As a former athlete, mental health was something that we never discussed because of the fear of people thinking we were crazy or had something wrong with us. Fast forward 20 years and now as a former athlete and a trainer that works with athletes my attitude has changed and it is something, we all need to be aware of. When the fans see athletes, they think they are mentally and physically tough and deep down we are all having our inner battles. As athletes we are told to not be soft and get our mind back in the game but what does that truly mean? There must be a better way and as the title suggest I think we need to start looking at it as a healthy mentality. As coaches and performance specialist we need to really try and analyze our athletes not only physically but mentally so that we can get the most out of them and make them perform at their best. As I can attest firsthand, injuries happen, and your career is over and at that point you must have your mental aspect ready for the challenges ahead. So, what as I ask from all of us coaches are that we start finding ways to make sure our athletes are healthy mentally and you will see an improvement on and off the field which will ultimately help in the W and L column. These players look up to us and now it is our time to make them not only great athletes but even better humans.
