Burnout in young athletes: Are we doing everything we can?

As a teenager and young adult the end of season break from athletics was always an important part of my training year. Two weeks of complete rest normally coincided with the first few weeks of settling back into school or university, and was followed by a further two weeks of mild and varied exercise. I always looked forward to this phase of the year, but, after a week or two I was keen to get back into training. By the end of the four weeks I was ready, both physically and mentally, to get stuck into the hard winter miles again.

Even now I take a break at the end of the season, though various enforced breaks mean that the end of season isn't always a predictable period in September, sometimes falling much earlier, and some years a lot less needed than others. However, whether I feel like I need an off-season or not, this break in training is necessary, if just to mark the start of the next 12 month cycle, reflect on what went well or not so well in the previous 12, and set new goals for the season ahead. A finishing point for one season gives you a starting point for the next.

I have no doubt in my mind but that the annual break helped me remain mainly injury free over the years, and has allowed me to have a 'career' that has spanned 24 years, and counting. The value of the off-season is well supported by scientific and anecdotal evidence and is a fundamental component of any sound training programme.

It is therefor disappointing when I hear of 12 and 13 year old athletes who take no annual break from sport, or even have a day a week free from some form of physical activity. Yes, that's prepubescent boys and girls partaking in sport seven days a week, 52 weeks of the year, for as many years as their bodies (and minds) will put up with it. That, in my book, is child abuse.

Don't get me wrong, it's great to hear of young people participating in sport, trying multiple different sports, and not being afraid to partake in competition. But that shouldn't be at the expense of the fundamental principles of training. If an elite Kenyan athlete - who doesn't have school or university, or even making a living to worry about - can spend 4-6 weeks away from sport each year, then surely growing boys and girls can.

The great thing about athletics is that there are always things to train for. But that is also its downfall. I remember as a child how packed the annual calendar was, particularly since I competed in multi-events and cross country in addition to a range of events on the track and field programme both indoors and out. There was a competition on the programme almost every weekend, and even more once I became eligible to compete in junior competitions as well. When I was finally good enough to reach the national Community Games finals, the season end was extended to early September, with county cross country championships - races that I had to do to be eligible to compete in regional and national competitions - usually being held just 4 or 5 weeks later. The season was almost endless. Thankfully my coach was wise enough to know that the break was essential, no matter what the calendar said, and my ego was robust enough to take a sever beating when racing county championships more or less straight off a break.

Other sports are similar. Seasons have been extended to prevent athletes wandering off to other sports and not coming back. That's not to say that athletes don't do multiple sports - they just try to do 3 or 4 sports with overlapping seasons on top of each other, and with no consideration for the overall loading that their body is taking. But the physical components of sport, particularly in young individuals, are transferable. Training can, absolutely, be altered to take into account what an individual is doing in training elsewhere. If they are developing speed and endurance in another sport, then they just need to concentrate on the skills and technical aspects of that sport. This fear of loosing athletes to other sports or not having complete control over their participation in your sport is having undesired effects. Not only are they not coming back, not making the transition from talented juvenile to junior and senior competition, not being the next star athlete, they are being lost from sport altogether. The 'must-find-and-keep-the-next-superstar' attitude has to change because too many young athletes, each with the potential to be a useful sportsperson, are being resigned to the scrapheap long before they have the opportunity to fulfil their potential.

And that is not fair play.

The role of lifestyle support in the professional era

In a previous post we examined what Lifestyle and Personal Development support is.  In this post, we look at why such support is vital in the modern high performance sport environment, using rugby union as an example.

Lifestyle support is the youngest of the performance support services, and it’s only in the last ten years that lifestyle or personal development advisors have become regular staff members within the high performance sport environment.  In some ways, this is not surprising.  The need for such support has increased with increased professionalism in sport.  The role of the lifestyle or personal development advisor is often to manage or counteract the negative aspects of being a full-time athlete.  The role is often a hidden safety net which allows performance directors to continue on their one-track road to success at any cost.

Encouraging athletes to consider dual careers and to prepare for life after sport is often in direct conflict to the messages portrayed by those who manage performance (encouraging centralized training and full-time sport, and recommending reduced distractions from performance) or the very environment that increased professionalism brings with it (increased time demands as an athlete; increased money and subsequent reduced need to work). 

Counteracting the effects of increased professionalism

If we take Rugby Union – a sport which has shifted from an amateur sport where players were not paid to a big business sport where players have the potential to earn enough as a player to set themselves up for life, in the space of just over a decade – as an example, we quickly see why lifestyle and personal development planning has become so important.

