The Mental Performance Corner: Why your athlete needs a break from their year-round sports schedule

We’ve all felt it as parents. The need to protect our child, to make sure they are thriving in a crazy world, to help them achieve their goals, no matter how challenging those goals might be.  You spend hours driving them to practices, traveling to tournaments, buying their equipment and spending a good chunk of your time watching them. Our job as a parent of an athlete is never ending, and part of that is ensuring that our children have a healthy mindset when it comes to sports, school and life.

In case you’ve missed it, professional athletes, from Michael Phelps to Simone Biles to Nathan MacKinnon are speaking up more and more about the importance of having a healthy mindset, and how it has impacted their ability to perform. But how do you ensure your athlete keeps a healthy mindset? In my blog “The Mental Performance Corner”, I cover a LOT about mental health and my tips for ensuring athletes have the tools they need to maintain that healthy mindset. This month, I’m sharing with you why it’s important for your athlete to take breaks from year-round sports, and how you, as a parent, can help ensure that happens. 

Youth sports over the last few years have turned into a bit of an all or nothing. You hear parents of 5 year olds talking about college scholarships, feeling like they need to get private coaches and put their tiny little future athlete in year round sports. You see parents of 10 year olds duking it out in the parking lot over a game, or even getting ejected from a game for yelling. When did we get here? 

As parents, we need to reprioritize the positivity in sports and encourage healthy habits that will set our athletes up for success. One of those habits is taking breaks. 

Taking breaks from sports is absolutely necessary to ensure your athlete is able to perform at their full potential. Not just that. It’s absolutely necessary to ensure a healthy mindset. 

What happens when athletes play 365 days/ year without taking breaks? They get burnt out, they get into unhealthy mindsets with potential long-term ramifications, and they lose the love for their sport. 

Michael Phelps, one of the most outspoken athletes on the topic of mental health, has said “I went 5 or 6 years straight, 365 days a year.” Training so hard really doesn’t leave a lot of time on the calendar for other activities that can actually support not only a healthy mindset, but an overall better athlete too. 

I know you want the best for your child, and you're probably worried that giving them a break will put them behind, but honestly, they need it. They are working their bodies and minds hard 24/7, 365 days a week and they are going to burn out.

But I know it’s more than that. You’ve got your own fears for them as a parent, you have to deal with Coaches and teammates, and your athlete has their own opinions as well about it. So how do you navigate that to ensure you’re setting your athlete up for success? First let’s talk about the concern, and then how you can address it as a parent.

You are afraid they will fall behind other athletes who are practicing or playing non-stop. 

You’re worried your athlete won’t be recruited, won’t make the team, or will sit on the bench all year. But breaks are great for both the body and mind and it will give your athlete a chance to be a kid, and try something new in sports or at school, or even just to have time off. Trying new things actually makes for a more well-rounded athlete. You will also help them avoid ramifications of non-stop training/playing, and even learn to love their sport again if that has been lacking.

The coaches are pressuring you, telling you that your athlete is missing too much practice, or that she can’t afford to take a break.

YOU are the parent, and YOU need to stand firm in that. Your job is to advocate for your athlete and ensure you are doing whatever is necessary to maintain that healthy balance, and healthy mindset. Setting those boundaries with coaches and taking charge will pay off in the long run when your child is able to take that break, recharge and come back stronger than ever.

Your athlete doesn’t WANT to take a break. 

I hear this one quite a bit, but here’s the thing….as a parent, you are the one who knows better. Children and adolescents aren’t necessarily aware of the potential long-term ramifications of going 365 days a year, but you are. This is another opportunity for YOU as a parent to set some healthy boundaries and talk to your athlete about why a break is actually a good thing.

Your athlete will be mad at you. 

This is a chance for you to protect your child and be a parent, and sometimes that may mean they’ll be a little mad at you. I’m guessing this won’t be the first, or last time that happens. But would you rather a short-term bout of anger from them vs the long term impacts of not taking that much needed break? It can be hard, I totally get that, but again, having a conversation with your athlete about WHY taking breaks are necessary can be a great place to start.

I’ve seen this all happen more times than not. On one hand, I see the soccer player who told me she hadn’t had a break in YEARS as a high schooler. She was terrified to take the break, but was fast on the track to burnout. She was training hard, working hard in school, and had so many goals in her mind, that she was hesitant.

Another athlete of mine recently came off of a MASSIVE victory on the world stage and knew she needed a break. She talked to her parents about it, but they were hesitant and wanted to get her back into training right away to train for the next big competition. This athlete had worked with me long enough and knew that her body and mind needed to take that break. She made the decision and spoke to her parents about why it was necessary for her.

Parents and athletes both should be encouraged to seek that time off, and see how that will positively impact their overall mindset when it comes to their sport. Summer is a great time to make that happen. Take the vacations, make the memories and let your athlete breathe for a little bit. You’ll find them likely missing their sport, but re-energized to get back on the ice, in the ring, or on the field. Another benefit, you may not know it, but the break is probably good for you as a parent too.