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.
Read MoreInsightful articles for helping permanently-sidelined athletes find a meaningful way forward.
As a child, you never expect your biggest dreams to come to an end so suddenly. As an athlete, you hope that you’re able to control your own destiny. Unfortunately, the reality is that for many of us, these hopes and expectations take a U-turn when we’re least expecting it, and force our hand in life a bit earlier than we had planned for.
Grasping the reality of an early end to your athletic career is certainly a tough pill to swallow.
For some it may be all they have ever known and loved.
Read More
Sports do indeed offer valuable life experiences. We learn incredible skills such as persistence, work ethic, and how to set and work towards goals. We push our limits and learn about our own physical and mental strength. We learn how to sacrifice and discipline ourselves as we work through challenges. Ultimately, we experience a deep sense of passion and purpose as we try to attain our highest potential in sport.
Unfortunately, we also realize that in order to succeed in such a competitive world, we need to protect ourselves. So, we start to grow thick skin and a type of protective outer armor.
Read More
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.
Read More
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
Read More
Being forced to retire from competing in a sport that you love is objectively heartbreaking. You’re allowed (even encouraged) to let yourself feel every negative emotion that comes with grieving the loss of a really important aspect of your life and identity. What remains important throughout this process though, is that you treat yourself with kindness and patience. You owe it to yourself to alter any internal-dialogues which threaten to convince you that these circumstances are more disastrous than you are strong.
As we begin to analyze our internal dialogues, we should be wary of unhelpful thought patterns that have manifested themselves so deeply that they impact our entire perception of the world, our experiences, and ourselves. These thoughts are not reality-based and overtime they are reinforced, resulting in biases, irrational thoughts, and groundless beliefs.
Read More
There are many different scenarios an athlete can experience which may lead to being permanently sidelined from their sport. As athletic trainers, we often find ourselves as the first responders to many of these injuries or situations. Most people associate being sidelined with a catastrophic injury that happens in an instant. However, several times we are forced to have a conversation regarding long term dysfunction and quality of life with our athletes and in most cases their parents as well.
Read More