How to Help a Child with Sports Anxiety
Sports anxiety in children can manifest as a fear of failure, over-worrying about performance in major competitions, or even concern over routine exercises during practice. For young athletes, engaging in sports or other physical activities can be beneficially life-changing in early childhood development. Experiences in sports can create long-lasting, competent, life skills such as discipline, teamwork, leadership, resilience, and assertiveness, which can transfer over to all aspects of life including education and the professional world of adults.
Our clinic, for children in Toronto, specializes in managing sports anxiety, with clinical psychologists, psychotherapists, and mental performance consultants available for families. Understanding and addressing sports anxiety is important for parents, guardians, coaches, and instructors, to ensure that sports and other physical activities provide early childhood benefits to children rather than lasting detriments.
Psychological Benefits of Sports for Youth Development
In the early stages of childhood development, sports and other physical activities for kids offer more than just a way to improve physical health. They can play a major role in enhancing mental health, contributing to lower levels of stress and anxiety among youth athletes. Participation in activities such as a gymnastics routine, dance class, or joining a baseball or track team can significantly boost a child's self-esteem and social skills.
Moreover, sports and competitions instill a growth mindset, teaching children about the value of effort, perseverance, and learning from personal, individual mistakes to improve themselves or their situations over time. These lessons are invaluable, forming a foundation that supports children across all aspects of their lives.
Psychology of Anxiety When Starting a New Sport
For many children, the excitement of starting a new sport is often accompanied by an anxiety spike. This sports-related anxiety can stem from several sources: social anxiety, the fear of stepping out of their comfort zone, concern over being judged by coaches or peers, stage fright before a competition, and underlying low self-esteem.
Such feelings are normal human experiences that everyone goes through, but they can become overwhelming, leading to symptoms of performance anxiety that hinder a child's ability to enjoy and succeed in their chosen sport or activity.
How to Help Your Child Overcome the Fear of Sports
Addressing your child's fear of sports begins with understanding and empathy. Encourage small, manageable steps and support them in choosing activities they express an interest in. For some children, this might mean starting with less competitive, more inclusive sports practices, where the emphasis is on learning and enjoyment rather than winning.
This can also look like exposure therapy, where the child can just spend time around the area, causing an initial relief of anxiety, before you leave the child for sports practice or other extracurricular activities.
Introducing mental game strategies through mental coaching or counseling can also be beneficial. Professionals specialized in sports psychology, particularly those experienced with anxiety in athletes, can offer guidance on pre-game coping strategies, reframing to stop a problematic focus on mistakes, and relaxation exercises to help manage anxiety levels.
Signs to Consider Withdrawing Kids out of Sports
While overcoming challenges is generally beneficial for both children and adults, recognizing when it's too much is just as equally important. Signs that it might be time to consider withdrawing your child from youth sports include a persistent toxic environment, abuse and bullying (from either peers, coaches, or instructors), or if the activity or environment creates irrational fears or exacerbates their anxiety, rather than alleviating it (an underlying psychological disorder such as trauma may be present).
Recurring injuries should be taken seriously, as they may indicate an underlying medical issue that may need to be seen by a health professional before continuing the activity. And ultimately, there is no one-size-fits-all activity; what excites one child may bore another.
Figuring out things one likes and dislikes is a common experience that everyone shares and is actually quite insightful information that could lead to a more fulfilling, meaningful life. If your child dreads or is disinterested in the activity after a couple classes, it might not be the right path for your child, and forcing your child to go with constant pressure might have detrimental effects over time.
These are all signs to consider withdrawing your children, as environments such as these might lead to low self-esteem and early childhood trauma, further developing into struggles with anxiety and confidence as your child grows into their adult years. Like how adults leaving a toxic job environment might promote career growth and happiness, removing a child from a toxic environment, whether a sports club or an art class, has its own mental health benefits.
Clinical Psychologists & Sports Counselling for Children in Toronto
The Mental Game Clinic offers clinical psychologists and sports counselling for children in Toronto dealing with sports-related performance anxiety. We offer a range of services, from mental performance consulting to individual therapy sessions.
Mental health services like Individual Adolescent Psychotherapy provide a personal approach to each young athlete, addressing their specific mental health challenges. Our treatment team of qualified sports psychologists, psychotherapists, and mental performance consultants is adept at navigating anxiety in sports, with expertise in helping both youth athletes and older athletes overcome anxiety and other mental blocks stopping them from moving forward.
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At The Mental Game Clinic, Toronto, Canada, we help youth (12+) overcome sports anxiety through psychotherapy sessions or mental performance coaching. Parents or legal guardians are welcome to attend each session based on the client’s decision. Treatment and consent forms need to be signed by both the client and legal guardians.
Our clinic’s team of psychologists, psychotherapists, and mental performance consultants are trained in helping children, teens, adults, and specifically athletes, along with a variety of modal therapy techniques such as EMDR and DBT. Our approach is straightforward: we assess your specific needs and develop a progressive mental skills program that includes goal-setting, mindfulness strategies, and sport and performance psychology treatment to help you on your path to being where you want to be.
Book a free 15-minute consultation appointment today, and we'll help your children overcome challenges and doubts, allowing them to move forward in life.
