could potentially be responsible for losing. So now instead of taking the game winning shot, they will pass it up. Instead of trying to get the ball on the last possession, they will go away from it. These types of behaviors only hurt the rest of the team. This is why it’s so important for coaches and parents to focus on the process rather than the result. This will help kids understand not to beat themselves up over a poor performance but continue to focus on getting better.

Before kids start participating in youth sports, they need to be aware of what they’re really getting into. By playing on a team, sometimes you may make a mistake that costs the team the game. Other times, you may make a great play that helps the team win. But it is never all you. No one person is responsible for winning or losing in basketball or any other team sport.

Being compared to someone else

Not only do kids fear a poor performance, but they also fear poor performance in relation to a peer. A kid may score 8 points in a game, but a kid on the other team scored 24. 8 points is nothing to be disappointed about for a youth basketball player. But since another kid scored 24, they feel disappointed or frustrated that they’re not as good as them. This hurts a kid’s motivation, because they start thinking that no matter how hard they work, they will never be as good as some of their peers.

What causes youth athletes to worry is knowing they will always be compared to someone else. As adults, we love to compare things. We say things like why you can’t be more like this person or well this person doesn’t do that so you shouldn’t either. Sports culture in general is all about comparison. Comparing this player to that player. It seems like every year there is some 15-year-old phenom that gets dubbed as the next (insert hall of fame NBA player.) Comparing a youth athlete to a legendary professional player has never once benefited the kid. And it’s one of the main causes of why youth athletes worry.

It is extremely important to keep youth athletes out of the comparison game. Every player has their own journey. Development happens at different stages of life. We should be helping youth athletes embrace the journey they are on. This can be done by helping them understand qualities like patience, persistence, commitment, and accountability. Comparing youth athletes to other youth athletes will always make them feel like they’re not good enough. Empower rather than compare.

Disappointing their parents

There is nothing that causes youth athletes to worry more than disappointing their parents. Sure, most kids want their parents to be proud of them. But the fear that kids feel is solely the parents’ responsibility. Parents place unrealistic expectations on their kids. There are a lot of parents who want their kids to make it to the NBA and if they don’t’ then they will see them as a massive failure. What many parents don’t realize is their kids don’t really want to go to the NBA, it’s what the parents want.

Kids ending up practicing, training, and preparing like crazy because they don’t want to end up disappointing their parents. But along the way they end up resenting their parents for pushing them to do something they don’t really want to do. They feel an incredible amount of stress and pressure not only to perform but perform better than everyone else around them.

Youth athletes worry that a poor performance will set off their parents. They know that as soon as they get in the car, they are going to get yelled at or cursed out by their parents. How can we expect kids to perform well with that in the back of their minds? Parents can make their kids only feel worthy of love, attention, and appreciation if they play well and win. This takes all the fun and enjoyment out of the game and damages their self-esteem.

Changing the definition of success

Success in youth sports should not be defined by how many games you win or how many points you score. Yet often the first thing we ask kids about their game is, how many points did you score? That causes young athletes to think that praise and appreciation can only come from scoring a lot of points. Instead, we should show appreciation for things like being a great teammate, giving a high level of effort, making plays that impact winning (rebounding, passing, playing defense, etc.). These are things that all athletes can do and all things that will make their team better.

Getting awards or recognition mean nothing if a kid is not having fun and getting better. Sports are supposed to be fun, and they’re supposed to teach life lessons and skills that are hard to find anywhere else. By understanding what causes youth athletes to worry, we can avoid those things and help kids focus on what really matters in youth sports.

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