Scoreboards, wins, losses, teammates, coaches, points, offers, and medals, all things associated with being an athlete, eventually, it all ends. So what is left of an athlete, perhaps it’s the part that matters most. Finding identity in sports is common among adolescents, but when athletes let losses define their self-worth, or they confuse mental health struggles with weakness, it can be unsafe.

There are multitudes of reasons why an athlete stops competing, such as burnout or injuries, or they decide not to play in college. Injuries are very common among high school athletes. State Champion and Ankeny Centennial junior Hayden Bratland dealt with this first-hand when she injured her elbow at the beginning of the ‘25-26 wrestling season.

“For a while there, I wasn’t quite sure who I really was [without wrestling],” Bratland stated.

Many athletes have been in the shoes of Bratland, but they have also experienced this feeling of loss, even in just bad performances. Luckily, athletes aren’t alone, and they are surrounded by teammates who support them. 

“I remember it was a home game and I was in a really bad mood because I played terribly, but then a couple of my teammates [asked], ‘Do you want to come out to eat?” senior Jayla Williams said.

This emotional shift shows the lifelong connections, the emotional support, and the overall sense of belonging that athletes gain from participating in sports, but it also sheds light on why athletes feel negatively after bad performances. 

“Athletes invest so much time, energy, and emotion into [their sport], so when something does go wrong, or it doesn’t go the way that they planned it, it doesn’t just feel like a bad game; it feels like they’re not good enough,” Mental Health Performance Coach Codee Myers said. 

When athletes are winning, they can feel an amazing rush of adrenaline, but the feeling can be just as intense for losses. 

“When someone only sees themself as an athlete, everything rises and falls with performance,” Myers said. 

Myers helps many athletes in their physical and mental performances. There are certain strategies she takes to help make sure she best supports every athlete.  

“I honestly just start with helping them recognize the difference between who they are and what they do, because those are two different categories,” Myers said. 

It’s important for athletes to be able to differentiate these categories to prevent damage to self-worth if they lose their sport. There are many questions athletes can ask themselves to be able to separate these two categories.

“Do you love a certain subject in school? Do you love being with your friends? Do you love going out to eat? Whatever it may be, put more attention and awareness into that,” Myers stated.

Athletes can get into their own heads about their sport, but coaches and parents also play a role in the determination of the self-worth or self-confidence of an athlete. 

“If [parents and coaches] start to just have conversations entirely around [athletes] performance, and only talking about the mistakes or the bad things, then it definitely affects the athletes’ self-confidence,” Myers said. 

This doesn’t mean parents and coaches should avoid talking about sports to athletes completely; different paths can be taken to be more beneficial to the athletes. 

“When coaches and parents start to emphasize growth, effort, and the person over their performance, it creates a much healthier environment for the athlete,” Myers stated. 

Sports can help create relationships and beneficial skills such as communication, teamwork, and time management when handled in the correct way. But when an athlete’s performance starts to affect their mental health, it is important to know their other passions or values, it’s important for athletes to know their other passions or values. 

“There is much more to all of my athletes [and] athletes in general than just their sport,” Myers said.