Rugby has traditionally been associated with private schools and third level institutes where, in the armature era, most players had well-paying jobs and secure futures when they retired from the sport.  Quickly, and refreshingly, the sport has become the sport of the masses, both in terms of participants and spectators, but unfortunately, professionalization of the sport has meant that an increasing number of players forego their education, in favor of a sports career which one injury or a bad run of form could end in an instant.

Players are being talent spotted earlier and earlier, reducing the chances that they will have naturally completed their education by the time they reach senior level.  Of course academies insist that players stay in school, and many provide additional tutoring and support to enable players to do so, but the point is that these measures have to be put in place just to maintain equilibrium.

For many players, the lure of big money contracts in France can be too great to ignore, and while living and playing in another country can be a life-changing experience for many, money can’t be the only reason to move.  Players should be encouraged to consider all factors in the decision making process and those who decide that France is for them may need to be supported through the major life change.

The celebrity status associated with being a successful player, and the accessibility of players to the fans via social media can bring about a host of other issues.  Blanket bans of social media can prevent players making stupid mistakes, but do little to increase the player’s marketability or help them develop a unique image.

While it may sound like a bit of a contradiction, professional players tend to have a lot of time on their hands.  This can bring with it a range of potential problems, including boredom, addiction, depression and anti-social behavior. 

Managing lifestyles for performance purposes

Athletes are often busy people with a number of different factors to juggle.  Athletes need to be fresh and well rested to perform at their best, and a well managed lifestyle will help them to perform in their sport and to get the most from potential opportunities that arise.  Talk management, goal setting and decision making skills can help an athlete manage their lifestyle, while managing stress and priortising demands will also have far reaching benefits. 

Preparing for life after sport

We have spoken before about the importance of preparing for life after sport, and encouraging a player/athlete to prepare for life after sport is an important part of lifestyle and personal development support.  Few athletes/players get to choose when they end their careers, particularly in a sport like rugby where career-ending injuries and deselection are common reasons for retiring.  Athletes should be encouraged to plan for life after sport from the very beginning. 

Creating the well-balanced individual

Players and athletes can potentially become trapped in a life where they eat, sleep and breath their sport, with little balance or connection with the ‘real’ world.  True, many transferable skills, including teamwork and goal setting, can be learned in the sporting environment, but players who have nothing to think about other than turning up to training on time, who are surrounded by similarly-minded teammates on a regular basis, and whose only daily decision is chicken or salmon for lunch at the club canteen, can loose touch with reality and quickly forget how to fend for themselves.  They can also quickly become bored.  As lifestyle and personal development consultants, we therefore have a responsibility to expose the players to other experiences and opportunities.  Many sportspeople value the contribution of distractions in their lives.

Recent examples include Irish 800m runner Mark English who, not long after winning the 800m bronze medal at this summer’s European Athletics Championships, stated that he was looking forward to getting back into his Medical studies at UCD:

"I love having something to distract me from all the training during the winter," English said. "You can't just be an athlete with nothing going on in your life." - See more at: http://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/medical-career-offers-refreshing-perspective-for-clinical-english-30521181.html#sthash.Ait3NEZU.dpuf

"I love having something to distract me from all the training during the winter," English said. "You can't just be an athlete with nothing going on in your life." - See more at: http://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/medical-career-offers-refreshing-perspective-for-clinical-english-30521181.html#sthash.Ait3NEZU.dpuf

"I love having something to distract me form all the training during the winter," English said.  "You can't just be an athlete with nothing going on in your life." (Irish Independent 20/8/14)

Similarly, Jo Pavey, who at 40 won 10,000m gold at the same championships, stated that being a mother to two children helped improve her performance:

The mother of two ... thinks it is her self-satisfied approach to life and flexibility that is key to the form that has finally given her the first major title of her career. (Athletics Weekly 13/8/14)

Having distractions away from sport is particularly beneficial when dealing with injury, and as mentioned previously, having an identity which is not completely dependent on sporting success can help an athlete cope with retirement. 

Social responsibility

Sport has a responsibility to look after its players and athletes and to help create well-rounded individuals who can give back to the community.  Giving athletes the skills to deal with setbacks and to manage mini transitions can help prepare them for life beyond sport.  Athletes should be encouraged to make the most of every opportunity that comes their way.  They should never see competing in sport as a sacrifice or an excuse to put their lives on hold.  They should exit the sport a better person than they entered it.  Player welfare is an important factor, and with an ever increasing number of cases of depression, eating disorders and addiction being reported among high performance sportspeople, it’s clear that even more work needs to be done on that front.

