Life Beyond Sports: Shedding Our Athletic Armor

Sports do indeed offer valuable life experiences. We learn incredible skills such as persistence, work ethic, and how to set and work towards goals. We push our limits and learn about our own physical and mental strength. We learn how to sacrifice and discipline ourselves as we work through challenges. Ultimately, we experience a deep sense of passion and purpose as we try to attain our highest potential in sport.

Unfortunately, we also realize that in order to succeed in such a competitive world, we need to protect ourselves. So, we start to grow thick skin and a type of protective outer armor.

Beyond The GameChristine PinaltoOctober 16, 2019life beyond the game, athlete for life, Athletes Forced Retirement, medically disqualified athlete, medical disqualification, Sidelined athletes, sidelined, sidelined athletes, sidelined athlete, parents sidelined athletes, coaches sidelined athletes, forever sidelined, helping sidelined athletes, permanently sidelined, sport retirement, sport retirement concussion, loss of sport, post sports days, transition sports, end to sports career, coping mechanisms sports, sports psychology, sports psychologist, athlete transition, athletic identity, athletic armor, athlete, athletes, life after sport, life after sports, athletic injury, career ending injury, Career Ending Injuries, career ending injuries, Help Athletes Career Ending Injuries, athletic trainers, athletic trainers sidelined athletes, early retirement sports, internal coping mechanisms sports, sports coping strategies, internal healing sports injury, adjustment life after sport

Healthy Adjustment to Career-Ending Injury or Health Condition Part 3: Evaluating Internal Coping Strategies

Being an athlete is not an easy thing to do. It takes grit, discipline, and the resounding capacity to get back up after being knocked down. These are qualities you can continue to nurture in yourself throughout the healing process. Essentially, the same mindset which made you a great athlete has the power to help you overcome the loss you are experiencing.

Healthy Adjustment to Career-Ending Injury or Health Condition Part 4: The Rebuilding Phase

Sometimes difficult transitions can make treating yourself kindly even more challenging. Evaluating emotional responses and internal dialogues while proceeding to implement change can be a tiresome task, as discussed in our previous articles here and here. Despite its potential difficulty, the exercise of evaluating internal dialogues can impact powerful change. Once you have learned to “mind your mind” and create more healthy internal dialogues, you are ready to start rebuilding what was lost.

Healthy Adjustment to Career-Ending Injury or Health Condition Part 5: Retaining Physicality

The reality is, for many athletes, the peak performance era in competitive sports is sometimes ended sooner than expected. Whether that be a career-ending injury, repeat injuries that eventually make a comeback next to impossible, a new medical diagnosis, or a series of concussions that threaten to impact long-term brain health, being forced out of a competitive sport due to medical reasons can be devastating. More than “losing your sport” at this point, you may feel like you’ve also been stripped of your identity. Somehow, you need to make a mental shift and create a new identity. Granted, this can be extremely difficult and can take years. However, there are many ways to make this transition easier. One specific way is to retain your physicality.

Healthy AdjustmentChristine PinaltoJune 20, 2019sidelined athlete, Sidelined athletes, sidelined athletes, sidelined, coaches sidelined athletes, parents sidelined athletes, helping sidelined athletes, forever sidelined, permanently sidelined, athletic trainers sidelined athletes, career ending injury, Career Ending Injuries, career ending injuries, cardiomyopathy athletes, end to sports career, Help Athletes Career Ending Injuries, medically disqualified athlete, medical disqualification, life beyond the game, post sports days, athletes, athletic injury, Athletes Forced Retirement, Athletes Heart Conditions, athletes with depression, mental health athletes, mental vigilance, sports psychology, sports coping strategies, sport retirement concussion, loss of sport, transition sports, coping mechanisms sports, early retirement sports, sport retirement, internal coping mechanisms sports

Becoming Sidelined: Managing Negative Self-Talk

Being forced to retire from competing in a sport that you love is objectively heartbreaking. You’re allowed (even encouraged) to let yourself feel every negative emotion that comes with grieving the loss of a really important aspect of your life and identity. What remains important throughout this process though, is that you treat yourself with kindness and patience. You owe it to yourself to alter any internal-dialogues which threaten to convince you that these circumstances are more disastrous than you are strong.

As we begin to analyze our internal dialogues, we should be wary of unhelpful thought patterns that have manifested themselves so deeply that they impact our entire perception of the world, our experiences, and ourselves. These thoughts are not reality-based and overtime they are reinforced, resulting in biases, irrational thoughts, and groundless beliefs.

Becoming SidelinedChristine PinaltoJune 20, 2019Sidelined athletes, sidelined athlete, sidelined athletes, sidelined, coaches sidelined athletes, parents sidelined athletes, helping sidelined athletes, forever sidelined, permanently sidelined, athletic trainers sidelined athletes, career ending injury, Career Ending Injuries, career ending injuries, cardiomyopathy athletes, end to sports career, early retirement sports, emotional recovery, self-talk, depression athletes, teen athletes, retired athletes, healing athletes, sports psychologist, sports psychology, sport retirement, sport retirement concussion, sports coping strategies, loss of sport, transition sports, coping mechanisms sports, internal healing sports injury, internal coping mechanisms sports, negative self talk, cognitive distortions, athletes identity, athletic injury, athletic trainers, Athletes Heart Conditions, brain health risk, TBI sports, concussions athletes, connective tissue disorders athletes, coping strategies, mental health athletes, heart conditions athletes, Athletes Forced Retirement, internal coping strategies, internal coping skills, internal coping mechanisms, life beyond the game, mental vigilance, Recommendations Permanently Sidelined Athletes, repeat concussions

Insightful articles for helping permanently-sidelined athletes find a meaningful way forward.

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Insightful articles for helping permanently-sidelined athletes find a meaningful way forward.

contact@sidelinedusa.org

EIN #: 83-2147421