I sat down with Mr. Charles Grantham to discuss the mounting pressure facing collegiate athletes and professional athletes, as well as the trickle-down effect it’s having on youth athletes. Charles Grantham has spent over twenty years as the union executive for the NBA Players Association serving as a negotiator, and supporter on the players’ behalf. He has also dedicated his career to preserving the rights of collegiate athletes by leading the push for the NCAA to officially allow athletes in all sports to profit off their name, image, and likeness (NIL).
Needless to say, Charles Grantham has expert knowledge of high-level athletes, and what makes them tick. But more rarely, he tackles the role of maintaining humanity in sports. On my podcast, we discuss the importance of balance for ambitious athletes. From a young age, you must allow your child to dictate their level of commitment. The athlete should always be in control of how hard or light they are pushed in sports. There is a big call for developing and implementing preparation programs for young athletes whose game may develop quicker than the child’s maturity can keep up with. Competing at a high level (at any age) requires that the individual overcome extremely high levels of stress.
To help your child avoid negative repercussions from this stress you must help them understand that their value is not rooted in performance. Instead, sports are simply a channel for them to express their identity. Sports are not everything and they must come to an end at some point. It is always smart to have a backup plan in case injury, or other uncontrollable factors end an athlete’s career sooner than desired.
The mental side of athletics cannot be neglected. An athlete must truly learn how to master their mental game to be successful at any level. A helpful strategy for easing the mounting pressure athletes face is cognitively reframing the situation. For example, anxiety and excitement are quite similar despite how different they may feel. The difference between being nervous and being excited is just in the way you are thinking about it. When an athlete realizes this, they are unlocking a whole new level of control and calmness that will lead to higher success.