Lifestyle, personal development and welfare support

There's more to high performance sport than training for an event, turning up, and competing.  Athletes, particularly in the professional era, have a lot to think about.  Eating healthily on a tight budget, keeping their finances in order, balancing a social life with an intense training programme, dealing with the media, keeping sponsors happy, handling the expectations of others, coping with long periods of time on the road, building functional relationships with coaches and teammates, keeping anti-doping whereabouts information up-t-date, and dealing with injury and other setbacks, are just some of the additional challenges faced by athletes.  Add to that the everyday demands of human life, work and educational commitments, personal relationships and financial concerns, and the busy life of the athlete, becomes the hectic life of the person.

With all these concerns and issues to balance, it's easy to see why an athlete might benefit from having a member of support staff to keep them on top of their 'life'.  But there is also something else that needs to be considered, and that's where the welfare, career or lifestyle support person really comes into their own.  A sporting career is like few other careers.  A lucky athletes will compete at their peak to somewhere in their early to mid thirties.  Many will finish much earlier, be it due to injury, burnout, lack of funding, or simply reaching their sporting goals.  Usually when individuals retire, they're done with work.  They've earned enough money to see them through their final years, and though a life without work can be difficult for anyone, of any age, to adjust to, the more relaxed pace of life is usually welcomed.  Retiring from a career in your early thirties is a whole different conundrum.  Goals may not have been achieved, few athletes have earned enough money to last the rest of their lives, and having lived on adrenaline and endorphines for many years previously, a massive void normally dominates the outlook of a retired sportsperson.  Retirement in the athlete has been likened to bereavement, and a particularly traumatic one in those who have not prepared for the retirement, or have not been able, for whatever reason, to retire on their terms.

The lifestyle adviser or welfare support person can help the athlete prepare for retirement in a number of ways.  Crucial to the transition is the development of other skills, and preparation for another job or career after sport.  A considerable volume of research supports the pursuit of dual careers from the early days, and though the value of dual careers is widely accepted, the reality is often very different.  Centralised training, increased professionalism, and increased social pressures on athletes makes the pursuit of education, training and employment very difficult for high performance athletes.  Furthermore, the increased money involved in sport often means that athletes don't need to work during the good years, meaning that they have less experience, and less earning potential after sport.  As professional increases, the role of lifestyle and welfare personnel becomes more important.  They are, to some extent, constantly fighting against the system.

Helping with transitions, dual careers and retirement is just part of what the lifestyle, career or welfare support person will help an athlete with.  Councelling and communication skills are important, and by helping an athlete work through their small issues, they are helping build the skills to manage and deal with issues and challenges in the future.  Development of goal setting, time management, conflict resolution and decision making skills will stand to an athlete in future sporting and non-sporting contexts, and though largely relevant to life outside of sport, some of these skills will actually help the athlete in their sporting performance.

This piece from the EIS website outlines how Performance Lifestyles helped Olympic champion rower Katherine Granger achieve sporting success. One of the greatest challenges of this whole area of support, however, is that not all strategies will help to improve performance.  Conflicting roles often exist, particularly if the lifestyle advisor or welfare officer is employed directly by the governing body or funding agency.  How do you support an potential Olympic medallist with depression would be best to spend time away from the support, when the sport as a whole, and ultimately your position, is dependent on medals won at the Olympics.  Obviously, the athlete's welfare is always top of your agenda, but measurement of your performance can be far from clear-cut.

While nutritionists are universally called nutritionists, and sports psychologists are known as sports psychologists across the board, different terms are often used to describe the people who provide the crucial lifestyle support to athletes.  UK Sport, and relevant home country sports institutes (EIS, SINI, SIS and SportWales), refer to the area as Performance Lifestyles, delivered by Performance Lifestyle advisors.  The Irish Institute of Sport run a Performance Transition Support Programme that is "designed to help [athletes] recover, refocus and re-energise" after an Olympic Games, and prepare for the next phase of their life. They refer to the area as Athlete Lifestyle.  TASS refer to the area as Education and Lifestyle Support; The Australian Institute of Sport deliver support through their Personal Excellence (PE) and Athlete Career and Education (ACE) programmes and High Performance Sport New Zealand runs an Athlete Life Programme delivered by Athlete Life Advisors. The England Cricket Board and the Professional Cricket Association run a comprehensive programme delivered by their Personal Development and Welfare Team, while the support professional rugby players receive through the RPA is delivered by Player Development Managers. Support personnel on some university scholarship programmes are simply called mentors.  The skills required by these professionals, the CPD opportunities available, and routes into this type of work will be covered in a future post.

