Why caring about sports as an athlete is *actually* cool
Posted: 2/15/24
Last updated: 2/15/24
Author: Thalia A. Urena
Why caring in sports as an athlete is actually cool
As a current high school Volleyball coach and former high school athlete, I have come across many differing attitudes in coaches and athletes. There was a clear distinction between the athletes who took the sport seriously and those who were just there to goof off.
The topic of caring in high school sports has a significant correlation to how well the teams perform during games and practices.
If you’re an athlete (or coach) I can almost guarantee you’ve been surrounded by two types of athletes:
The intense, “care a lot”, competitive athlete
The goofy, “laugh it off”, un-serious athlete
Of course people don’t fit into boxes like this, but more times than not you can categorize athletes in one of those areas to some degree.
Remember that for this post we are focusing on the correlation between making mistakes in athletics, and a caring mindset.
This is not advice to never laugh/have fun in sports, but instead a reminder that a competitive/caring mindset in athletes can aid in positive improvement for athletic performance.
In this blog post, we will dive into why caring about mistakes is important, how to care effectively, and how this can improve performance levels for athletes.
Topics will include:
Caring and confidence
Difference between belittling and caring
Caring takes confidence
In this section, I’ll start with an example, and you can tell me which athlete sounds like they care more in the scenarios.
Athlete 1: During a heated match athlete 1 (who is a setter) sees one of her teammates make a perfect pass, and it’s heading toward athlete 1. Athlete 1 attempts a set, and the whistle is blown. The ref signals a “double touch” on athlete 1, resulting in a loss of point. Athlete 1 gets a bit unnerved at the call, and quickly huddles in the middle with her team where she says “My bad, that was a great pass ____. I’ll get the next one”. Athlete 1 gets ready for the next play and looks intense/in the zone. Athlete one claps loudly and says “I got short, let's side out!” as the opposing team’s server awaits a whistle to go.
Athlete 2: During a heated match athlete 2 (a Libero) is preparing to make a serve-receive pass. The serve ends up dropping in between athlete 2, and another back-row passer. Athlete 2 quickly laughs at their teammate and says “I wasn’t feeling that one, whatever right?” as he continues to chuckle. He then blamed his teammate by saying “It was closer to him and his fault. He just sucks”. The opposing team is already getting ready for their next serve as athlete 2 is still making jokes about their mistake.
Athlete 1 would be considered to be the more caring, and competitive athlete in these two scenarios. What sets apart these two athletes isn’t capability, but instead how confident they both feel to show that they care about their athletic performance.
It takes confidence to admit you care about something, especially when you make a mistake. It can be easier to laugh at a mistake as it gives the impression “I don't care anyways so my mistake isn't a big deal/embarrassing”, as opposed to “I made a mistake and that upsets me, but I'm going to keep giving it my all”.
It takes a bit of confidence to be able to admit you care in general about life, let alone athletics. Caring can leave the door open for people to judge you, but judgment can happen if you care or not!
In my made-up examples about athletes 1 and 2, it is so clear who has the advantage of success just based on the factor of caring. How powerful is that!
Caring is different than belittling (self and others)
Following the idea of confidence, it's important to note that caring has to be done respectfully not only to your teammates/coaches, but to yourself as well. I have met very competitive athletes who almost care too much, so try to remember that too much of something isn't always better.
Caring too much can look like:
An athlete stomping their feet and getting visibly angry when they make a mistake, or when their teammates do.
Yelling at a ref/teammate/coach (yikes…).
An athlete that instantly starts playing a pity party after just one mistake and throwing their hands up saying “Why do I even try?!”.
Shed tears from simple mishaps (concern when its frequent/happens more times than not)
Notice how confidence is super vital in competitive caring for athletics! If you care too much that could mean you’re basing your self-worth around your athletic performance… How sad!
There's a huge difference between an athlete who cares competitively and an athlete that cares to the point of self-judgment, and the judgment of their teammates/coaches.
Confidence is key to caring in athletics, but also being humble in knowing you AND your teammates aren’t perfect (but are willing to keep trying) is vital.
To tie this all together…
Every athlete will never be perfect! Even the best athletes who compete in the Olympics have mistakes happen, so all we have control over is how we react to our mistakes (and successes).
This is not only a great athletic lesson to learn, but a life lesson. Knowing we (and our team) are all bound to have one bad game or a lot of mishaps happen lets us have the choice of how we will react to them when it happens (because it will!)
Throughout my 10 years of coaching high school Volleyball, I’ve always noticed that athletes who give their 100% every point and care about their performance (humbly) often improve quickly in Volleyball. In comparison to the athletes I’ve coached who laugh/cry/yell after every mistake, there is a clear difference in improvement over the season.
I am willing to start players who care and try their best (kindly/competitively) over a player who laughs constantly, show no care, thinks they are better than their teammates, or takes themselves too seriously.
Next practice or game, notice how you react to a mistake you/your teammates make.
Did you laugh for 20 minutes straight about it?
Were you paying attention before the mistake?
Did you judge yourself/your teammates?
How long did you perseverate on the mistake before getting ready for the next play?
Did you give your 100% effort before AND after making a mistake? (Not minding how you look to others for showing you care)
Nobody is perfect, and being authentic to who you are is always important. So don’t take these words as “never get upset/cry!” I had times when I shed a few tears after a bad practice/game, but how I responded to myself, my teammates, and my coaches was the most important part. I used that caring energy for the next time I played.
Typically your captains and leaders are great examples of calm, caring, and a competitive athlete. Find an athlete (in your school or NCAA and beyond) who you admire for their care in the sport and see how that would fit your athletic mindset!
We hope to see you in a future blog post!
-Coach T