Youth sports coaches can be鈥攁nd frequently are鈥攕trong role models and mentors for kids. But too often, they are ill-equipped to handle sensitive issues, including mental health challenges.
There鈥檚 a growing movement to change that, experts said during a panel discussion at the SXSW EDU conference here. After all, nearly 30 million U.S. children and teens participate in some form of organized sports.
鈥淐oaches are really well-suited to be able to check in with young people on a regular basis,鈥� said Hannah Olson, the director of the Center for Leadership in Athletics at the University of Washington. "[They] see them every day at practice. [They can] understand what their baseline is, what they look like on an average day, and be able to know when something鈥檚 going on, for better or for worse.鈥�
And students look up to their coaches, making these educators prime candidates to offer mental health support and resources.
鈥淪port is a context that matters really, really deeply to a lot of young people,鈥� Olson said. 鈥淧erhaps what happens to them out on the field or on the court is more important to them than what happens in their math classroom, for example.鈥�
Yet coaches rarely get training on how to meet the social-emotional or mental health needs of their student athletes.
, conducted by The Ohio State University, the Aspen Institute鈥檚 Project Play Initiative, the Susan Crown Exchange, and Nike, found that coaches are most confident at promoting good sportsmanship, making athletes feel welcome on the team, teaching basic sporting techniques and skills, and reporting child abuse and neglect.
The coaches were least confident when it came to helping athletes navigate the pressures of social media, linking athletes to mental health resources, referring athletes to supports for unmet basic needs, like food assistance, and identifying off-the-field stressors among student athletes.
Just under half of coaches said they were 鈥渕oderately鈥� or 鈥渆xtremely鈥� prepared to address mental health concerns. Forty-two percent felt prepared to work with student-athletes who have experienced trauma, and 35 percent felt prepared to work with athletes who have eating disorders.
Coaches want more training
Two-thirds of the coaches surveyed said they鈥檙e interested in having more training on mental health. Only half of school-based coaches are teachers or educators鈥攖he rest are parents or other community members.
鈥淐oaches are really undertrained, as a general rule鈥攎ost coaches receive no training, and the training that they do receive is often not around positive youth development, social and emotional learning, [or] supporting positive mental health of athletes,鈥� said Megan Bartlett, the founder of the national nonprofit Center for Healing and Justice Through Sport.
Said Doug Ute, the executive director of the Ohio High School Athletic Association and a former longtime superintendent: 鈥淲e鈥檙e just so doggone happy that somebody wants to coach 8th grade track, we throw them the keys, and we move on.鈥�
Last year, Ohio to require that all high school coaches receive mental health training. The Ohio High School Athletic Association is working with policymakers to incorporate that training into already existing professional development, so coaches don鈥檛 feel overwhelmed, Ute said.
Ute, a former basketball coach, said he鈥檚 excited about what the new law will mean for coaches and students in the state.
鈥淎ll of my PD as a coach was focused on X鈥檚 and O鈥檚鈥攏ot one bit of wellness for the athletes,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 wish I could go back and be that young 22-year-old again that was in a classroom and coaching, and focus a little bit more on that wellness of my athletes.鈥�
After all, he added, 鈥渃oaching is an extension of the school day.鈥�
passed the state House but later died in committee last year.
And in Washington state, the Center for Leadership in Athletics is working with the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association to pass a policy that would require baseline training for coaches that includes foundational skills in youth development, Olson said.
What coaches can do to support students鈥� mental health
The head coach of the Boston Celtics tries to spend one minute with every player on the team at every practice to check in and see how they鈥檙e doing, said Vince Minjares, the project manager of the Sports & Society Program at the Aspen Institute, a Washington-based policy nonprofit. That kind of small, extra step can go a long way, he said.
After all, coaches don鈥檛 always know what happened during the school day or at home, Ute said. Getting to know students off the field can help bridge that gap: 鈥淒o you know your student-athletes beyond what their skill level is at dribbling or shooting a basketball?鈥�
Coaches can also teach students how to regulate their emotions, Bartlett said. Sports can be a good stress-reliever, but most students need to first learn how to identify when they鈥檙e feeling out of control and how to reset themselves, she said.
鈥淲e have to understand that kids cannot leave it at the door,鈥� Bartlett said. "[They] cannot turn [their] brain off and say, all of a sudden, 鈥業鈥檓 just fine for basketball practice or to jump in the pool,鈥� unless we teach them skills that help them regulate those emotions, help them transition from where they鈥檙e at to the environment they need to be in.鈥�
And coaches need to learn how to regulate their own emotions, too, she said. Otherwise, coaches鈥� actions can be harmful to students鈥� mental health, she and Olson said.
鈥淛ust try to imagine another setting where we can put a grown adult in front of a young person and let them scream in their face, and it鈥檚 fine for the outcome so they can win a game,鈥� Olson said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 let that happen anywhere else, but that has been the norm in sports for a really long time鈥攖olerating toxic behaviors, abusive behaviors.鈥�
Bartlett said she hopes there鈥檚 a broader narrative shift about youth mental health that focuses more on prevention than intervention. Sports and coaches should be at the center of that conversation, she said.
鈥淭he sport environment is uniquely suited to help young people heal from overwhelming stress or trauma鈥攁nd there are too many young people who are experiencing overwhelming stress and trauma,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd even if you aren鈥檛, these practices, the idea of focusing on safe environments where young people can show up as themselves, focusing on the value of physical activity and moving your body, focusing on the experience of being able to be stressed and come back to a baseline ... those are the things that make us mentally well.鈥�
