Burned Out

The topic of "burning out" among young up and coming athletes has become an increasingly popular area of discussion in the sports world. In a culture that eats up athletic excellence and the entertainment that accompanies it, highly talented young athletes are under a microscope and have pressure on them unlike ever before. But, when does it become too much and when is it time to walk away? The concept of qualitative research allows people to examine this issue more closely and potentially bring more issues to light, possibly leading to some kind of resolution to the problem of burning out.

One of the big examples of this, and possibly the most shocking in recent years, was when elite women's basketball player Elena Delle Donne, who now plays for the Chicago Sky WNBA team, walked away from almost certain college basketball stardom at the University of Connecticut. She had been groomed and conditioned her whole life for the opportunity that was presented to her, but she couldn't handle the idea of playing four more years at UCONN. The amount of time and energy she had put into her craft had made her feel distant from her loved ones and she decided to reprioritize. It didn't matter that she was the best in her class/the nation at what she did, basketball had still become a negative presence in her life. So, the Delaware native decided to move back home and attend the University of Delaware, take eight months off of basketball, and figure out who she wanted to be. Eventually, she went back to basketball and was immediately dominant for the University of Delaware's women's basketball team; this dominance led her to the WNBA and she is now one of the most popular and dominating players at the professional level. The video below involves ESPN's Outside the Lines and how they examined Delle Donne's situation closely, being a great example of qualitative research.

This example describes one individual's experience from high pressure from a early age and how it almost broke them down, but the topic as a whole depicts an even greater and widespread issue in youth sports. In today's youth sports culture, parents want their kids to be the best and they want their kids to be the next Lebron or sports superstar, which is leading to an increasing number of kids dropping youth sports or losing their grip on balancing sports and academics and the pressure of sports negatively affecting their school work. This "more is better" mentality that is being expressed by parents and family also leads to a lot of serious injuries for young athletes; these injuries potentially affect the athlete for the rest of their lives. When does the pressure become too much? When does the pressure ruin the sport for the individual? The answer for these questions starts with examining the culture more closely and then ultimately changing it for the better.