Picking up right where we left off with last week’s post, I want to continue the discussion, and focus on the role a coach can serve in best advocating for a player’s mental health. As discussed previously, a player struggling with mental health encompasses far more than whether a player is exhibiting stereotypical depression-like symptoms, including anything affecting an individual’s emotional, behavioral, or cognitive well-being.
With their near daily interaction, coaches are well-positioned to pick up on changes in the mental health of their players. Consequently, it is paramount that coaches understand their role in helping to eradicate the negative stigma surrounding mental health, understand how to handle and manage their student-athletes as individuals, and know the resources available for support.
From an athlete’s first day on campus, coaches have the opportunity to generate a strong working relationship with their players. In any relationship, as I have discussed in previous posts, doing so requires communication and must be centered around trust. While communication takes time, it does not involve rocket science or require a PhD. Just talk. Begin running dialogues with your players related or unrelated to the sport. These simple, easy conversations will lay the foundation for a strong working relationship. According to Mark S. Hampton, MS, “coaches should work with athletes on two planes, one as a performer, which is more of a contractual style agreement involving grades and performance, and one as a human being.” In his work as an Athletic Behavior Consultant, Hampton believes coaches, for the most part do a great job holding players to high standards both athletically and academically, but not enough coaches take the time to really know what makes their players tick. By simply having conversations with your athletes, they will relax their guard a little bit, allowing you to see the individual behind the athlete.
It is disappointing that many coaches need to make a conscious effort to see each of their players as individual human beings, not just athletes. However, according to Cory Champer, MSW, LCSW Intern, athletes are conditioned throughout their lives that their value and purpose comes from their sport. Regretfully, this squares with my playing career. “Baseball player” was always the first thing I said whenever I was asked to describe myself. It is all I ever wanted to be, but as we all know, only a select few will get to keep that title professionally. Regardless, we as coaches must never lose sight of the simple fact that everyone is more than a title. There is always a person behind the player.
You may be wondering why defining worth as a ball player is detrimental to the mental health of your athletes. First and foremost, as briefly stated above, there is a timeline to it. Although the memories last forever, the profession does not. Additionally, only seeing one's value based on a sport means an individual’s moods and actions will swing drastically based on in-game or in-practice performance. As coaches, we all can recognize the hitter who hat tricks at the plate and believes their world is ending. There is certainly merit to being upset, but the result should never define the individual.
So, how can coaches bring out the person behind the player? Continuing with the theme of conversations and check-ins from the above paragraphs and my previous post, simple discussions can go a long way. Whether it is informal discussions pre or post practice or more formal meetings, both should be utilized to better understand each player as a human being, not just as an athlete. From there, both Champer and Hampton suggest having meetings to discuss plans outside of athletics. These types of advisory style meetings help to create a roadmap of life outside of sports. This may include offering professional interest surveys, personality trait assessment resources, discussions about internships, networking opportunities, creating a resume, as well as plans after college. Coaches have the opportunity to lay the foundation for life-planning due to their unique relationship with their players. As a mentor, coaches are ideally positioned to teach and advise based on the knowledge, skills and abilities of their players, both on and off the field.
I believe it is important for me to interject my own thoughts on this specific topic as well. I am a firm a believer that any plan besides “Plan A” can act as a crutch. However, when you have a “pro ball or bust” player, I believe it can be incredibly beneficial for coaches to use these meetings to help the player identify the qualities or learning opportunities that can assist with “Plan A.” I am reluctant to encourage any athlete to shift their focus away from the sport they love, therefore, I would look to use these opportunities to draw from other resources to best suit the player. Examples could include drawing from or sharing Ted Talks to show what true leadership or ownership looks like or offering insight to the skills that make a leader successful in other types of work. Simply beginning to identify these skills or strengths outside of the sport begin to remind athletes of the traits most important to becoming the best player possible beyond specific on-field skills. Thus, by taking the deep dive into looking at each individual as a person and not just an athlete, you are not necessarily creating a safety net, but rather creating a more well-rounded plan of attack to help your players keep pushing forward in chasing their passions.
