Dear Athletic Community,
There is a unique sense of community that comes along with being involved in elite athletics. Whether you’re a coach, an athlete, a strength coach, an athletic trainer, a sport psychologist or performance coach…there is a bond–an understanding– that ties us together. There is an interesting commonality between everyone in the elite athletics community. In our respective roles, we all know the sacrifice, determination, and perseverance that create the mindset of excellence–the one that’s required to become elite in the athletic world. We are tied together by a set of similar struggles as well; fatigue, burnout, high expectations, the sheer physicality of our occupations, and so much more.
Yet, until now, the majority of the conversations between members of this community are kept close to the chest–we stay within our own small circles–confiding only in those we really trust. Because along with a common standard of excellence that we share the burden of, we also share the burden of feeling like we need to have it all together. All the time. Showing any signs of suffering is weakness and weakness within the athletic community is not acceptable. So we celebrate our victories and share them openly while shuddering our weaknesses from anyone we can’t truly trust.
Along with celebrating the victories we experience as individuals, teams, practitioners, etc. in the athletic community, we also want to make space to have conversations about the struggles we face. The Inside the Athletic Mind Podcast is going to be all about having these conversations with people on the frontlines in the athletic community. From the players themselves to coaches, strength coaches, AT’s, and mental performance coaches/sport psychologists. We want to talk about all things athletic–not just athletes. While we celebrate the victories of individuals who have used their experiences in sport to create amazing careers and acknowledge those who have struggled in the athletic community–who have been subjected to the cruelty that athletics can disguise as ‘a culture of excellence’. It is imperative that we have these conversations to make it clear to everyone in the athletic community that they are not alone. We hope to create a new type of community–one that is open and vulnerable, willing to share their greatest successes and their deepest struggles so that we may all learn from our shared experiences.
While we hope to have as many uplifting conversations as serious ones–our goal is to highlight the resilience of the athletic mindset. We look forward to sharing these stories with you and starting (and continuing) these conversations that have long been overdue.
– Coach Lauren
