Preventing Burnout in Youth Sports
Preventing Burnout in Youth Sports
As of 2024, the American Psychological Association (APA) found that 70% of kids drop out of organized youth sport by the age of 13, and the top reasons for dropping out are burnout and injury. In addition, nearly 1 in 10 youth athletes experience burnout and as many as 35% experience overtraining.
When kids love their sport, they may be practicing in the dark, show excitement to go to practice, bringing joy home from practice, waking up excited for the game, and talk about fun moments at practice at dinner. However, when athletes feel burnout, their love for their sport does as well. They may seem to drag themselves to practice and games and see low moods, and little errors or losses can ruin their moods for days.
Unfortunately, when this happens, kids at a high rate drop out of sport and miss the positive benefits of sports including team work, leadership, resiliency, confidence and physical agility. Here I will share information on why this happens, and how parents, coaches and athletes can preserve their kids love for the sport.
What is Burnout?
Youth athlete burnout is defined as, “emotional, psychological, and physical exhaustion that causes withdrawal from the activity that was once enjoyable and has become an unpleasant source of stress. If this continues, athletes may be disconnected from their friends, sports, and activities they used to care about deeply and experiencing repetitive low moods and stress.
Risk Factors of Burnout:
Increase of training at a young age or pushed to perform at a level well beyond their maturity level
High success in a sport a young age that can increase pressure to continue to perform
Limited breaks and recovery from sport and/or early specialization in sport
Stressful social relationships within sport with parents, peers or coaches that involve high pressure, bullying,
Limited independence or control environment when the athlete may not have a say at how much they practice or what level they train at
Focus on perfectionism and success outcomes
Early Signs of Burnout:
Mood changes / disturbances, a decrease of joy in their sport
Diminished motivation for going to practice or games
Frustration over lack of results at even the smallest errors
Dysfunctional behaviors such as anger, irritability that was not previously common
Lack of control in their emotions, performance outcomes
Strategies to Prevent Burnout:
Prioritize rest and recovery, include 2-3 week breaks multiple times a year at the least. Ensure the athlete is getting enough sleep and days off per week.
Foster open communication between athlete to coach and athlete to parent. Check in regularly about how your child feels about their sport, are they overwhelmed? Are they still enjoying it?
Promote a balanced lifestyle for your child. Encourage athletes to explore interests outside of sports to help developing a well-rounded identity and reduce the pressure of succeed solely in sport.
Keep fun at the forefront, sports should be enjoyable! Remind coaches, athletes and parents that sports are just not to learn how to win, but also to build friendships, have fun and learn life lessons.
Focus on the process: encourage athletes to focus on the process rather than the outcome. What are they working on (process) vs how did they do (outcome)?
What’s next?
If you see signs of burnout, have a conversation with your child and see how they feel about their sport. Counselors can further help to identify what is causing the burnout and create coping skills to return to sport and diminish low moods and stress levels. We want kids to be able to be kids sometimes and have fun, finding spaces where they can be themselves!
Emily Schwabe Sports Performance Consulting
References
Boston Children's Hospital. (2022). Preventing burnout in young athletes. Retrieved November 27, 2024, from https://answers.childrenshospital.org/preventing-burnout-young-athletes/
Gustafsson, H., DeFreese, J. D., & Madigan, D. J. (2017). Athlete burnout: Review and recommendations. Current opinion in psychology, 16, 109-113.
Harris, B. S., & Watson, J. C. (2014). Developmental considerations in youth athlete burnout: A model for youth sport participants. Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, 8(1), 1-18.