Sports psychology is the study of how psychological factors influence athletic performance and an athlete’s well-being. It involves strategies to support athletes in maintaining mental resilience, motivation, confidence, and healthy approaches to growth and improvement.
As the discussion around this element of athletics grows worldwide, coaches, athletes, and program heads are considering ways to implement sports psychology into training programs. As sports psychology develops a larger role in coaching and athletic performance, athletes are set up with healthy training and lifestyle habits. Through the study, coaches can address focus, team dynamics, and injury recovery, according to Speakstone.
In elite and professional athletics settings, sports psychology is garnering attention and attribution for positive changes in team dynamics, athlete happiness, and performance outcomes. England’s football team’s success at the 2018 World Cup, much of which was attributed to the team’s sports psychology, according to ESPN.
Mitigating anxiety at games or meets and building the mental strength required to be adaptable during tough games or practices are among the many applications of sports psychology. England’s psychologist worked to build team relationships and culture as well as resilience in the athletes, after which the team saw an increase in success in their performance and general experience in games.
The kind of attention that this addition to the team resulted in, however, reflects the social attitude around mental health and its connection with physical performance. Press headlines and social media activity following the team’s success poked fun at the idea that psychological intervention was involved and relayed a message that this was surprising and abnormal, according to ESPN. This only further exacerbates the issue of mental health being a taboo topic, especially in contexts like athletic spheres, where physical strength is primarily celebrated.
However, physical strength and health, for that matter, are deeply interconnected with emotional regulation and mental well-being. According to Frontiers, athletes under chronic stress or mental fatigue may face slower injury recovery or higher injury risk overall.
College athletics is no exception when it comes to the influence of sports psychology. In fact, the study’s applications are especially relevant to college athletes because they are confronted with balancing their academic lives with physically and mentally demanding training schedules and competitive seasons. Dedicating time and effort to maintaining healthy habits that support their mental health as well as their physical health can help student-athletes stay grounded during busy, stressful seasons.
Furthermore, college athletes are in a unique position to make an impact regarding the stigma around mental health. Though it may not be to the extent of professional athletes, college athletes are still figures who attract admiration and support from friends, students, sports fans, and the communities around. By embracing sports psychology elements in their routines and the value of mind-body wellness to their athletic careers, they can influence those around them to consider the importance of mental balance and emotional regulation. This ultimately contributes to building a culture of young students who engage in thoughtful discussion around mental health.
Getting a larger community of students to see psychological health as a key element to athletics will promote the viability of these ideas for generations to come. Students can pass this perspective down to younger athletes in their lives, whether it be their siblings, youth sports teams they coach, or even their own kids someday. This sets the next generation of young athletes up with the skills to maintain stronger mental and physical health, as well as effective relationships with training and performance.
Wrestling is different from most youth sports. There’s no teammate to share the moment with, no lineup to blend into, no one else on the mat when the whistle blows. Every win and every loss belongs to the athlete alone.
Because of that, wrestling parents often feel results more deeply. When another child is winning matches and their own child isn’t, it’s easy to start comparing — and even easier to assume that struggling means it’s time to try a different sport.
But in wrestling, early results are one of the least reliable indicators of long-term success.
Wrestling Exposes Development Gaps Early
In team sports, size, speed, or early maturity can be masked by teammates. In wrestling, they can’t. A stronger or more physically mature child often has a huge advantage at young ages. That doesn’t mean they’re more talented — it means they’re further along in development.
Many wrestlers who struggle early simply haven’t hit their physical or emotional growth phase yet. Strength, coordination, confidence, and mat awareness all come at different times. Comparing two wrestlers at age 9 or 11 ignores the fact that they may be years apart developmentally.
Early Wins in Wrestling Can Be Misleading
It’s common to see youth wrestlers dominate early — often because they’re bigger, stronger, or more aggressive. But wrestling evolves quickly. As athletes grow, competition tightens, technique matters more, and effort alone isn’t enough.
Many early “stars” plateau when physical advantages disappear. Meanwhile, wrestlers who struggled early often surge once their bodies and minds catch up — if they’re still in the sport.
Wrestling rewards persistence more than early success.
