Viki Dyke is a senior cognitive behavioural therapist at Nuffield Health working with both children/young people, and adults who have mental health difficulties. In this blog, she explains why thinking well for young people is key for the overall well-being of players.
Why is thinking well important in grassroots football?
Young people’s mental health co-exists directly with their physical health – both affect the other and contribute towards the young person’s overall sense of well-being. If a player isn’t feeling their best emotionally, it will have an impact on both their physical health and performance in training and matches.
In adolescence, young people are going through many physical developments, including hormonal changes, which are well known for impacting how they feel. These emotions can be brought onto the pitch and affect individual and team performance.
How can I help?
Football can be such a high-pressure environment, with competition, team dynamics, performance anxiety and criticism. That’s not to mention any stressors the young person is facing off the pitch.
As coaches, you have a key role in helping to minimise the impact of these through role-modelling positive behaviours. You can show them how talking about their feelings is a healthy habit to practice. This alone could be the key to supporting positive mental health and thinking well. Simply listening and giving them the message that their feelings are valid to them will go a very long way to help them feel understood and supported. Some young people lack positive adult role models in their lives and may not have a strong support network outside of football training, so your encouragement can make a real difference.
Positive language is also incredibly powerful. There’s a real difference between “here’s what will help you improve” vs “that was awful”, and the impact that has on how a young person thinks about themself. Using language to positively encourage rather than criticise your players is so important for their well-being. It’s equally as important to set this boundary with players when they interact with each other, and any spectators of training of matches. For so many young people, someone shouting criticism at them, whilst they are under pressure to perform their best in front of peers and parents is enough to make them fall out of love with the game very quickly. Encouraging players to speak positively to each other and setting consistent boundaries around unkind and unhelpful comments and criticism can shift the environment to a more welcoming and safe space.
What if I have a concern about a player’s mental health?
Anxiety and depression are common in adolescence. Getting to know your players and how they tend to behave is key. Big changes in their usual behaviour pattern could be a sign that they may be struggling with their emotions.
If you are concerned about a young person, you can ask them how they are doing to show them you are ready to listen. Talking to parents /carers about their children’s wellbeing might be another helpful step. You also have access to your club welfare officer and County FA designated safeguarding officer for further support and guidance.
If you need more support, check out the following resources:
- Headspace is an app designed to improve the health and happiness of the world.
- Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) provide information and support for anyone who’s struggling to cope and needs to talk.
- Kooth is a safe and anonymous online community for young people.
If you have been triggered by anything in this article, you can find further information in our welfare section at England Football Learning
Being a coach goes beyond football as you are dealing with young people who come from different backgrounds, have a range of experiences and are at different stages in their emotional development. They are still making sense of the world and the sessions can be key to developing their relationships, building their love of physical activity, managing emotions and working towards a goal: all of which contribute towards their wellbeing.
The greater game is there to provide you with resources and knowledge to support your young people to think well and develop positive relationships within the team.
How do you support your players to think well on and off the pitch?
How do you role model to your players the importance of sharing their feelings?
Comment below.