Most professional athletes have access to lifestyle support through their national governing body or professional players association.  Athletes who are not yet at that level, and who would benefit from support, can contact us at Athlete Life Development to discuss and arrange one-to-one or small group support sessions.

The person comes first. Always

A  few days ago, I picked up a copy of Sport magazine from April 25^th  - nothing like being up to date!  As the week in which the latest Manchester United manager received his marching orders, Moyes understandably receives considerable focus, and the cover story remembers Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna, 20 years on from his tragic death, but it is two more minor stories that are of particular interest to Athlete Life Development, and the work that we do.

This first, an article entitled ‘Life After Sport’, looks at the difficulties faced by athletes when they retire from sport.  One of our recent blogs looked at this issue, and this article gives further real-life examples of the challenges that sportspeople such as boxer Ricky Hatton, middle distance runner Kelly Holmes and footballer Mick Quinn faced when retiring from their chosen sport, and how they coped with this major life event.

A lot of the current career transition research in sport is centred around encouraging sports men and women to view themselves as people, and to centre their self-image around his or herself as a person rather than his or herself as a an athlete, something which dual careers and interests outside of sport can help with.

Of course, we’re all about the person rather than the athlete at Athlete Life Development, and it is from this viewpoint that I can’t help but look at the commentary of David Moyes’s time at United, and feel a certain sense of regret.  Of course Moyes knew the pressures and media focus that he would face when he left Everton for the greatest job in football management, but still, wouldn’t it be nice if the media and those who comment on social media, took the time to think of Moyes as a person with feelings, just like me or you.  Nobody will be more disappointed with United’s results than Moyes himself – and in typical catastrophe theory fashion, bad results led to increased pressure, trying too hard, and an unbreakable downward spiral -  but maybe it wasn’t just a case of the wrong man for the job.  Perhaps it was the wrong job for the man.

Speaking of people with emotions brings us nicely (almost seamlessly) to the second piece of interest to us in Sport - an advertising feature on mental health.  The piece, publicising the work of Time to Change, England’s biggest programme to challenge mental health stigma and discrimination, looks at the mental health issues that British boxing legend Herol ‘Bomber’ Graham faced following his retirement from sport.  This is a common theme across sportspeople after they retire, but sportspeople can face depression at any stage in their careers.  Injury, disappointing results, and financial concerns can be trigger events, but even positive events like achieving lifelong goals can cause the most hardened of competitors to experience this most common of diseases. 

We discussed depression in sport in a previous post, but, with one in four people experiencing a mental health problem each year, it is an important issue to bring back into the spotlight.  Last week, Spanish long jumper and former European record holder Yago Lamela was found dead at his parents’ home.  Though the cause of death has not been formally announced, his family have revealed that he had been suffered from periods of severe depression and anxiety attacks since late in his athletic career, and that there had been at least one previous suicide attempt.

What can coaches and support personnel do to help?  

Firstly, always think of each of your athletes as a person, not just as an athlete, and focus on supporting the person as much as supporting the athlete. 

Encourage the athlete to follow other pursuits and to have interests outside of sport.  Recognise times of stress and anxiety in their lives – exams, job interviews, increasing media attention – and adapt training accordingly.  Not every athlete will become an Olympic Champion, but coaching provides the opportunity to make a positive impact on each and every person that you coach.  Athletes look up to their coach, and as coaches we have the opportunity to positively influence their lives in so many ways.

Remember that results should never come before the welfare of the person.

This, Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK, and the Green Ribbon awareness month in Ireland, is a good time to increase our awareness of the causes and symptoms of depression, anxiety and other mental illness.  If you know someone that has mental health issues, there is some good advice on starting the conversation here.

Educate yourself on eating disorders, overtraining, and other welfare issues which may affect athletes that you coach.  You don’t need to be able to solve issues, but you may need to signpost athletes to help.

Maintain an open and understanding approach to your coaching.  Athletes may find it difficult talking to a parent about welfare issues that they are experiencing, and coaches and other support personnel may often fill a crucial listening role.

This report of an event held in Dublin last January, sums up the role of the coach nicely.