Why Parents Misread Losing in Wrestling
Because wrestling is one-on-one, losing can feel like a personal failure instead of part of development. Parents see their child’s hand not being raised and assume:
They’re not good at wrestling
They’re falling behind others
Another sport might suit them better
But losing in wrestling often means a child is learning hard lessons: how to handle pressure, how to problem-solve mid-match, how to keep competing when things don’t go their way. Those lessons don’t show up on a bracket — but they shape better wrestlers long-term.
Switching Sports Because of Losses Sends the Wrong Message
Changing sports solely because a child isn’t winning in wrestling teaches an unintended lesson: that struggle means failure, and that success should come quickly.
Wrestling is supposed to be hard. It’s supposed to challenge kids mentally and physically. Avoiding that challenge doesn’t build confidence — working through it does.
When kids are allowed to stay, improve, and grow at their own pace, they develop resilience that carries far beyond the mat.
What Wrestling Kids Need From Parents
Wrestlers don’t need comparisons — they already feel enough pressure stepping on the mat alone.
They need:
Encouragement after losses
Praise for effort and improvement
Patience during long learning curves
Support regardless of the result
When parents shift the focus from wins to growth, kids stay engaged. And wrestlers who stay engaged almost always improve.
The Truth About Wrestling Success
Wrestling success is rarely immediate. It’s built through repetition, patience, and perseverance. Some of the best wrestlers were not youth standouts — they were kids who stayed in the room, stayed coachable, and trusted the process.
Before assuming your child should quit wrestling because others are winning, remember this:
In a one-on-one sport, development matters more than early results.
If a wrestler is showing up, working hard, and still willing to compete — they’re exactly where they should be.
EVERETT, DEC. 29: The location for the 2026 Seahawks National Football League FLAG Regional Tournament has been awarded to Everett, the Snohomish County Sports Commission announced last week.
NFL FLAG is the official flag football program for the NFL and is the largest youth flag football league in the U.S. The regional tournament is scheduled for June 6, 2026, at Kasch Park in Everett.
Youth and high school flag football teams from across the western United States will have the opportunity to win their division and advance to the NFL FLAG Championships presented by Toyota. The championships are scheduled for July 2026.
YMCA and Pop Warner teams are eligible to participate in the regional tournament with scholastic entries available for high school teams. The tournament divisions are from ages 8 and under coed through high school girls.
The 14U boys and high school girls’ teams have the largest number of flag football teams participating in the tournament, a press release from Snohomish County Sports Commission said.
“Everett is the perfect host for the Seahawks NFL FLAG Regional Tournament,” Ramon Nunez, tournament manager at RCX Sports, said. “This event represents a critical pathway to the NFL FLAG Championships, and we’re excited to bring teams together from across the region in a community that’s deeply invested in youth sports.”
Registration is now open. For more information, visit the NFL FLAG 2026 Regionals page.
Based on a press release from Snohomish County Sports Commission
It’s that time again when many youth basketball players and teams hit the courts of the Starkville Sportsplex for the Starkville Park and Recreation Youth Leagues.
The season begins not long after the calendar flips on January 5 and the anticipation is for another exciting season.
Starkville Park and Recreation athletic coordinator Coben Parker said the response has been “fairly the same as last year” with it being altered a little.
“It’s a little bit smaller in numbers, but we’ve had to fix some divisions to change some of the things we had last year, which cut down on the numbers in a couple of spots,” Parker said.
Registration has been completed and preparation for the season has begun with scheduled practices taking place already at the Starkville Sportsplex.
Parker likes the feedback being received from players and coaches so far.
“I’ve had a few coaches that stay in touch regularly and have gotten some practices in,” Parker said. “It seems like the coaches this go around are taking it pretty serious.”
This is the first year that Parker has been involved in recreation in Starkville but is ready to see how the basketball league progresses.
“Basketball is kind of my favorite one,” Parker said.
SPRD adult basketball registration is now open with an early bird discount available through January 3.
For more information, contact SPRD at 662-323-2294 or visit www.starkvilleparks.org.
Two scam incidents at West Town Mall involved fake youth sports team members collecting donations, according to police.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Knoxville Police Department said it’s learned of two separate incidents in which people, posing as members of a youth sports team, were collecting donations at West Town Mall.
