In 2010, Alysa Liu was 5 ½ years old when her father hired her first figure skating coach. She won the gold medal for the Women’s Singles Figure Skating competition in the 2026 Winter Olympics at age 20. In an interview after the Olympics, she told a reporter that she took two years away from the sport after the Winter Olympics in 2022 “so I could discover who I am. Up to that point in my life, my dedication to my sport kept me from doing that.”
Alysa is not the exception to the path of most youth today seeking to excel as an athlete in our sports-obsessed society. Most sports have Academy, Club, AAU, Select, Premier, Tournament and/or Travel Teams starting as early as age seven.
Mental health professionals now even have behavioral health categories to describe the fallout from focusing on excelling at sports to the exclusion of a balanced life and an exploration of other interests in a person’s life:
In high school, most elite athletes never receive proper counseling and never pursue opportunities to discover and develop their interests and skills outside of sports. Ask most elite athletes and they will tell you they had very few, if any, job shadows, internship or work experience during high school to learn about the working world and their prospective place in it. Sadly, their coaches and personal trainers never encouraged and supported this balanced life either.
In fact, they do just the opposite.
It is very common, if not the rule, today that elite athletes are influenced by most adults in their life to play multiple sports so they can be called “multi-sport athletes”. However, unlike generations of the past, they cannot limit their participation in multiple sports to the season of that one sport. If they want to play on the best teams, with the best players and the best coaches they will be required to play, practice and train for that sport during the seasons of other sports, i.e. year around.
The athletes will also attend sports camps and showcases with the hope of having a college offer them scholarship/NIL money with little regard for what college is best for their education to support a career outside of sports even though fewer than 2% of college athletes will play their sport professionally. The prioritization of NIL opportunities not only dictates what college the athlete will attend initially, but how long they will stay there before pursuing more money at a different college.
Unquestionably, playing sports has benefits, physically, mentally and emotionally, that extend far beyond the playing field or court and throughout a person’s life. However, the pursuit of sports excellence year around while in school to the exclusion of similar commitments and dedication to opportunities outside of sports can be equally detrimental to a person’s personal and professional well-being.
A person should carefully plan their involvement in sports, or they risk losing their identity to them. A person should make their sports what they do; they should not let a full-time year around obsession with them define who they are.
Alysa is not the exception to the path of most youth today seeking to excel as an athlete in our sports-obsessed society. Most sports have Academy, Club, AAU, Select, Premier, Tournament and/or Travel Teams starting as early as age seven.
Mental health professionals now even have behavioral health categories to describe the fallout from focusing on excelling at sports to the exclusion of a balanced life and an exploration of other interests in a person’s life:
- Identity Foreclosure: The psychological state where an athlete commits to the role of "athlete" without exploring other potential careers or personal paths.
- "Quarter Life Crisis": A term used by researchers to describe the profound struggle of college athletes forced to leave their sport, often experiencing a lack of confidence and sense of self.
- The "Hidden" Self: Many athletes report using their sport to hide or avoid dealing with other parts of their lives, leading to a delayed, sometimes painful discovery of their identity.
In high school, most elite athletes never receive proper counseling and never pursue opportunities to discover and develop their interests and skills outside of sports. Ask most elite athletes and they will tell you they had very few, if any, job shadows, internship or work experience during high school to learn about the working world and their prospective place in it. Sadly, their coaches and personal trainers never encouraged and supported this balanced life either.
In fact, they do just the opposite.
It is very common, if not the rule, today that elite athletes are influenced by most adults in their life to play multiple sports so they can be called “multi-sport athletes”. However, unlike generations of the past, they cannot limit their participation in multiple sports to the season of that one sport. If they want to play on the best teams, with the best players and the best coaches they will be required to play, practice and train for that sport during the seasons of other sports, i.e. year around.
The athletes will also attend sports camps and showcases with the hope of having a college offer them scholarship/NIL money with little regard for what college is best for their education to support a career outside of sports even though fewer than 2% of college athletes will play their sport professionally. The prioritization of NIL opportunities not only dictates what college the athlete will attend initially, but how long they will stay there before pursuing more money at a different college.
Unquestionably, playing sports has benefits, physically, mentally and emotionally, that extend far beyond the playing field or court and throughout a person’s life. However, the pursuit of sports excellence year around while in school to the exclusion of similar commitments and dedication to opportunities outside of sports can be equally detrimental to a person’s personal and professional well-being.
A person should carefully plan their involvement in sports, or they risk losing their identity to them. A person should make their sports what they do; they should not let a full-time year around obsession with them define who they are.
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