Published March 6, 2025
BY SAVANNA RADOWICZ
Sports. Run fast, throw far, score points. Simple, right? Well, not always. Sports aren’t just a straightforward show of hard work and athletic prowess. Aside from the physical component, they are also a delicate balance between mental tenacity and mental health.
After playing soccer for 11 years, nine of which were on club teams, Nicola Benak, a 2023 Carmel High School graduate and talented soccer player, began to feel burnt out in a sport which had always been a passion of hers. The athlete recalls the lack of freedom she felt while juggling club and school soccer along with her outside life.
To balance out his strict running schedule, senior Mack Aldi (second from left) takes a break from his sport by working on and driving cars with his friends. (courtesy of MACK ALDI)
“Once I started high school, the commitment grew and I began playing for about five teams,” says Benak. “I didn’t have the time or freedom that I wanted or needed at that age.”
With the intense pressure she felt during this developmental period in her life, the former All-County player decided that collegiate soccer was no longer her goal. Benak felt that her love for the game was outweighed by the pressure she felt as a leading member of both her club and high school teams.
The National Institutes of Health defines athletic burnout as “a syndrome of emotional and physical exhaustion (resulting from training and/or competition), a reduced sense of accomplishment (negatively evaluating one’s abilities and achievements) and sport devaluation (a cynical attitude towards sports participation).”
In a study performed by NIH, 200 high school athletes across a multitude of sports were surveyed to measure stress levels due to sports. Results showed that 91% of student-athletes experienced some level of stress due to their sport, with fear of failure and self-pressure cited as the most common reasons.
Former collegiate soccer player and founder of McQueen Mindset Mental Performance Coaching, Hope McQueen understands the intense emotions that can come with choosing to back away from a sport. Having guided many athletes through the end of their sports careers, the San Diego local understands the difficult process.
In her own career, McQueen had to rethink her relationship with soccer after tearing her ACL as a freshman playing at North Carolina State University.
“People just kind of expect you to know what to do,” says McQueen.
After nine years playing club soccer, Nicola Benak (center) eventually reached a point where soccer no longer brought her the same joy. (courtesy of NICOLA BENAK)
For many, this is when issues with things like working out and dieting can arise. From a lack of motivation to get in the gym to the opposite obsessiveness with fitness, it can be difficult to find a balance after sports. McQueen encourages former athletes to find something that makes exercise fun again. Whether it be pickleball or rock climbing, the sports psychologist believes that switching it up can encourage a healthy relationship with fitness.
Similarly to Benak, CHS senior Mack Aldi, a talented cross country and track athlete, has recently made the decision to stop chasing a spot on a college team. He believes that pushing himself for collegiate recognition is what made running lose its spark.
“My first two years on the team were super fun. I was progressing really fast,” recalls Aldi. “I plateaued my entire junior year and I was really close to quitting. It was definitely hard, mentally, to keep going to practice every day, knowing that I wasn’t getting better.”
After deciding to focus on having fun and competing rather than running in college, the athlete has rediscovered his love for running. With a goal of winning state, Aldi says that his new mentality can help him get there.
Burnout can also affect athletes later on in life. Although athletes like Benak and Aldi decided to choose a different route after high school, there is no aging out of burnout. For current boys’ water polo coach Jerry Smith, the decision to stop playing came later in life. The University of California, Berkeley, graduate recalls that, early in his career, the sport was valuable for his development, but over time began to weigh on his mental health.
“Early in my life, water polo gave me confidence for the first time,” says Smith. “By the end of my career, it had consumed me.”
Facing the opportunity to continue playing on the U.S. National Team, Smith realized he was burnt out. The three years until the next Olympics felt like an eternity.
“There is a delicate balance between having a strong commitment to a sport, which I believe is healthy, and obsession, which can be unhealthy,” claims Smith.
Certified mental performance coach Hope McQueen works with a young team to address the mental obstacles to playing their best. (courtesy of HOPE McQUEEN)
Now the CHS coach is able to show up for his players as a mentor and advocate for creating that healthy balance.
Troy Loper, the CHS boys’ lacrosse coach, is another prime example of how experiencing burnout can help coaches show up for their players. The Seaside native recalls first experiencing physical burnout in high school, when he was playing on club teams across Central California.
“Burnout manifested into my physical body where I would roll an ankle here, sprain a wrist there, not taking care of myself or getting enough rest and recovery.”
Despite the injuries he faced, Loper continued on to play at University of California, Santa Barbara, and transferred to the Division-I Cleveland State team. Eventually, he was drafted by the San Diego Seals and played with them for two seasons.
After years of intensive practices and games, even a favorite sport can start to be too much, no matter how much an athlete loves it.
“You start to lose interest, to the point where you feel like quitting sometimes,” remembers Loper. “Being on a team, having people you trust, people who care…that really helped carry me through those tough times.”
Now Loper tries to be that person for his high school athletes. He approaches each lacrosse practice with an open mind and willingness to listen to where they’re coming from.
“I just try to show up with a good attitude and good vibes,” says Loper. “At the root of it, we’re just out here trying to have fun.”
Nicola Benak recalls that coming to terms with burnout was a difficult realization, but finding joy on her less demanding school team helped her get through it and come to terms with the end of her soccer career.
“It was hard to admit that I felt burnt out because I had been playing soccer my entire life,” explains Benak. “High school soccer helped with burnout as there’s more freedom in high school games and not as much pressure and it reminded me of my love for the game…. I think that is really important because many athletes tend to resent the sport they played.”
When it comes to the abrupt transition away from sports, McQueen has some advice for young athletes. The mental performance consultant says, “It’s really important to have some form of closure. Closure is simply an acceptance that happens internally.”
