Getting cut from a sports team can be a very difficult experience for kids, and cuts are becoming more common with how competitive youth and scholastic sports have become. In some big high schools, for example, many would-be stars at smaller schools might not even make the team. Parents are also effected, often not knowing why their child was cut from the team, or who to go to in order to learn more.
The impact and consequences of being cut
Some kids who are cut from sports team experience sadness, frustration, anxiety, and isolation while dealing with embarrassment and the sudden loss of their sports identity. Additional potential issues kids experience include:
- Sudden big voids of open time to fill
- Loss of sports friends and support system of coaches and other assistants
- Loss of structured exercise schedule
- Anger, especially when they feel “politics” were involved in the decision
- Confusion, both with their identity of no longer “athlete,” and where to direct their interests now that their sports career may have ended
- Sadness, including feelings of inadequacy and pessimistic thoughts regarding future sport/life opportunities
Turn a negative into a positive
While it might seem like the worst thing in the world to a youngster experiencing a sports cut, it doesn’t have to be this way. How we perceive situations dramatically impacts the subsequent behaviors we experience, and herein is where kids can learn to turn a negative event into a positive one. Take for example the following:
- Often the skill-set a kid learns in one sport can be transferred to another, but this idea is not always immediately recognized by kids. For example, a soccer player might be able to turn his or her talents into kicking for the football team, or running cross country or track.
- Some kids may find the new time they have available to use in different ways, possibly by joining academic and social clubs, or trying band or art.
- And finally, if a kid is still interested in playing the sport he or she was just cut from, receiving feedback from the coach can help with setting future goals to try out for the team the next time around. If you decide to go this route, be sure to be respectful of the coach’s time, and go in to the meeting not to try and pin “politics” on his or her decision, but to instead solicit solid, objective feedback for future growth and development.
Final thoughts
As the old saying goes, “as one door closes another door opens.” We need to support kids through cuts, but also help them regain their focus and confidence as they embark upon a new chapter in life and figure out the future. We all experience stress, frustration, adversity, and failure in life, but it’s what we do with these experiences that makes all the difference.
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