Building Confidence in Young Athletes

Building mental toughness in young athletes isn't just about teaching them to think positively or overcome setbacks. Physical activity, especially strength training, can help kids develop confidence, resilience and the ability to manage stress, says strength coach Mike Ockrim.

Ockrim, founder of Mighty Oak Athletic in Westmont, Ill., and author of Death Resistant, says physical challenges prepare kids to handle life's emotional obstacles.

"The quickest way to change your mental state is to change your physical state," Ockrim says.

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For neurodiverse young athletes, struggles on the field, court or in the gym may have little to do with effort or motivation. Lisa Richer, founder of Journey to Bloom, says that coaches and parents need to look beyond performance and understand the individual athlete.

Richer, a former elite gymnast who competed on the U.S. national team in the 1980s, draws on her own experiences as an undiagnosed neurodivergent athlete. She now works with families, athletes and coaches to identify obstacles that can affect both athletic performance and confidence.

"Diagnoses inform; they do not define how we work with a student, an athlete, or a professional," Richer said.

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Craig Young, author of Growing Up Young: One Family's Faith Journey to the NFL and father of Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young, says he damaged his relationship with his son by being overbearing about Bryce's success in sports.

"I was just hell-bent on, 'he is not going to squander this gift,'" he said.

His wife told him that Bryce felt increasingly uncomfortable around his father.

"To hear that my behavior was pushing my son away was just like a dagger to my heart," Young said. "And I immediately just sought the help that I needed and then also made those changes."

Young now advises parents to separate their children's confidence from playing time, rankings and performance. Sports, he said, offer lessons that extend far beyond competition, including teamwork, perseverance and the ability to perform under pressure.

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Money has always played a role in youth sports, from club fees and private lessons to travel costs and college scholarships. But as athletes gain access to name, image and likeness (NIL) income at increasingly younger ages, financial decisions are becoming part of the mental game, as well.

Tom Henske, a former two-time All-American and three-time national champion at the University of Virginia who now teaches personal finance, said young athletes often receive money before they have learned how to manage it. NIL opportunities, once concentrated among college stars, are spreading across sports and even reaching high school athletes.

That can create a new source of stress. According to Henske, athletes who have some financial education are more likely to "master the pause" before spending. Making thoughtful decisions can boost confidence. But athletes who spend impulsively may experience regret and guilt—and those emotions do not necessarily stay off the playing field.

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For young athletes, the mental game is often about confidence, focus, resilience and staying present under pressure. But eating issues can quietly consume that mental space, affecting an athlete's focus, confidence, identity and performance.

Eating-disorders dietitian Adee Levinstein said that athletes face constant messages about nutrition, exercise, body image and performance.

"There's just a lot of messages happening from all directions. So it can get really confusing," she said.

Athletes who want an edge may begin to hyperfocus on specific diets or nutrition rules. While some recommendations can improve performance, Levinstein cautioned that taking them to extremes can cause both physical and psychological harm.

About the guest: Adee Levinstein is national manager of strategic partnerships and virtual growth at EatingRecoveryCenter.com.

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Stress, comparisons and pressure can quietly undermine a child's love of sports unless parents learn to prepare for the emotional challenges that come with each stage of development, said Stephen Anderson, an athletic director, coach and founder of the Rising Athlete Project.

"I see parents reacting to things rather than proactively preparing for things," Anderson said.

Kids experience those challenges during key transitions such as moving to a middle school team or working with a new coach.

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For many sports parents, the challenge of parenting an elite athlete isn't simply getting their child to practice. It's figuring out how to support a young athlete's dreams without sacrificing academics, family life or emotional well-being.

Gosia Betancourt knows that balancing act firsthand.

Her 13-year-old son, Joshua, is already competing at the national level in diving. Recently, he won the USA Diving Western National Championships in his age division, outperforming older competitors by a significant margin. But behind the medals are years of disciplined training, difficult decisions, injuries and one important lesson: Success is about much more than talent. Along the way, his mom was a partner in his journey.

About the guest:

Gosia Betancourt, the mother of elite athlete Joshua, chose to educate her son through a private online high school,

Crimson Global Academy

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The skill of being a leader is partly innate, but is mostly trainable, according to leadership coach Jonathan Cave, author of The Tree and the Mountain: Dare to Become.

To hone their leadership skills, sports kids should identify their unique talents and build leadership skills based on them, he said.

"You don't have to become another person to be a leader. It's about amplifying who you are and becoming more of that. People will gravitate toward you," he said.

About Jonathan Cave:

Cave is an executive coach and founder and CEO of MyPhyLedership. Visit him at JonathanCave.com

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Many recruiting services, profile websites and showcase camps profit by keeping families engaged and spending money rather than helping athletes achieve meaningful recruiting outcomes, said Reid Meyer, co-founder of A2A Academy and a former college baseball player.

To be successfully recruited, athletes need to be proactive, directly contacting coaches and focusing on finding colleges that fit their academic, athletic, financial and personal goals, he said.

To create a championship mindset, players, coaches and parents must all embrace a positive mindset, said Bill Hoopes, a national championship coach and director of Florida Premier Girls Fastpitch.

"You have to have accountability on all ends," he said. "If the coach is not doing their job and they're struggling to relay positive information, positive skill development and positive coaching, then the kid's going to have a deficiency." If the player isn't committed to being a champion, there will be a deficiency. If parents are pressuring their kids, all this can create a "non-positive" mindset, he said.

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