There are a lot of student-athletes at Woodbridge high school and 7.6 million nationwide. The mental health of student-athletes is something that we look past even though there are so many. An NCAA study found 30% of surveyed athletes feeling extremely overwhelmed, with 25% feeling mentally exhausted.

Student-athletes put a lot of time into this sport. They put in over 20 hours a week, which is close to a part-time job. Even when they are not at practice or a meeting. That is what takes over their brain, they are thinking about what they are going to do for the next meet and the next game. It can be a lot of pressure because if you make one wrong move, it can mess up your whole team.

Student-athletes often face a lot of pressure from their coaches to put their sport first. They need to put their all into the sport to have a spot on the team. Since you see your coaches so often, they feel like a second mom or dad to you. You want to be good to make them proud, and you want to do well to make the team proud.

There is also a lot of pressure that comes from family. If things are not so good at home, sports can be an outlet. If you develop your skills and put in the work, it can help you get into a good school. If you go to college, it can help you get money and live a better life. The America dreams. There is a lot of pressure from parents that played sports in school. People feel pressure to be as good as them or better. Parents can feel like they are living though you. Some kids even must help raise younger brothers and sisters because their parents physically and or mentally cannot. It can be hard on your physical and mental health to deal with all that.

Overall, we need to shine light on Student-athletes Mental health and understand it to help ourselves and the people around us.