The former professionals had the same answer, even though they played different sports and never shared a locker room. Asked what they most wish young athletes understood about the mental side of sports, they kept coming back to one idea: pressure is part of the game, not proof that something is wrong with you.
In interviews described by the New York Times, five former professional athletes who now coach youth teams said they see the same pattern in kids today. Talent and effort are there. What is often missing, they said, is a realistic picture of what it feels like inside to compete — and how to work with those feelings instead of fearing them.
Their message, drawn from years in elite competition and now on the sidelines with children and teenagers, is straightforward: nerves, doubt and frustration are normal. Learning to recognize and manage them is as important as any skill drill.
What the Former Pros Are Telling Kids
The New York Times reporting centers on a simple question posed to five retired professionals who now coach young athletes: what is the one thing you wish kids knew about the mental side of sports?
Across the group, the answers converged on a shared theme. They told the Times that young players often assume professionals feel calm and confident all the time. In reality, the former pros said, even at the highest level they felt anxious before big games, replayed mistakes in their heads and sometimes questioned whether they belonged.
What separated long careers from short ones, they told the Times, was not the absence of those feelings but the ability to keep playing well while experiencing them. They described this as a skill that can be practiced, much like shooting, passing or conditioning.
According to the Times account, several of the former pros now build short conversations about nerves and self-talk into regular youth practices. They encourage kids to name what they are feeling before a game and to see it as a sign that they care, not a signal that they are failing.
Why the Mental Side Matters for Kids
The former pros told the New York Times they are seeing more young athletes step away from sports because they feel overwhelmed by expectations, both their own and those they perceive from adults. They described middle school and high school players who interpret a bad game as evidence that they are not cut out for competition.
In their view, this is where mental skills become protective. By teaching kids that discomfort and doubt are expected, they hope to reduce the shame that can come with a slump or a mistake. One of the former pros told the Times that when a child learns to treat a missed shot as information instead of a verdict, the sport becomes sustainable again.
The Times reporting links this approach to a broader shift in how coaches talk about performance. Instead of focusing only on toughness or “wanting it more,” the former pros said they try to give kids specific tools: routines to settle themselves before a game, simple breathing exercises, and phrases they can use to refocus after an error.
They emphasized that these are not clinical treatments but everyday habits that any team can adopt. The goal, they told the Times, is not to eliminate pressure but to help kids carry it in a healthier way.
A Changing Conversation Around Youth Sports
The New York Times article situates these coaching choices in a wider conversation about the role of mental health in sports. Over the past several years, high-profile athletes have spoken publicly about anxiety, depression and burnout. That visibility has filtered down to youth fields and gyms, where parents and coaches are more likely to talk about emotional strain than in past decades.
Context from other outlets shows how contested the broader sports environment has become. Breitbart, for example, has covered political debates over who should be allowed to compete in girls’ sports, focusing on decisions by elected officials, including state legislators and members of the U.S. Senate, about eligibility rules. While that reporting deals with policy rather than psychology, it underscores that youth sports are no longer treated as a purely private matter.
Against that backdrop, the former pros interviewed by the Times are concentrating on what they can control directly: the experience of the kids in front of them. They told the paper that their priority is to make sure young athletes understand that the mental challenges they face are common and can be addressed within everyday practice.
How This Could Shape Decisions Beyond the Field
The New York Times reporting focuses on the day-to-day work of former professionals now coaching children, but the ideas they are promoting may carry weight beyond individual teams.
As public institutions weigh how to support young people, sports often enter the discussion. Legislatures and the U.S. Senate have held hearings and debates on issues ranging from school athletics funding to eligibility rules, as reflected in coverage like Breitbart’s reporting on lawmakers’ positions in girls’ sports. While those stories center on who gets to play, the Times piece highlights another question: what kind of psychological environment kids encounter once they are on a team.
The former pros’ emphasis on teaching mental skills could draw interest from school districts, youth leagues and policymakers who are already concerned about student well-being. If decision-makers accept the premise, described in the Times, that learning to handle pressure is a trainable part of sports, they may look more closely at coach education, practice structure and the messages adults send about winning and losing.
The Times article does not report specific policy proposals tied to these coaches. But by giving detailed attention to how former professionals talk with children about nerves, confidence and mistakes, it adds concrete examples to a conversation that often stays abstract.
What to Watch Next
In the coming weeks, the most immediate developments are likely to occur at the local level. School and community programs that follow sports coverage in outlets like the New York Times may look to incorporate more explicit mental-skills teaching into their practices, drawing on the examples described by the former pros.
Advocates for youth mental health could also point to this reporting in discussions with education officials and lawmakers, including members of the Senate who are already engaged in debates about youth sports. Any moves to expand coach training requirements or to add guidance on the psychological side of athletics to school policies would be concrete signs that the message from these former professionals is resonating beyond their own teams.
For now, the clearest indicator to watch is whether more youth coaches begin to talk publicly, as these former pros have, about treating pressure and nerves as normal parts of the game — and about giving kids specific tools to handle them.
