Current UNI Student Athletes
Photos taken by UNI Athletics
This week, I decided to reach out to current athletes and hear some of their feedback around the topic of athlete mental health. I covered questions surrounding the amount of time they dedicate to their respective sports, how much schoolwork they have each week, the stressors they face in their daily lives, and the support they feel from others.
Results From The Survey
I was able to gain data from over 5 different collegiate sports, and multiple different universities. Here are the results:
How many hours a week do you practice? (includes lifting, scheduled practices, working on your own time, etc.)?
75% of those who answered the survey responded that they reserve between 10-20 hours a week for their respective sport.
How many hours of schoolwork do you have each week? (includes class, homework, studying, etc.)?
Do you constantly feel stressed out trying to manage you daily activities?
81% of respondents said that sports/extracurriculars and school are the 2 areas of life that stress them out the most.
Do you think that athlete mental health is talked about enough?
Do you feel like you have the support you need as an athlete? (both mentally and physically)?
Have you ever thought about quitting your sport because of the mental toll it takes on you?
68.8% of athletes claim they have thought about quitting their sport because of the mental challenges that it takes to be a student athlete.
Quotes From The Athletes
At the end of the survey, there was an open ended question for people to leave their thoughts about athlete mental health. Here are some of the quotes that stood out to me:
“I just feel like everything pushed across the news and social media says that they value athlete’s mental health, but it certainly doesn’t actually feel that way.”
“It is so unbelievably frustrating to feel the need to constantly prove yourself.”
“The physical and mental limits put on dance force the collegiate dance community to rely on their passion for dancing at the next level.”
“Being an athlete you are constantly on and focused all the time even on the off season and now a days to even be recognized you have to put in endless hours in in the off season.”
“We are athletes but students first at this stage in many of our lives this is an unreasonable amount of stress and weight that we all carry.”