In one of those cases, the victim was swindled out of $1,600, according to KPD.
KPD advises that before donating to an organization or person, you take time to do your research and be extremely cautious before you share your credit card information with people you don’t know.
KPD says that if you do plan to donate to anyone, using cash is the safest option.
If you think you’ve been the victim of a scam, report it to the KPD at 865-215-7268.
We often hear parents complain about how the “village” that our parents always talked about no longer exists. Everyone is insular. No one talks to their neighbors. No one wants to branch out, lend a hand, or start some sort of community. We’re all just so tired, and that’s totally fair.
But we still need the village. We still hope that the kids will turn out right, and one guy says that it’s all up to us to make it so, especially when it comes to youth sports and shaping boys during those tough developmental years.
“You have to coach a youth sports team,” TikTok user Arkansas Traveler begins in his now-viral video.
“You have to coach a youth sports team. The people who did it when you were kids are old now. It is your turn.”
Then, he directs his attention to the adult men.
“Men, you have to coach youth boys’ sports teams so that they learn how to be vulnerable when they are facing stressful situations in front of other boys. You need to teach them not to suppress their emotions because that’s the message they’re going to get at youth sports teams. They’re going to learn to suppress their emotions so that they don’t look weak in front of the other boys, unless you go coach youth sports teams,” he said.
“You might think that young boys suppressing their emotions doesn’t really affect your life. Wrong, wrong, wrong. These young boys will soon become young men in your community, and you don’t want violent, emotionally suppressive young men in your community. You want young men who learned how to be vulnerable on a football field at their young age. You want young men who had a coach who said, ‘It’s okay to cry when things get hard as long as you keep pushing forward.’”
He makes the case that it’s the youth sports coaches of the world who actually have a huge hand in how this generation of young boys will be raised, and if we want a more progressive, open, and emotionally-regulated generation of young men, other men need to put in the work.
“You want young men in your community who had a coach who said, ‘Don’t call people bitches because that’s a slur, and we will respect women and non-men in this community.’ But if you don’t coach youth sports teams, you will not get those young men.”
After his post went viral, several TikTok users agreed with the OP’s opinion, and one TikTok user pointed out that this also applies to young girl’s sports.
“Ladies we need to be coaching girls youth sports teams!!!!! Teach them another girls talent doesn’t diminish yours, other women will be the most important people in your life, and there’s more important things than beauty and male attention,” she wrote.
Another wrote, “Moms you have to coach too don’t let the dads with a crooked swing coach (im not letting my 15 years of hitting lessons go to waste)”
One user said, “If you’re feeling helpless about the future, this is a great way to make an impact. My son still thinks fondly of his coaches but unfortunately millennials and Gen’z don’t realize WE ARE THE ADULTS”
“Coaching middle school age basketball and track. PLEASE GO COACH!!! These kids do not understand competitive environments or have the confidence to compete to their fullest capability. They give up so easily bc they don’t know what it’s like to be challenged!!! PLEASE CHALLENGE THESE KIDS!! They need it!!” another echoed.
And if you cannot make the time commitment to coach, show up to the games. Volunteer at a practice. Take the time to talk with your kid. It can make all the difference.
KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Discover Kalamazoo’s head honcho says 2025 was a slower year for local tourism.
She expects the same for 2026, but there is a lot to look forward to after that.
Tourism CEO Jane Ghosh recently gave Kalamazoo County commissioners a briefing on her organization’s status.
She says the “K”-shaped economy following the pandemic has hit lower income families harder nationwide and in our region, reducing travel.
“2025 was a tougher year, and so for the first time since I’ve been there, we have missed budget, that is primarily due to economy hotels are performing very poorly.”
Ghosh expects that to continue into the new year.
“2026 will be a challenging year, we’re budgeting conservatively because there’s still economic uncertainty that is impacting primarily the economy hotels.”
She says after that, things look rosier, regardless of the economy.
“2027 is gonna be a phenomenal year because we’ll have the Event Center, the youth sports facility, the State Theatre will be back open. It’ll be great.”
She says she expects about a $150,000 reduction from the accommodations tax this year.
Ghosh she says she plans to maintain funding for advertising the community but will be cutting some other programs that notify local businesses about big events, and making other cuts to balance her budget.
