In this episode Associate Dean at University Campus of Football Business(UCFB) and author Richard Elliott joins Gordon MacLelland to discuss ‘Supporting Mental Health in Young Athletes’ and what that potentially means for us as sporting parents.
During the conversation they discuss amongst other things:
- Mental health operating on a continuum, much like physical health
- Establishing a distinction between everyday struggles (“bad days”) and long-term mental health issues
- The importance of parents aligning their expectations with their child’s motivations for playing sport
- The unpredictability of elite sport meaning that effort doesn’t always lead to success
- Recognising that adolescents go through significant neurobiological changes, making them more prone to mood swings, anxiety, and emotional extremes
- The importance of talking and normalising conversations about feelings and mental health
- Helping our sporting children develop coping mechanisms for setbacks, just as they would for physical injuries
- Being an emotional anchor as a parent, not just a second coach or critic
Richard Elliott is Associate Dean at University Campus of Football Business (UCFB). He has spent more than twenty years researching the lived experiences of elite athletes and the environments in which they work. He is the co-editor of Football and Migration: Perspectives, places, players (Routledge, 2014), editor of The English Premier League: A socio-cultural analysis (Routledge, 2017), and author of Mental Health and Sport: Supporting Elite Athletes (Routledge, 2024). An advocate for mental health literacy, Richard has developed a number of successful education programmes designed to support the mental and emotional wellbeing of elite athletes.
To find out more about the topic you can buy Richard’s book here:
