Recognizing burnout in young athletes can be difficult—student-athletes are known for continuing to work hard, even through immense pressure and stress. Antiquated mental health culture in sports has long created an echo: signs of struggle as synonymous with mental, physical, and spiritual weakness. These narratives are changing, thanks to leaders like you looking to coach for mental health. So how do we keep that trend going?


How Burnout is Built


Symptoms of burnout tend to mirror depression and anxiety. But burnout is more specifically marked by mental, spiritual, and physical exhaustion, often featuring apathy. There are several articles and resources that offer a deeper look at burnout-specific symptoms in teens and athletes. A few of these include:


Let’s expand on what’s explored in these articles: As a coach, how can you better recognize stress and signs of burnout? The key is to check-in with athletes in ways that may surface burnout if it’s happening while initiating a practice to prevent it in the future.


Firstly, burnout is built over a long period of time and it can take an even longer time to recover from—it isn’t fixed by taking a few days off. Burnout is usually due to consistent and prolonged pressure via academics, extracurricular activities, part-time work, social relationships, and stress connected to home and family life. In short, it’s due to an imbalance: all encompassing schedules that feel overwhelming and overloaded, without adequate time to fully rest, be silent, and unplug from ‘scheduled’ life and commitments.


In summary of the articles above, you may recognize repeated low energy or fatigue at practice, less enjoyment or motivation, irritability, focus and concentration struggles, appetite or sleep changes, headaches, or muscle tension. But when might you notice these symptoms, and weave in care for them as you coach young athletes?


What to Look For…


…during high-stress seasons of change



At this phase of a young athlete’s life, responsibility and independence are changing and expanding exponentially. Young athletes are not only laying bricks for their future, but constantly finding that the bricks are made of new and unfamiliar material. In a similar vein, they’re experiencing change as a constant while embedded in a modern world where the future feels increasingly uncertain, perhaps even unattainable due to cost of living crises, disillusionment with education systems, and healthy questioning of status quo career pipelines. It may seem comforting to say: “if you’re struggling to keep up with everything, you’re not alone.” This is absolutely true! And, in and of itself, should indicate a needed systemic change.



Though it can happen any time, you may be best able to spot signs of burnout during periods that further amplify this time punctuated by stress and change. Examples include the beginning of the school year, exam season, application season, holidays, or graduation, for example. During these times, take extra care to note any of the symptoms mentioned earlier.


…during balance & rest implementation


During these seasons when non-athletic demands are high, balance can be hard to manage consistently. It’s true that too much time away from sport can impact training progress and schedules, especially if holiday breaks occur mid-season, for example. It’s also true that if student-athletes aren’t mentally and spiritually rested, they won’t recover and perform anyway. Offering 3-5 days of full rest during these busy periods is often supportive. Active recovery days can also be helpful—workouts that are significantly less demanding physically and mentally can help stress fully move through the body. You may also want to check in with your athletes about how they’re sleeping, and adjust training accordingly.


As you put a balanced rest to training ratio into practice, the key thing to look for is whether or not athletes are recovering. If not, they may be experiencing burnout. With enough rest, are they still exhibiting burnout symptoms? Noticing this is a doorway to checking in, keeping in mind that each athlete may have rest and recovery needs that differ from you and/or their teammates.


…during setbacks


Loss and setbacks are always frustrating, but athletes may struggle to navigate them twofold if their sport is their only identity pillar. Spend some time noticing how your athletes navigate setbacks—do they shut down or isolate themselves from life outside of sports after a loss or challenging performance? Normalize checking in on other facets of your athletes’ identity, particularly during these times. This can include asking about their relationships with friends and family, school interests, community work, volunteering, or music and art, for example. How they respond may indicate burnout. If they are burnt/burning out due to an athlete-only identity, this is a great opportunity to coach alongside sharing sports knowledge and wisdom. All parts of life speak to each other—what you learn outside of sports may apply to your sport, and vice versa. Metaphorically, a rope is strong because so many different threads are braided together. Student-athletes aren’t just students or athletes, and although these may be central identity threads, their rope won’t hold up without others. If the rope isn’t strong enough, it becomes easier to burnout—even doing something you love.


…during coaching & training planning


You’ve likely heard about the differences between perfectionism and a growth mindset, and that the former often exacerbates self doubt. As you coach, and encourage mistakes as part of growth, notice how your athletes respond. Even if they know perfection is impossible, do they still respond with fear or frustration when they can’t execute a skill or technique flawlessly? If they make a mistake in practice or games? Is this paired with any of the burnout symptoms mentioned earlier? This could be a great moment to ask them how they’re feeling. Mistakes are part of the progression of improvement, which is often slow! Intentionality and thoughtfulness build momentum through mistakes over time—this slow, bumpy road isn’t failure. Offering, supporting, and nurturing this mindset can help athletes pause and reset if they’re experiencing burnout.


In conjunction, celebrating small victories and efforts are further momentum builders, like cushioning around mistakes, carrying athletes along the journey between larger goals like winning championships or competing at the university level. Noticing how athletes respond to these celebrations you initiate can also indicate burnout, especially if they don’t seem enthusiastic or are dismissive.


Further on the topic of goals, when you’re planning training and goal-setting, check-in about how athletes are feeling. This is another important time to spot signs of burnout. Do they feel a sense of agency, fulfillment, and purpose? Do they feel like they’re only working towards something you or the team want, and not what they want? If they feel stressed and disengaged following training or competition plans with limited input, they may burnout. Speak with them about a plan to set and weave personal goals into the web of team goals. Reflect together, and offer athletes an avenue to self-validate and motivate, alongside encouragement from you, their family, and performance statistics.


Overall, understanding how burnout is built up over time is crucial for facilitating mentally healthy coaching. Burnout can happen anytime, and the process of burning out happens over time. But during specific times—high stress seasons of change, balance and rest implementation, set backs, and coaching or training planning—you may be better able to spot signs of burnout. As these periods recur throughout the year, they offer helpful checkpoints where you can pay extra attention and offer support to athletes who may be experiencing burnout.