How can we support young people in their identity development?
- Encourage young people to consider who they are as a person and as an athlete
- Helping young people gain a clear understanding of who they are ‘off the pitch’ will enable them to:
- Widen their sense of self
- Gain clarity over their other strengths
- Protect them from longer term psychological difficulties
And for those thinking that this may take their focus away from their sport I would argue it’s quite the opposite.
- Having a clearer understanding of who they are will allow athletes:
- to ‘switch on and get in the zone’ at the appropriate times
- and ‘switch off’ thereafter,
- this fits with the knowledge that successful athletes need to be in the here and now and have the ability to maintain concentration.
