Dealing with Stress in Sports

High school sports are a defining aspect of many students’ school lives. They provide everything from friendly competition to physical activity to students who might not find this outlet elsewhere. However, a topic hardly discussed regarding high school sports is the stress that comes with participating. A problem I have dealt with as a fencer at Bacon Academy is a decent amount of anxiety due to expectations that may or may not be held by coaches, peers, and administration. While these people may not outrightly display their expectations of you, I’m sure I am not the only one who sometimes feels the pressure even when it is not there. In this article I will do my best to give advice to those, like me, who need to cope with this stress in order to succeed.

The best piece of advice I can give is to try your best no matter what. It sounds cliche, but this idea has really helped me throughout my fencing season this year. Since placing 3rd at last year’s state tournament, I felt as though my coaches and others were expecting me to do the same, or better, this year. When the season started out less perfectly than I imagined, I quickly felt unmotivated and lost. By adopting the ideology that trying your best is the only thing expected of you, I felt less poorly about not winning as much as I had originally wished. No matter the sport, whether it be with a team or individually, the best thing to do is to try your best and be proud of it, win or lose. If you get caught up with the only goal of winning, you’ll find yourself not enjoying what you’re doing. You’ll lose motivation and confidence quickly. By only expecting yourself to do the best you can, no matter the outcome you know that you tried. Your coaches will see the motivation you have and appreciate it, rather than criticize you for failing. Once you accept that trying your best is all that you can do, the success of your endeavors becomes less important and you’ll find greater joy in the things you are doing.