Beneath the Jersey: The Dilemma of Professional Sports
Inside the mind of a professional athlete
Almost every single kid once had aspirations of being Michael Jordan in basketball, Christiano Ronaldo in soccer, or Serena Williams on the tennis court.
The truth is only a small percentage of us make it. From the outside looking in — the life of an athlete seems easy. We get paid good money, we practice 1–2 times a day, and the rest of the day, we can do whatever we want.
Unfortunately, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. And here’s why.
First of all, rarely somebody understands the work we put in every single day to perform at the highest level. And sometimes you put in all this work, and then you get stabbed in the back. Injuries occur, you have a stretch of bad games, or in the worst-case scenario, the team fires you.
Of course, some of you might think those are not real problems. You had a stretch of bad games, so what? Nobody died. It’s easy to say something like that, but you have to remember, that to get to this place, we had to dedicate our whole lives. Some of us start to play the sport at the age of 3.
And when the team fires you, it feels like the whole world just broke down. You dedicated all your life, and someone says you are not good enough. And sometimes you are not good enough just because while everybody plays at 100%, you play at 70% because of injuries.
Then there’s this fear of what if I put all my heart and soul into this but in the end, I fail? This exact statement is the reason why a lot of people never start anything.
However, this article is not about complaining and making excuses, it’s about giving insight into what it’s like to be a professional athlete or overachiever, so you can build better relationships with these individuals through empathy and understanding.
Or if you are an athlete yourself just know that you are not alone.
I hope I also can explain to some extent - why a lot of high achievers struggle with mental health, although rarely anybody knows about it.
A lot of athletes, myself included, will put on this mask, so when people look at them, they only see this incredible, strong, and resilient individual, which nothing can phase.
Even though this mask is a great tool to hide, sooner or later, it starts slowly eating you from inside. There’s only so much you can swallow till you have to face all of that shit head-on.
One of the most common practices to deal with mental health is to get it off your chest and talk to someone. But you know how hard it is to do?
When you are alone in your apartment, playing overseas, and your family is far away. And the last thing you want to do is call your parents and tell them how miserable you feel, because you know that they love you and the last thing they want to see is their child unhappy.
Playing a sport overseas is a challenge in itself. But that is another article.
Our minds as athletes sometimes work differently. When someone asks what are you going to do on Friday night? — the athlete thinks to themselves what do you mean? I will rest and recover so I’m ready for the next practice.
Or the answer I hear very often — Common, you can skip the practice today, it’s just one practice. You know what I think when I hear this response. I think, f* you, how you do one thing is how you do everything. And besides, I don’t need people like you in my life.
These are just two of hundreds of questions, but they show how much dedication and sacrifice is involved in getting to the highest level. And why there’s always the dilemma — I love my friends and family, but this is my dream, and I will do whatever it takes to reach it.
Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of athletes who are so talented, or so genetically gifted that they can go out, party all night, and the next day they will kick your ass.
Whereas some of us are misunderstood, about our reasoning and choices.
Of course, you might think, what does she even know about sports, she’s just a professional women’s basketball player, does she even get paid?
If you don’t want to listen to me, then I highly recommend watching Michael Jordan’s documentary The Last Dance.
Another great movie is “The Weight of the Gold”.
In my opinion, “The Weight of the Gold” is the best movie ever created on athletes’ mental health and this topic overall.
It illustrates Olympic medalists after their achievements and why a lot of them fall into depression or even commit suicide right when they achieved everything they ever dreamt of.
After everything you just read, you might think so, is it worth it? And the answer is — yes, absolutely yes. Basketball has taken me places where I thought I would never be. I’ve seen the world, I have made life-long relationships, I have laughed to tears, and most importantly, I have experienced the emotions that you will not get anywhere else.
I wish everybody could experience how it is when the game is on the line, there are 2 seconds left on the shot clock, you shoot the ball, everything slows down, there’s silence, and you look at the ball as it flies through the air, and it goes through the net! You just won! That, my friends, is the best feeling on this entire earth. And I would go through anything to keep experiencing it again and again.
I hope this article helped you to understand that there’s so much more behind the money, fancy cars, glory, and fame. There’s doubt, darkness, and fear, but in the end, it’s all worth it.
As I mentioned earlier, I am a professional basketball player passionate about writing. Here on Medium.com, I share my knowledge on various topics, including sports, nutrition, health, and constant self-improvement. If you loved this article and would love to see more, give me a follow!
