Many young athletes between the ages of 14 and 21 are being bombarded by coaches to come and train with one of the many teams that they play for. Young people these days are getting involved in numerous sports ranging from GAA, soccer, rugby and so on. They are playing these sports with schools, clubs, college teams and at county level. They are being brought through different programmes that are being run by the governing bodies, for example GAA development squads, emerging talent programmes with the FAI and provincial development squads with IRFU. Is this too much to handle for athletes at such a young age. This blog looks at what burnout in sport actually is and the different types of burnout that you as an athlete could face throughout your sporting career and if worst comes to worst what it can lead to. DROPOUT!!
What is burnout?
We should be looking at sports as an activity to build skills such as leadership and teamwork, improve sports skills, enhance fitness, gain experiences that can teach lifetime lessons and most importantly develop long term friendships. Sport should be fun and enjoyable for the players rather than taking it so seriously. Being physically active and being involved in friendly competition is good for children’s physical and mental well-being but speaking from experience “Healthy competition is becoming unhealthy”. This is because of the of pressure parents and coaches are putting on players to perform at such high levels. A lot of parents live their sporting careers through their children by putting pressure on them to take part in so many different sports, but they don’t see what it actually leads to which in burnout. Do they really want to see their children completely burned out by the time they hit their early twenties? No, they don’t, so stop putting so much pressure on them to get involved in so many different activities. They are entitled to a break and should take a break from time to time.
Signs and symptoms of burnout in sport
Physical burnout
The demand from coaches on their potential sports stars is so high, these athletes have no time for rest or recovery time which is leading these players to physical burnout. As player’s aren’t getting the time to recover properly this also leads to an increase in long term injuries in players. These could vary from muscle strains, cartilage damage and even stress fractures. Players are then rushed back from injury to satisfy the demands of the coach by having their star player on the field even if it’s against the players best interest. These young athletes need the time to recover properly, never mind what the coach says. Players physically lose interest in their sport and enjoyment for their sport if the pressure from coaches becomes too much. Parents should be vigilant that their talented children don’t experience burnout at such as young age. Coaches need to take a step back and look after the welfare of their players rather than piling on the pressure for them to perform just to satisfy their demands. We see this every day in sport and it’s not fair on the athletes who just want to enjoy themselves while they are playing even if they are the next David Beckham. Coaches need to make the sport fun for players and the training sessions enjoyable so the players a left wanting to come back rather than leave altogether.
Mental burnout
Ask yourself this, how often do we see parents lose the run of themselves when their children aren’t having it easy on the field? Majority of parents live their sporting careers through their children. So, in order for them to get the results they want, they put pressure on their children to play different sports and to perform the best they can, so they meet the needs of their parents. The parents may have a love for the game that their children are playing but there is no need to put so much pressure on them to get involved in so many different sports and to perform at such high levels in their chosen sport. Do they not realise their children are getting tired from being constantly on the go without any breaks? Parents should know better and be able to see when their children have had enough and need a well-deserved break from their sport.
Dropout in sport
Players needs to look themselves too. Even though coaches and parents play a huge role in the lead up to burnout, players need to take care of themselves and know when they have had enough. Athletes who are constantly on the go need to sleep and eat properly so they don’t burnout too quickly. They want to play the game as long as they can, so they need to consider these little things too.
If athletes take these factors into account and look after themselves when it comes to playing the game, then burnout won’t be an issue. No one wants to see athletes burn out especially when they could have potential to progress in their sport at high levels. If the sport was organised properly with other sports, then burnout wouldn’t be happening. Something needs to change to stop burnout in sport!
Author: Rachel O'Dwyer
Recreation and Sport Management Student