When discussing whether a coach is “good” or “bad,” the focus tends to be on the coach’s record and how much the team improves over the course of the season or throughout the coach’s tenure. However, as the conversation around mental health continues to grow, more and more people are beginning to consider just what kind of an impact a coach has on the mental health of their athletes, an important, yet frequently overlooked factor.
In 2014, the NCAA Sport Science Institute released Mind, Body and Sport – Understanding and Supporting Student-Athlete Mental Wellness, a handbook compiled by the NCAA’s Mental Health Task Force, comprised of nearly two dozen scientists, clinicians, policy experts, team physicians, administrators, coaches and student-athletes.
The handbook covers topics such as the different disorders athletes may face, including eating disorders, sleeping disorders, mood disorders and substance abuse, information on how injuries can affect athletes’ mental health, advice on how to help athletes access mental health services and recommendations as to how athletic departments can provide appropriate care to student athletes they believe may be struggling with their mental health, whether related to the sport or due to external factors.
In the handbook’s introduction, Brian Hainline, NCAA chief medical officer, writes:
…There’s more to being a student-athlete than just physical preparation and performance. As more media coverage, commentary and public scrutiny are devoted to what student-athletes do off the field, along with the accompanying pressures to perform (and win games) on the field, student-athletes are inundated with factors that may affect their mental health and wellness. And the “culture” of athletics may inhibit student-athletes from seeking help to address issues such as anxiety, depression, the stress associated with the expectations of their sport, and the everyday stress of dealing with relationships, academic demands, and adjusting to life away from home.
This “culture of athletics” is an important factor to consider when discussing coaches, athletes and mental health. Many athletes are afraid to talk about the pressure they’re under, to open up about any mental health challenges they may be experiencing, or to report behavior from a coach they feel is overly harsh, unfair or abusive, worrying it may cause others to see them as weak. According to Alexa Corcoleotes, a former member of the USC women’s tennis team:
I think there’s this whole stigma in the athletic industry where you have to be tough. And you can’t go and tell someone, “Oh, something’s going wrong.” I thought I had to keep every single emotion that I had completely bottled up, and that’s what – at least in the tennis world – that’s what a lot of us are told – “Keep your mouth shut, work hard, and you’ll be fine.” So we think, “Okay, keep our mouth shut, work hard and we’ll be fine.” We think it doesn’t matter that we’re treated like this, even though it does.
Ashley Mullen, a former gymnast from Eagan, Minnesota, echoed Corcoleotes’ feelings. Because she was already being treated as a liability or lesser athlete by her coach and the gym’s owner due to her mental health, she feared that if she complained about their behavior, she would be further ostracized and potentially risk being kicked off the team. Additionally, she wasn’t sure to whom she could voice her concerns. When a culture of negativity and a dismissive attitude towards mental health is being perpetuated by the owner of your gym, where does one turn?