Following suit on this theme, Mental Training Coach and author of Inside the Zone, Rob Polishook encourages his athletes to explore introspectively. The most powerful question he asks his athletes in my opinion is, “how do you apply who you are to what you do?” He then follows it up with, “what is it that makes you who you are, but no better or worse than anyone else?” Starting with the first question, Polishook immediately creates a separation between the sport played and the individual, further supporting the statements made by Hampton and Champer. Creating this divide can be tough for those athletes who only see themselves as their sport, but Polishook’s follow up question requires his athletes to examine their attributes and values.
Occasionally, this activity can be difficult, especially for those who struggle with self-confidence. As a result, it can be helpful for a coach to assist in identifying these qualities. For example, in my conversation with Rob, I was a little caught off guard when he began to ask me these very questions, but our exchange led me to a greater understanding of who I am and what’s important to me. He labeled me as curious, thoughtful, empathetic, assertive, and insanely honest. We then discussed how these attributes work their way into my daily life both as a person and as a coach. This process is exactly what you can do as a coach to help players identify how who they are impacts what they do.
There are a couple of potential problems to be aware of related to this grand discussion. As a coach, your reach only goes so far, and you can only do so much. You have limited time with your team and even less so with each individual. As a result, it is imperative to delegate and explain the importance of these types of conversations to your players and staff. By empowering positional coaches, captains, or even class or positional leaders, you can create somewhat of a checks and balances system ensuring that everyone seems like their normal self each day. Trust is then created and encouraged throughout the program.
Switching gears just a bit, coaches also must be prepared with a plan for situations they cannot handle on their own. As we discuss the growing importance of mental health, it is essential for coaches to recognize the resources available at their schools or within their organizations. Earlier, I touched briefly on how a coach can assist their players in preparing for life outside of baseball. However, it is imperative that a coach is familiar with the university’s resources available to assist any student, which will likely include a health center, outreach services, a counseling center, or various mental health professionals on campus. Regardless, a coach should become familiar with these offerings and respect the training and responsibilities assumed by the professionals who serve in these positions. Unless formally trained to do so, coaches should never act as counselor or a mental health professional for their athletes, but Hampton believes muddying the waters between counsel and sport for even a properly credentialed coach is not the safest game to play. Rather, coaches should be quick to recognize when a situation goes beyond what listening and introspective questions can do and, in such a circumstance, refer a student-athlete to a mental health professional. Reasons for a referral can commonly be but are not limited to the loss of friend or family member, personal relationship issues, or a noticeable or significant change in a player’s mood or emotional state.
Perhaps nothing communicates more powerfully to a team just how much a coach cares about the mental health of his players than asking a representative from outreach services or a mental health professional from the school or the counseling center to periodically meet with the team. Normalizing relationships between athletics and a university’s available support systems helps eliminate the negative stigma surrounding talking about mental health that has plagued sports for far too long and led to pain, suffering, and at times even suicide. Coaches who create links to a mental health professional will make it more likely that a player in need of help will reach out on their own.
When reflecting on this post, it is important to recognize how creating trust stems from conversations. Coaches play an integral role in the lives of each of their athletes, and it is essential for them to recognize that their, “…purpose is to serve the needs of their players, and that is it,” (Hampton). We as coaches must see our players beyond their jersey number and provide help in any way we can. In order to best serve the needs of our players, it is our duty as coaches to create a trusting environment through communication. Though not always easy, we must listen to the needs and concerns of our athletes, offer resources to assist in their growth both on the field and beyond, and recognize when a situation requires outside help. We have the opportunity to set the example and show that asking for help is okay. It is our duty to serve our athletes as more than just on-field coaches.
Thank you for reading,
Adam Moreau, MBA, CSCS
Director of Player Development and Recruiting Coordinator
Eckerd College
419-250-7243
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