What makes a good athlete? What makes a good teammate? What makes you feel like you can perform to the best of your ability?  These questions seem so simple to answer, but are often overlooked. Many athletes believe that their performance determines how well they are doing, whether they are a good teammate or a good leader. For a long time, that was my mindset. I was focused on how my team and I were performing and setting unrealistic goals that felt impossible to achieve. Many athletes, including myself, are perfectionists; we become our biggest critics, and over time, if you don’t prioritize other activities, that constant pressure becomes exhausting. In the process of doing this, I was forgetting to take care of myself. Being an athlete is such a rewarding experience. Not everyone gets to compete at a high level and represent their university's program. However, it is important to remember that, as a college athlete, you are balancing multiple identities. While your sport is a huge part of your identity, it should not be the only one. Ask yourself, “What am I doing to not experience athletic burnout?” And if you're not doing anything, ask yourself, “What can I add to my day schedule to reduce the pressure of burnout?”

As an athlete, it is important to develop other hobbies and interests outside of athletics that help you live a balanced life. For many athletes, between academics and athletics, they feel they have no time for the activities they enjoy outside of their sport. While only prioritizing your sport and school, athletes tend to quickly feel the burnout present. For a while, I was stuck in basketball being my only identity. During the recruiting process, I felt like I needed to be the perfect athlete and put basketball above everything else. It wasn't until my senior year of high school that I learned that not prioritizing a balance between academics, athletics, family, and my social life actually made me love basketball more. While basketball is a huge part of my life and has brought me my best friends and lifelong lessons, I know I need to prioritize my mental health. I need to find time for friends, family, and other activities that I enjoy outside of athletics. One activity that has helped me the most is connecting with other athletes from other teams and building relationships with other people in my classes who aren't athletes. While you are with your teammates for the majority of the day, and for me, they are my best friends, connecting with people who aren't involved in Grand Valley athletics reminds me that there is more to life and college than my sport and performance. Having friends outside of your sports allows you to disconnect from the pressures of being a college student, experience different interests, and explore an avenue of college that you might not have done yourself. These relationships provide a mental break from the sport. It allows you to make connections and have conversations that do not revolve around the sport. Friends might expose you to new clubs and help reduce stress that you might be feeling, and they provide a sense of feeling recharged. These friends also help you create a bigger support network. When I was dealing with my season-ending injury and was injured for 10+ months, the friends not in a sport were the ones I was leaning on the most because at the time I felt like I lost a huge identity of mine. Friends are essential to not feeling as if your day is filled with only your sport. When every day revolves around practice, workouts, lifts, and school, it becomes easy to lose sight of the sport you once loved. Over time, this constant grind can lead to athletic burnout if you do not prioritise your mental health and pursue other activities that bring you joy outside of your sport.

Athletic burnout is so common because athletes often give everything they have into their sport and put their whole identity into it. While the dedication is important, so is what you're doing off the court/field/track/pool/mat to make you come back every day and be able to give it your all. Finding hobbies, building friendships, moving your body in a different way other than your sport, and spending time with friends and family all contribute to mental health. Finding activities outside of your sport will ironically bring you closer to the sport and the love that you have.  You will be able to appreciate the sport more and come to practice with more energy and appreciation for the work you are putting in. For me, prioritizing my mental health looks different depending on where I am in the season. When I am in the thick of it, some days feel long, and it's hard to feel like I have a never-ending to-do list. I make sure to prioritize calling my friends and family, attending club meetings, going for walks, and watching the sunset. For me, no matter how hard I train physically, I cannot perform to my best ability if I am not there mentally. During the off-season, I enjoy finding different ways to stay active, exploring new coffee shops, and finding activities that allow me to recharge. I have learned that taking a step away from my sport to recharge does not mean I am less dedicated, but rather I am finding ways to prioritize my mental health so I don't feel burnout and can appreciate my sport and the opportunities to come. A good athlete is not only defined by their performance but by their ability to take care of themselves mentally and maintain a balance between their mental and physical health.

Lauren Slagle 

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