Coaching Strategies for Helping Adolescent Athletes Cope with Stress

JOPERD • Volume 78 No. 2 • February 2007 P articipation in sport has numerous benefi ts for young athletes, including improved skill development, fi tness, and self-esteem. Nevertheless, sport is also known to be a stressful environment for some of its participants (Voight, 2002; Weinberg & Gould, 2007). What is it about the sport environment that young athletes fi nd stressful? This question was asked in a recent study that the authors conducted with a competitive adolescent soccer team and its two coaches over an eight-month period. To ensure a comprehensive picture of the types of stress that young athletes may encounter, data were collected in all parts of a season (i.e., indoor and outdoor seasons, spring training, playoffs, and tournaments). The purpose of this article is to describe common stressors related to sport competition and strategies that coaches can use to help their young athletes cope with stress. These strategies are based on suggestions provided by the coaches and athletes involved in the study and are supported by the coaching and sport psychology literature. See table 1 for a list of the stressors and suggested coaching strategies that will be reviewed in this article.

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