Unit 1 Lecture: The Student-Athlete
Return to Unit 1: Understanding the Student-Athlete
"Most days I struggle to balance everything, and lacrosse will usually come first." - UAlbany Women's Lacrosse athlete
The Issue
Student athletes often decide in favor of athletics when there exist conflicts between the demands of athletics and academics. Whether it's their desire, pressure from parents, pressure from coaches, or pressure from the community, an emphasis is often placed on athletics rather than academics. Unfortunately, this leads to athletes making bare minimum grades to remain eligible to play their sport. There is also often times a stigma that student athletes receive special treatments, which is rarely the case. "Athletic success requires individual work hard, self-disciplined, exhibit persever ance and determination, able concentrate, stay focused, and so forth." (Simons, Van Rheenen & Covington, 1999). If the student-athlete can have this type of dedication on the field and court, why not the classroom?
Stressors
Being a student at all levels is hard work. Trying to balance school work, a job, family, friends, a healthy diet, and at least 8 hours of sleep is tough for many of us. Now, add the demands of a sport: practice, conditioning, lifting, games, team meetings, it's no wonder athletes are usually under a constant state of pressure. Student athletes should not get preferential treatment, but it is important for educators to be aware of their mental health (this goes for all students, not just the athletes). Many athletes struggle with stress and anxiety. (Fullerton, 2010). Every athlete deals with stress differently, and the causes can range from their sport, schoolwork, family, relationships, and particularly for athletes - injuries. Injuries play a major role in the stress level of an athlete. When an athlete isn't able to perform to the best of their ability, other aspects of their life begin to crumble as well, this is especially true with season ending injuries and severe concussions. Athletes can lose time in the classroom due to these injuries. With season ending injuries, such as ACL tears or fractures, time is missed due to surgery and recovery. When it comes to concussions, the degree of the concussion determines how much school is missed. Common concussion symptoms are: headache, dizziness/lightheadedness, light/noise sensitivity, blurred/double vision, concentration/memory problems, and trouble sleeping (Hall, 2019). While these symptoms are at their peak, athletes cannot handle the classroom environment, leading to them falling behind in class. Stress can also lead to injuries. This can become a constant stress-injury cycle. Below is a model of this phenomenon (Andersen & Williams, 1988).
So how can you tell when your student is stressed to the point interventions should take place?
The signs and symptoms of stress can be broken down into 7 categories: affective, behavioral, biological/physiological, cognitive, imaginal, interpersonal, and sensory (Fullerton, 2010).
- Affective: anxiety, anger, guilt, depression, shame and feeling sorry for oneself
- Behavioral: sleeping disturbances, restlessness, aggressive behavior, alcohol or drug abuse, sulking, crying, poor performance, absenteeism, and clenched fists. These are the observable signs, and should not be ignored. One or more of these signs on numerous occasions from a student should be addressed.
- Biological/Physiological: muscle tension, increased heart rate, indigestion, stomach spasms, pain and headaches.
- Cognitive: frustration, worries, distortion, exaggeration, unrealistic performance expectations, self-defecting statements and self handicapping.
- Imaginal: images of failure, images of reinjury, flashbacks of being injured, images of helplessness, and images of embarrassment.
- Interpersonal: withdrawal, manipulation and argumentation. These are also observable signs that should not be ignored.
- Sensory: sensory, includes tension, nausea, cold sweat, clammy hands, pain and butterflies in the stomach
♦ The following is a clip from a student athlete at UAlbany. Tara briefly discusses the stigma around mental health, and how the wellness program has benefitted the athlete's at our school who feel overwhelmed. Implementing a counseling service for athletes at schools even before the collegiate level can have a positive impact on dealing with stress ♦
UAlbany Athlete and Mental Health
Reflect
What information from this lecture was new to you? What has your experience been with the mental health of your students?
References
Andersen, M. B., & Williams, J. M. (1988). A model of stress and athletic injury: prediction and prevention. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 10(3), 294-306.
Fullerton, C. M. (2010). Stress and anxiety in athletics. United States Sports Academy America's Sports University. Retrieved May 09, 2019 from http://thesportdigest.com/archive/article/stress-and-anxiety-athletics
Hall, E. E. (2019). The importance of return-to-academic plans and active rehabilitation for mental health in concussion management. SUNY Cortland 2019 Sports Medicine Symposium. Retrieved May 09, 2019 from http://www2.cortland.edu/departments/kinesiology/docs/2019-at-symposium-lectures/The%20Importance%20of%20Concussion%20Management%20on%20Mental%20Health%20-%20Final.pdf
Simmons, H. D., Van Rheenen, D., Covington, M. V. (1999). Academic motivation and the student athlete. University of California, Berkeley, 40:2. Retrieved May 09, 2019 from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e28e/9e40992252a591c41328b6a690dff76184de.pdf