When LeBron James announced “The Decision” to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat in 2009, his primary reason for abruptly jumping ship, according to him, was to have a better team around him (and therefore a better chance to win an NBA championship).  Of course, having a more talented team around a superstar increases the chances for a championship — but isn’t it the superstar’s job to make the players he/she has around that much better?

Today Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim was quoted saying that Carmelo Anthony will never win an NBA championship with the current players on the Knicks (several of whom are either current or former NBA All Stars, coincidentally).  So, in essence, Boeheim seems to be saying that if you put better players around the superstar player only then will the chances to win a championship increase.  Sure, that makes sense —- but what about the responsibilities for players to make his or her teammates better and more mentally tougher rather than relying simply on having great players on the team??

In the world of sport psychology, I think one of the greatest tasks athletes face is helping make those around the athlete that much better because of the athlete’s leadership abilities.  LeBron James will always be criticized for taking the easy way out and jumping on board with a better team in Miami than what he had in Cleveland, which is unfortunate as many people believe (myself included) that he could have gotten the Cavaliers over the hump in time — similar to what Michael Jordan did with the players he had to work with in Chicago in the 90′s.  The real challenge is being a great leader and helping teammates know their role, buy into the team, and develop the confidence needed to succeed.

Of course, it goes without saying that if Carmelo Anthony had even better talent around him, his chances for a future NBA championship would likely increase.  But isn’t that sort of the easy way to go?  Similarly, you could get better grades in school if you took easier classes, but what does that prove?  In the future I hope more elite-level athletes will focus on making those around them that much better because of their leadership and guidance instead of simply looking to “load up” with other great players.  Helping teammates reach their full potential is a great challenge, and makes championships that much more special than simply winning because you have the best players.

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All kids who voluntarily play sports want to be out on the field, but earning playing time can sometimes be a real challenge (Sport Success 360).  Of course, being naturally talented makes earning playing time an easier endeavor, but what should average or below-average skilled kids do in order to play?  Fortunately, there are a number of things coaches look for beyond natural talent, including the things below (which are all under your child’s control) — here are some sport psychology tips to help with mental toughness and on-field success:

1. Have a great attitude. While your child may not have had any control over his height or how high he can jump, he does have 100% control over his attitude.  Coaches love seeing kids who keep a positive attitude and often reward them with playing time that might not have been given otherwise.  Make sure your child knows that he or she can always make it a point to go to practices and games in a good mood and excited to help the team in any way possible.

2. Be versatile.  If your child is stuck on the bench behind a more talented player, think about the other positions on the field that she can play.  By practicing different positions the odds of seeing the field increases, as versatility is another great quality coaches look for in young athletes.

3. Hustle!  Be the first kid to practice and the last kid to leave – coaches love hustle and will often find creative ways to get these kinds of kids into games.  Similar to attitude, hustling is 100% under the control of the individual so make sure to teach your child the importance of going as hard as he or she can.

4. Be a team leader.  Even if your child isn’t playing regularly, she can still be a great team leader by cheering her teammates, promoting a positive attitude, and helping keep spirits high when the team is down.

5. Solicit feedback.  If your child isn’t playing much encourage him to speak with the coach to solicit feedback about what he needs to do in order to improve.  Teach your child the difference between pointing fingers and blaming other kids vs. simply asking what he can do in order to increase his chances to play.

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Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari was quoted this week as saying that if the NCAA doesn’t require student athletes to stay at least two years in college it might be time to split from the NCAA.  Of course, Calipari, like just about everyone else, has his views on how many years student athletes should remain in school — but that’s not really the story here in my opinion.  What is more telling is that his comment may be the start of dialogue that seems almost inevitable anymore – specifically, can the current “amateur” system in college sports survive, particularly with respect to the modern-day paradigm of big money, integrity (or lack thereof), eligibility, and “minimum” academic standards?

NCAA “Amateur” Model?

I have said for years that the NCAA model as we know it is destined to fail, as the moving pieces of the model simply don’t add up no matter how you look at it.  College student athletes are recruited to play sports, and increasingly more are nudged to follow “eligibility” majors with the hope (assumption?) that they don’t need school because they will eventually become pro athletes.  Likewise, coaches these days (like Calipari, coincidentally) make exponentially more money than any other employee on campus – including university presidents.  They also get paid to do one thing: win.  What this means is that there really isn’t any incentive to develop “student” athletes, and it also leaves coaches in interesting positions when they are faced with doing the right thing versus looking the other way in order to win games (and earn bigger contracts).

In essence, college “amateur” sports are professional sports, they just don’t call it that.  It is for that reason that I believe the NCAA model as we currently know it will eventually implode. The elephant in the room is that the NCAA knows there’s really nothing at all amateur about their current model, yet they continue their charade as though college sports are innocent and completely devoid of corruption and skewing the academic pursuit (the “student” part of the equation).  It seems almost inevitable that some sort of mini semi-professional sports league will inevitably develop in the future, and perhaps if more coaches like Calipari continue to spout off about breaking away from the NCAA, this may happen sooner rather than later.

