The vast majority of people consider an athlete’s hardships purely physical, with long hours, strenuous physical activity and a constant need to stay fit. But it goes deeper than that.
Sports carry a harsh mental burden for the athletes who dedicate themselves to their craft. Due to a lack of available sports psychologists, these harsh burdens are yet to be fully understood.
As a whole, sports psychology as a career path and a point of emphasis in popular culture is largely untouched, but SDSU’s new sports psychology club aims to shine a light on the field.
The club was founded and is currently led by Keira Bennett.
Bennett, an athlete herself, grew up playing both volleyball and running track before walking on and competing for SDSU’s track and field team over the last two years. Recently, Bennett took a step away from SDSU’s track and field team.
“After that (sophomore) season, I was really burnt out from the sport and it just wasn’t really fulfilling me,” Bennett said. Another motivator for the departure was her lack of time to focus on passion projects, such as the sports psychology club.
“It was a lot that I couldn’t really have any hobbies and that really bothered me,” Bennett said.
Even with her stepping away from track and field, Bennett has a deep understanding of life as an athlete. She attributes this understanding of the harsh mental side of sports to her parents, who educated her about it from a young age. She noted that she was taught the importance of “positivity and optimism, when it comes to hardship and things like that.”
Witnessing her teammates not having this same luxury drove her to appreciate and learn more about the mental side of athletics, pushing her to pursue a career in the field.
“I saw that a lot of my teammates really struggled with that side of things and just being mentally strong and taking care of their mental health,” Bennett stated.
Bennett also explained the current lack of resources in the field.
“It’s a tough thing to get into, it’s very niche and [a] very new job and just overall, it’s a new career,” Bennett said.
Despite the uniqueness and recency of Bennett’s interest, she found others with similar interests and struggles, stating, “I had been meeting people over the past few years that wanted to do the same thing as me, and I was like, there’s nothing for us.”
So she decided to provide her own outlet.
When discussing the current social effort given to the topic, Bennett mentioned that “there’s a lot of things that have started conversations, but don’t think that people understand the role and importance that [sports psychology] has.”
The club has some experienced individuals within its ranks as well. Staff advisor Austin Alvarez is also SDSU Athletics’ designated sports psychologist, making him the first sports psychologist in the university’s history.
“I’m excited about the club to start too, and I’m excited to see where they take it,” Alvarez said.
Alvarez shares a similar mindset regarding social involvement with athlete mental health; however, he acknowledged that the field is far more popular than it once was.
“I think it’s being talked about a lot [but] there’s always room to grow,” Alvarez said. “Athletes are getting a lot of great role models at this point,” he said, crediting those who speak out. “Professionals are now coming out and using their platform to kind of say, oh yeah, I struggled with this, it’s okay if you do too.”
Real-world experience is highly valuable to up-and-coming psychologists in the field and Alvarez provides it. When asked how he pushed himself into the sights of a major university such as SDSU, Alvarez emphasized a multifaceted education.
“Working with eating disorders and working with substance abuse, that was part of my schooling and I think that made me a lot more competitive than if I hadn’t had those specialties,” Alvarez said.
Bennett and the club have made great strides thus far in encouraging membership by providing a multitude of resources for members, including workshops, networking events and guest speakers. The primary goal for events and speakers will be to destigmatize athlete mental health and educate members on techniques to build a successful career.
Though for Bennett, numbers are not what truly matter.
“To me, honestly, the size of the club isn’t necessarily my goal, because it’s such a niche field, I just want to find people who are interested in the club,” she said.
Bennett also pledged to have an involved environment, stating, “We want to make it very interactive, so it’s not just come sit down and listen to a lecture and leave.”
She provided specific examples as well, “I want people to actually make progress towards that (goal), like today we are going to learn how to email people and then email 10 people before you leave,” Bennett said.
The value of a continuous networking community cannot be overstated, and Bennett is well aware of that. Even with all of the effort, Bennett has faced challenges.
“It certainly was harder than I thought,” she stated when discussing the creation of a sanctioned club. “But I was more than happy to get started on it because I think it’s so important …“I’m just really excited for the fact that people will have a resource.”
Bennett and her executive board have large aspirations, yet the intentions behind the club’s creation carry a caretaking sentiment, providing others with something they desperately lack.
For more information on how to get involved with the club, follow their official Instagram page @sdsusportspsychclub and attend their first meeting on Feb. 3 at 4 p.m. in the state suite at the student union.
