8 Comments

  1. mlopez100

    Alyssa, in witnessing our school coaches prepare for games and teaching a class, you can empathize with how much they have to balance. The points you made allow me to reflect on how I can better serve our coaches. There are many of times that we take our coaches for granted and forget the long hours they put in for practices, games, in addition to teaching. Thank you for sharing.

  2. kgoehring

    Alyssa, I enjoyed reading your paper. Student athletes get burned out a lot more than people realize. As an athletic trainer, we see a student athlete’s mindset change when they get injured. Especially if it is a season ending injury. As AT’s we try the best we can to stay positive and work as hard as we can to get the athlete back to play. But sometimes, the athlete is ready to be done. I think it is important to have the whole athletic staff (coaches, athletes, strength coaches, and athletic trainers, all on the same page.

  3. mwillis2

    Alyssa, nicely written. I was trying to think why this subject of SA burnout is so important and I finally figured out that there are two reasons, both of which are common in the non-student world. One reason is money. The University has scholarship money invested in the SA and has time (which can be counted as money) invested. The other reason is that, while the coaches, trainers, etc., may not have any personal investment in the SA (that is, they are not particularly friendly), they are professionals. And professionals do what is right for their profession. And for a health professional like a trainer, or a counselor (what a coach often does to accomplish her goal), helping that SA is what is right.

  4. cbriseno4

    Alyssa, this paper was very well written and definitely a topic that needs to be addressed! I think that burnout does not only happen to elite athletes but just athletes in general and it prevents some athletes from actually becoming elite athletes. It is our job as coaches to make sure that we take care of our athletes physically, mentally, emotionally and even spiritually. As a former collegiate athlete, there is a lot more that goes into being a student-athlete than just the workouts but just as you mentioned, maintaining our daily lives. I think you made some really good points and have good strategies on helping prevent burnout. This is something I will most definitely take into consideration as a coach because I want to help my players strive for success, not forget the reason why they started playing and stray away from the sport. Great read!

  5. spearson1

    Alyssa,

    As an athletic trainer, this is something that is always on the horizon. Often athletic trainers are used in the process of recognizing athletic burnout. I think implementing that questionnaire at the beginning of the year is beneficial in the long run. It could easily become part of the pre-participation paperwork that is required from all athletes at the beginning of the year. Anybody involved in athletics should be cognizant of the symptoms of athletic burnout because we work with them on a daily basis. Education is key!
    Great job.

  6. ephillips8

    Alyssa, I enjoyed your paper, it’s a topic that is rarely talked about but happens so often. As an athlete, growing up there are many differences in your upbringing from most other children, from the time you are a young child you are consumed by sports, practices and games and training year round, and it can be a lot of pressure. If you do not have good or positive experiences early on it can affect your perceptions from the beginning. A good coach can have the most impact, even if an athlete has had a negative experience with a sport before, a great coach can change their outlook, motivate them, and even bring the athlete to their highest potential. A good coach is more than a winning record, a good coach can be the difference between a good athlete becoming a great athlete; or a great athlete deciding to give up on their sport forever.

  7. ksalinas9

    Alyssa,

    I found your paper very interesting because, being an athlete for a majority of my life I always saw burn out as athletes just running out of passion for the sport they played. I now understand that burnout has three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depolarization, and reduced personal accomplishment. Now, thinking about it I actually grew up with a girl who I played softball with from the age 9 to 18 who burned out after her freshman year of college. She was always our star player growing up, but because her dad was our coach she would practice twice as much as everyone else and her dad (our coach) would easily yell at her for any mistakes. When we got into high school she stayed being our star pitcher but you could tell she just didn’t care for the sport as much as she used to. Because she was such a great overall athlete she committed to a school were she was going to play volleyball and softball for the University. Her grades weren’t very good, she went from one sport to another sport and just could not handle it anymore. Next thing you know it she dropped out of the University. She is a good example of a student athlete who burned out.

  8. jcastaneda2

    With all of us being in Graduate school, I think it’s safe to say that all of us are in a position where burnout happens far too often. The strategies you listed to help prevent this are universal and beneficial to most people. I plan on using them for myself!

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