For many student athletes, playing sports can be an escape from the stress of school and other activities. Exercise releases endorphins, chemicals that reduce stress hormones and can calm your mind and body. Ironically, at more elite levels, athletic performance can also bring its own pressures.
Sport-related stress can have many sources. According to the NCAA Sport Science Institute, time demands, performance pressures, the threat of injury, and coaching styles are examples of potential stressors for student athletes. Balancing sports and academics can increase stress, decrease sleep, and limit time and ability to relax.
Senior Sarah Oppenheim plays soccer and softball. In both sports, Oppenheim sometimes struggles with her own expectations of her performance.
“The pressure comes more from myself than from anything else,” she said. “I have to remind myself that the people around me don’t care as much as I care.”
Though managing stress has been an important part of her career as an athlete, Oppenheim thinks pressure can be beneficial. “Pressure can be bad, but it can also make people work harder. I think if you don’t feel any pressure then you don’t care about the sport.”
Junior Aten-Wa Theba is a former semi-professional snowboarder and an aspiring race car driver. He also plays goalie for SPA’s soccer program.

For Theba, pressure is not always a bad thing. “There is pressure that you can choose to feel and pressure that you feel regardless. A lot of the pressure that I often feel is pressure from sponsors or people that support me,” he said. “It can be challenging, but it’s also a reminder that people care.” When he gets stressed, Theba usually listens to music and employs visualization techniques, a sort of consciously controlled preparation for performance where athletes rehearse a skill, goal, or routine to discourage stress and promote intentional execution.
Junior Jack O’Brien participates in soccer, lacrosse, nordic skiing, and trap shooting. Though he enjoys competing in all, he only ever feels nervous before nordic races.
“It’s different because it’s completely dependent on me; all the responsibility is on me,” he said. “I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well. I want to be the best on the team.”
Though O’Brien definitely feels stressed before races, he doesn’t have a very effective way of relaxing. “Usually I complain about [being nervous] to literally anybody who will listen to me complaining,” he said. “It’s a sort of coping mechanism, but it never works. I am always stressed till I get to the line to start. As soon as the race begins, it goes away.”
Of course, not all pressure is bad. Stress can help athletes grow and develop if adequately managed. According to KidsHealth, student athletes can reduce stress in a multitude of ways. Deep breathing, targeted muscle relaxation, visualization, routine, meditation, and developing positive self-talk are all methods athletes can use to remain calm.
Pressure will always be an aspect of athletic performance, but it doesn’t have to be central to an athlete’s experience. “The focus is always on your sport or getting better,” Theba said. “Taking a moment for myself is a reminder that I’m doing what I do because I love it, because it makes me happy, and because I’m good at it.”
Taking an active role in managing pressure has been central to Theba’s success. For him, and for many other student athletes, strategies for reducing stress are just another thing to practice.