The Bigger Question

So should NCAA basketball players play 1 year, 2 years, or should they even have to attend college at all?  While Calipari’s comments today seem to center around that question, the bigger, philosophical question has to do with the future of colleges keeping revenue-earning sports as part of their curriculum?  With increasingly more young people wanting to play professional sports as soon as possible, and colleges being paid astronomical salaries to win games (regardless of how), we must wonder what waits around the next corner?  Is this the opening of Pandora’s Box?  Stay tuned….

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If you are an adult involved in youth sports (either as a parent of a young athlete or a youth sports coach), you already know that kids today are a lot more involved in sports than you were when you were a kid.  In fact, based on the kids I see regularly at my practice, I would argue that today’s youth athletes are even busier today with sports than kids were from just a few years ago.  More practices, more games, more trainers, more camps, more travel leagues, and more specialists to help with diet, exercise, and psychology — that’s the lifestyle being more commonly experienced by youth athletes today (Sport Success 360).

Many of the kids I work with decided long ago to “specialize” in one sport, and increasingly more kids are playing and training year-round (this includes both sport specialists and kids who play multiple sports).  Oftentimes these kids go immediately from school to practice, and sometimes even go to a second practice right after that (or some other specialist to help them with their sport), and don’t make it home most nights until well after 8PM.  On top of that, some young athletes these days also have morning practices, too.  Talk about the need for sport psychologists to help with mental toughness!

Is all of this sports training good?  Well, that’s something for each individual to decide — but I would urge you to consider the following questions when deciding upon an intense sports schedule like this for your child:

• Physical exhaustion - Is your child’s body breaking down from all the competition and training?
• Mental exhaustion (burnout) – Does your child struggle with motivation, and often feel mentally wiped out from always being on the go?
• Missed opportunities – While sports are certainly an important life experience, is your child missing out on other important academic and social endeavors because there is no time left over to do those things?
• Sport realities - Do you know the realities of how few kids actually earn “full-ride” athletic scholarships?  And how only a select few of those athletes actually go on to play pro sports?

While an intense sports schedule might sound crazy to you, millions of adults each year fall prey to this lifestyle, and often wonder how they let it get to that point.  In psychology, the Abilene Paradox might help explain this phenomenon.  In many families, the individual family members often think privately  that the youth sports schedule is intense (sometimes too intense), yet everyone in the family still goes along with the demanding scheduling, falsely assuming that everyone is “on board” with the idea.  The reality, however, is that the family has been caught in a trap of false assumptions that often do not become unearthed until something bad happens, in which case family members then agree that they originally thought the sports schedule was a little over the top from the start.

This summer, take a close look at your child’s athletic schedule and decide if it’s the best fit for your family.  While these decisions are not usually easy ones to tackle, they are important, and definitely worth your time.

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Last year we witnessed Adrian Peterson make an unbelievably fast and successful recovery from an ACL injury, and it appears as though Red Skins star quarterback Robert Griffin III is about to do the same thing this fall.  In baseball, there have been too many players to name who have successfully come back from Tommy John surgery and go on to resume their athletic careers (even though those same injuries just a few years ago were almost always career-ending injuries).  Is this a sign of better medical surgeries and procedures?  Or are we seeing increasingly more mentally tough athletes motivated to rehabilitate and quickly play again (after all, the fame and money associated with sports is bigger than ever)?  Sport psychologists would likely argue the answer is probably a little of both.

What, if any, impact does this incredibly fast injury rehabilitation experienced by Peterson (and soon RGIII) have on young athletes suffering from injuries of their own?  Are we entering an era where youth athletes are feeling similar pressures to quickly get on the field again (like their heroes are now expected to do), as well as resort to any and all pain management techniques to help along recovery?  When kids see how much criticism Chicago Bulls All Star Derrick Rose is currently receiving for not playing right now, do you think this has an impact on the way they might view their own injury rehabilitation process?

Student athletes, like their adult athlete counterparts, also feel pressure to quickly play again — even if this is experienced on a much smaller scale. Still, it should be noted that more student athletes are turning to various prescription pain medications to help in the rehabilitation effort, casting light on the lengths some kids will go in order to respond to the pressures (their own, and sometimes the team and even community) to get on the field again.

It is important for coaches and parents involved in youth sports to have both realistic expectations about sports injuries, as well as make sure to pay attention to the measures student athletes take in order to manage pain along the way.

Student athletes most at-risk for additional dangers during rehabilitation include:

• Student athletes with a high degree of Athletic Identity – meaning they base most, if not all, of their self-worth on being an athlete
• Student athletes who aspire to one day play college or professional sports and feel as though an injury might impede their progress toward their future goals
• Student athletes who experience a lot of pressure to quickly play again (from coaches, teammates, and even the community at-large)
• Student athletes who think of themselves as invincible, often citing athletes like Peterson and Griffin (the exceptions, not the norm) when it comes to how quickly they recovered from their injuries

Advances in medicine are great, but student athletes who go to extreme measures to speed up the normal time needed for injury recovery may be doing themselves more harm than good with this thinking.  Be sure to do your part by talking to kids about safe and responsible ways to rehabilitate from injuries so that they can do it safely — and thereby extend their athletic careers as a result.

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