Meaningful Support

Whether you’re a coach, parent, athletic trainer, teammate or friend, knowing how you can help a sidelined athlete makes a huge difference in their healing process. Check out these quick tips to better support the sidelined athlete in your life.

Someone in your life has recently been told that he or she has to give up competing in their sport. They’ve had one too many ACL tears. One too many concussions. A severe neck injury. Or maybe they’ve been diagnosed with a heart condition that is too risky to continue competing. Whatever the case may be, someone you care about has just received devastating news. Their whole world has been upended and chances are they are experiencing a host of emotions ranging from denial to rage. It’s a situation you may not feel prepared for. It’s tough to know exactly how to respond. 

Whether you are a friend, family member, teammate, athletic trainer, or coach of an athlete who has recently been permanently sidelined, the grief of the sidelined athlete can weigh heavy on you as well. You want to help but it can be tough to know what to say or how to ease the pain of the athlete who has experienced such a devastating loss. Following these research-based guidelines, you can support the permanently sidelined athlete in navigating a healthy adjustment to his or her new reality and have a positive impact in the athlete’s emotional recovery.

Permanently sidelined athletes can expect to go through a grieving process as they adjust to their new reality of life beyond their sport. Research shows that most sidelined athletes experience the same stages of grief. Understanding what an athlete can expect to experience when coping with the loss of his/her sport can be a powerful piece of knowledge, both for the athlete and his/her family.

Following their injuries, sidelined athletes go through a period of sadness, characterized by low energy, lack of motivation, inactivity, and withdrawal. This is a natural and necessary phase which sidelined athletes must go through in order to come to terms with the significance of their loss. The question then begs, what can one expect in this period? How long does this period last? Going through the Down Period blind and alone can further the athlete's depression.

For athletes forced to discontinue their sport due to injury or health condition, the mental journey towards acceptance and internal healing can be confusing, complicated, and flat out brutal.  

Permanently-sidelined athletes have described their grief as feeling as though a part of them has died. Sports psychologists refer to this as “losing the athletic identity”. One of the hardest parts of processing the loss of ability to compete in sport is feeling like you don’t know who you are without your sport. 

The World Health Organization estimates that over 300 million in the world suffer from depression. According to studies of depression in student-athletes, as many as one in five athletes may be depressed. Clearly depression represents an emergent health crisis with a massive scope of impact. Not surprisingly, research has identified depression as a potential outcome of the athlete’s emotional response to becoming permanently-sidelined.

What can you do as a supporter if you know a sidelined athlete in your life is dealing with depression and needs continued support? Sidelined USA has compiled this list of seven essential considerations to help get you started.

KEY 1: FIGHT THE STIGMA. Mental health is just like physical health. If someone has an injury, they get treatment; the same applies to mental health concerns and

If you are aware of a sidelined athlete experiencing depression, it is essential to continuously monitor for potential suicidal tendencies. Nothing can be taken for granted. The signs of suicide risk are similar to the signs of depression so it is of utmost importance to be on the front end with suicide prevention awareness and pay close attention to a deepening depression. 

Sidelined USA wishes to equip all members of the athlete’s support network to understand the signs that may indicate additional help and intervention are necessary. To that end, we have compiled the following information and