Simon Cassidy: Head Swim Coach
- Head swim coach at Menlo High School in Atherton, California
- Has coached various age groups, masters swimming, and triathletes
- Is a three time Top 20 finisher at the Olympic Distance World Championships representing Team Canada
Within sports, would our school/athletic director talk about mental health in sports?
“He’s open to talking about it. I think the thing is that it’s somewhat of a silent issue unless there’s an awareness it exists among staff and coaches. Until a kid or athlete comes forward, there isn’t really an awareness that the athlete is having an issue. Sometimes, it’s obvious to an adult that a student is having an issue. But, the majority of the time, it’s not obvious. I think a lot of people, broadly speaking, equate it to success - if a student is not successful, they might have mental health issues. That may be true but the reality is a student who is successful might be just as likely to have mental health issues. Teachers have some signs to look for but unless an athlete comes forward and talks to someone - either a counselor, teacher, or coach they trust - it’s really hard to address the issue. Above a certain age - I’m not exactly sure what age that would be - more people become broadly aware of mental health issues. It’s not a new issue. It’s been around forever. Teachers and staff have been aware of this issue and perhaps have even had issues on their own - when they were students, they had similar issues. But, when they were in school, no one ever talked about it. There really was no outlet. To them, it’s not so unusual to not talk about it.”
As a coach, what do you think your signs are for an athlete that’s struggling?
“If I see an athlete that is maybe a little despondent or not motivated or sometimes not achieving their full potential, I see those, perhaps, as signs that things are not going as well they could be. In my position as a new coach, it’s a little bit of a challenge for me to coach a student that I probably don’t know very well and say ‘Hey, can you open up to me?’. That’s one of the challenges - if a coach or teacher does have an instinct about someone, they may be wrong or it may be that the student doesn’t want to open up to them. As a coach, you can encourage them. If I approach a student and that student doesn’t want to open up to me, I can try and encourage that student to open up to someone whether it’s a parent, a sibling, a friend, or a counselor.”
Given that mental health is not discussed too much, is it something that should be discussed more or is there a possibility for it to be discussed more?
“Yeah, I think so. Absolutely! I think we’re in an environment - particularly here at Menlo or particularly in our league (schools like Harker or Sacred Heart are similar) where kids are trying to achieve a tremendous amount. Kids feel a lot of pressure. I think the school does try and address that pressure - maybe mental health falls under that umbrella. But, could we discuss it more in the world of athletics? Yes. I think some kids probably see athletics as adding to their stress. Some kids see it as a source of stress relief.”
As a coach, how would advise an athlete that can’t really handle doing both (school and athletics) or is having trouble with that?
“That’s a really big challenge. Your club coach probably knows you quite well. My guess is that you’ve probably been with that person for years and you probably see that person 7 to 9 times a week. That person has seen you grow and knows you well. After 4 years, I may have a similar relationship with a freshman but coaches sometimes don’t have that relationship with a student. It’s hard to understand really where their priorities lie. Some kids are very focused on one thing and other kids are spread out across a variety of different after-school activities. If a coach has a kid that’s dealing with a bunch of after-school activities, I think it’s harder for the coach to get a handle on where the source of the stress is. Is that kid coming to swimming stressed because they’re overloaded with piano work or are they stressed at piano because they’re overloaded with swimming work? I think some of it has to do with college applications and everyone wanting to get into what they think is the perfect school. I think that creates a lot of stress. Stress and mental health are related but they’re not the same thing. Managing stress can help manage mental health. I think kids have to work with their parents, teachers, and coaches about managing a workload and understanding what is too much. That is what I’m constantly grappling with at the pool here as we try and set a minimum standard or minimum threshold for a number of practices to be on the team. Kids are balancing that with other commitments that they have.”
Another big aspect of what we outlined was performance anxiety. What would happen leading up to a race? I know on our club team, it’s a big issue - we have kids that puke. What advice would you give for that?
“That is challenging. Some of that is natural. Most people have some sort of nerves or butterflies or performance anxiety. Some of that is natural and healthy. If you have 0 performance anxiety, you’re either an absolute superstar or you’re not that motivated. I think that if an athlete felt that they had a bigger-than-average degree of performance anxiety, they could talk to their coach or a professional. I talked a little about whether athletics was a source of stress or a source of stress relief. Performance anxiety can be the same. It can drive some athletes to achieve and it can drive other athletes to underperform. But again, I think that one of the things that’s going to help is talking to somebody whether that someone is a teammate, a coach, a teacher, or a professional. I think that part of it’s realizing that it’s natural but if you feel like you’re above and beyond natural, talking to a coach or professional about it is best.”
Our third aspect was burnout. How would you help a kid that’s feeling burnt out by their sport rather than it ending up with the kid quitting?
“Burnout is certainly a very real issue. I don’t think anyone would deny that. I would allow kids to take breaks and I would encourage kids to take short, regular breaks. I had some discussions with kids earlier in the season on this team who were adamant, based on how their schedule worked, about going to practice 7 days a week. I’ll go to these practices on these days and these practices on these days. They started to think that they were fine and could do it all. I told them that it was 7 days a week and if you’re doing that for an entire month, I can just about guarantee that you’re going to burn yourself out. So, helping kids manage ahead of time saying, ‘Hey, I don’t think this schedule is sustainable for you. I see you running yourself into trouble’. I don’t think it’s happened for a swim team yet but if I were to see a student that was really struggling with practice, I would suggest that the student should take some time off. In some cases, it might just be a couple of days off but in other cases, it might be a month or longer. In some cases, that’s difficult within a high school sports season but if you were a club athlete, then sometimes you can afford to do that. One of the issues we see is that - I’m not sure what the exact time frame is but let’s say ten to twenty years - kids' sports have really become an industry and a business. Part of the business component of sports - some would argue that it’s a drive to achieve but I see it as the business of sports - is that you have people who need to get paid. If you have clubs that are only operating 6 months a year, those people are only getting paid 6 months a year. Those people need to get paid 12 months a year and so, as a result, they run programs 12 months a year. With multiple kids, I’ve talked to them about what the pros do. I’m familiar with water polo as well because I’ve had kids that play water polo and so the water polo season starts in the third week of August and it goes, with a couple of two-week breaks, all the way around to the first week of August the next year. They get a two-week break and then they start again. If you look at the NBA, NFL, or MLB, these guys take months and months off every single year. So, how is it that a professional athlete needs 3 to 4 months off but we’re asking high school kids to just take two weeks off. It doesn’t make any sense. I think every year, high school students need a bigger break than they’re often getting. Even 3 weeks is not that much when you compare it to the pros. The pros, especially in the big leagues like MLS or NBA, have a ton of infrastructure and support - it’s off the charts. They have the best sports psychologists, sports doctors, and physical therapists. A lot of the time, kids in high schools don’t have access to any of those support systems. Their travel support is completely different than a professional team would be. High school students are also struggling with all sorts of other things in their life - they’re dealing with new friendships, their parents, and their school. They’ve got so many things to deal with, yet we give them 3 weeks off in the summer. That’s not enough time.”