07/10/2025
Sport Psychology Toolbox-12
Balancing Sport/Athlete Identity
As sport psychologists/performance consultants we can be one pillar of support when it comes to individuals overidentifying with their athlete identity.
Of course pursuing your chosen sport, be that professionally or competitively or even recreationally, will form a piece of the puzzle of what makes you "you".
Issues, such as overtraining or burnout, low self-worth, loss of confidence and low mood, can arise however when athletes develop a unidimensional identity and they see themselves only as athletes and therefore develop a sense of worth that relies almost uniquely on them performing as an athlete.
But what if that gets taken away, be that due to injury or illness, retirement from the sport or transitioning into less or non-competitive age group?
Whilst being an athlete is part of your identity, ideally athletes even from a young age, should be encouraged to develop a more multidimensional identity I.e. that includes social, career, family and cultural aspects.
This can make navigating injuries and retirement from sports more manageable and hopefully help indiviuals work through the perception of loss of purpose, loss of sense of self and self-worth.
Sport organizations, federations, teams and coaches also have an essential role to play in how individual athletes develop a more well rounded identity as their leadership and ethos guides the direction and athlete will take.
