5 ways pressuring young athletes to perform well does them harm

By Eva V. Monsma, Professor, Developmental Sport Psychology, Department of Physical Education, University of South Carolina

When Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin collapsed during a Jan. 3, 2022, NFL football game, much of the public attention was on the pressures athletes face to perform despite the perils they face on the field.

However, as a scholar who specializes in youth sports, I have found that this pressure often begins well before a player enters the pros – often very early in a young athlete’s life. And sometimes the biggest forces behind this pressure are coaches, peers and parents.

Here…

Read complete article

~	Sussan Ley makes history, but faces unprecedented levels of difficulty

~	Iran and Ethiopia have a security deal – here’s why they signed it

~	It’s a hard job being environment minister. Here’s an insider’s view of the key challenges facing Murray Watt

~	View from The Hill: Ley says Liberals must ‘meet the people where they are’, but how can a divided party do that?

~	Viking pregnancy was deeply political – new study

~	The US and China have reached a temporary truce in the trade wars, but more turbulence lies ahead

~	South Sudan: 3 Years On, No Justice for Abuses in Southern Unity

~	Tobago's coral reefs brace for ‘imminent threat’

~	Saudi Arabia: Migrant domestic workers face severe exploitation, racism and exclusion from labour protections

~	As insurance gets harder to buy, NZ has 3 choices for disaster recovery – and we keep choosing the worst one