Abstract
Topic: Sports Counseling How does seeing a sports counselor effect an athlete’s overall developmental ability in sports performance and communication: individual interactions in a sport setting (e.g., athlete–athlete, athlete–coach, coach–parent)?
Introduction
Sports counseling is an important part of sports system in which the athletes are provided with proper guidance through coaching system. Sports counseling is a proper way in which the counselors are responsible for the concerns of their student’s athletes and they have the responsibility of the mental counseling and physical performances of the student’s athletes. The main important factor of any sports athlete is his physical performance in the sport that is linked with his mental functioning. For example, the counselors who are responsible for the student’s athletes counseling have to help them in their personal competence, depression, helplessness, anxiety, fears, as well as academic issues (Valentine & Taub, 1999). It is because all these factors are important and impact on the mind state of the individuals. These factors including depression, anxiety, and fear are common in the athletes and the counselors are the ones who decrease or erase these factors from the mind of the athlete through proper counseling methods. So, the sports counselor plays an important role into the life and the performance level of an athlete. Counseling is specifically a method in which counselor provide their assistance to the athletes, it includes the research work about the athletes and their mental scenarios, also to provide them proper guidance and motivate them about their performance. Sports counselors not only responsible for the mental and psychological concerns of the athletes but they also plays an important role in the career development stages of the athletes. Without any coach or any counselor, it is much difficult for any athlete to maintain the performance, deal with mental tensions, anxiety, depression and other mental scenarios. Counselors add value into the performance of the athletes and make them able to handle their mental and psychological issues so that these factors will not impact on the performance of the athletes. Sports counselors motivate the athletes, listen and analyze their issues, provide solutions to their problems, encourage them to perform better, and help them to analyze or find their strong points. Sports counselors help the athletes to perform better on the field and how to deal with their anxieties, field tensions, and mental abilities. They are helpful for the athletes and improve their developmental abilities by their work and assistance. Counseling impacts positively to the communication process of the athletes and their performance level. In the proposed research study the researcher will analyze the methods, factors, ways, and techniques of the sports counselors which are helpful for the athletes and how these techniques help them in their overall performance level and overall developmental ability in sports performance and communication. The proposed study will examine the sports settings by adding all the important figures such as athlete–athlete, athlete–coach, coach–parent. The proposed study will analyze their relationship and their connection to the overall performance level of the athletes. This study will help to determine about the core competencies of the sports counselors, their techniques to deal with the athletes, how their counseling techniques help the athletes, and how they are helpful to develop the abilities and performances of the athletes. This research will add value to the sports counseling literature as it examines the relationship between counselor and the athletes and provide details how this relationship positively or negatively impacts on the performance, communication, and developmental abilities of the athletes.
Literature Review
Sports plays an important part on one’s life as it is a great measure towards a healthy life style. The social and personal well being of the student’s athlete is an important issue and considered as a global concern for the coaches and the sports staff system. There are several factors for the student athlete or an athlete that impacts on their mind and increases their mental tension such as the common competiveness of the other team. “It is likely that as athletic participation becomes a life focus, the growth and development of other areas of individual functioning of the student athlete may be neglected or inhibited” (Miller & Wooten, 1995). It is due to the certain pressure of game or sport that is a part of an athlete’s life. The athletes have to face several issues and they have to handle certain pressures such as competitiveness, injury, exhaustion, and depression. Sports counseling is now considered as an important significant part of the sports system as it deals with the concerns of student athletes and provide them professional assistance (Miller & Wooten, 1995). Several techniques and methods are used in the sports counseling process such as different workshops, training systems, mental and psychological counseling to help the athletes to better their performances (Miller & Wooten, 1995). The student athlete counseling measures include the academic counseling and advising in a meaningful curriculum, study skills, goal setting, decision making, stress management, drug and alcohol education, emotional and personal health, career concerns (Miller & Wooten, 1995).
Counseling the athletes is now considered as an important and significant part of the sports system due to its need and its implications into the performance level of the athletes. Now several universities, colleges, and academic institutions are adding the proper counseling measures into their sports wing system to promote and encourage the performances of the athletes (PETITPAS, BUNTROCK, RAALTE & BREWER, 1995). Athletes are the ones who develop under a pressurized environment where their main focus is the victory. They fight for success and they contribute their mental and physical abilities to the sports to gain success. A good competitor is the one who is mentally present, able to handle pressure and able to deal with the mental troubles (López & Levy, 2013). The mental and psychological factors are the most important concerns of the sports counseling as it directly linked with the performance level of the athletes. Many studies suggested that there is a strong relationship between the psychological and mental tensions of the athletes and their performance level on the field (López & Levy, 2013). Sport psychology consultants are helping professionals who provide services including educating clients on the role of psychological factors in sports, exercise, and physical activities and provide skill training on the mental, behavioral, psychosocial, and emotional aspect of sports and other physical activities (Association of Applied Sport Psychology, 2010). The counselors are able to help the sports professional in a way that develops their abilities, and help them to perform better on the field. They use the techniques to deal with the mental tensions of the athletes including the motivation, encouragement, mental counseling, and many other ways that are useful for the athletes. Counselors help the athlete and make them able to handle the field pressure, make them able to deal with behavioral tensions, and make them able to handle their psychological tensions so that all these factors contribute positively to their performance on their field.
Many counselors are the ones who recommend proper diet structure to the athletes and provide them guidance about the proper medication (Burns, Schiller, Merrick & Wolf, 2004). Medication is many time compulsory for the athletes such as in the condition of injury, one require proper medication so he will recover soon and go back on the field. In such conditions, appropriate medication is needed, which helps the athletes to recover soon and the counselors are the ones who suggest proper medication if needed to the athletes. Moreover, the counselors suggest supplements medications to the athletes so that it will help the athletes physically and help to maintain a proper physical structure (Burns, Schiller, Merrick & Wolf, 2004).
In the United States of America, the sports and the athletes are considered as an important element of the nation. In 2016, more than 35 percent children participated in the team sports on the national and global level. A study showed that more than 8 million students of high school are the ones who are part of sport system in their schools, more than 500,000 student plays the sports at their college level, and more than 11,000 people are the professional athletes in the United States (Hebard & Lamberson, 2017). In the past decade, the researchers analyzed and recognized that mental abilities and psychological health of the athletes are not properly addressed in the past (Hebard & Lamberson, 2017)
A study analyzed several factors about the relationship between the counselors and the athletes. The counselors are needed and significant in the sports system also the counselors need to enhance and improve their abilities to perform better. The study recommended that counselors need proper attention and there are several gaps that need to be addressed such as the future sports counseling needs professional development (Hebard & Lamberson, 2017). “The marketability of a sport counselor relies on the ability to demonstrate effectiveness with athletes and collaborate with the professional fields that currently saturate sporting contexts (Hebard & Lamberson, 2017). It means that sports counselors who are professional depend upon their own abilities and their effective relationship with the athletes. The professional sports counselors are able to deal with the mental and psychological troubles of the athletes and they are the ones who boost up their abilities and make them best players in their fields.
In the United States, alcohol related problems are widely spread and especially among the college students who are considered as the assets of their nation. In the last 20 years, the problems related alcohol in the university and college students increased and many researchers predict that these students are at risk and their serious alcohol problems should need to be addressed properly (Lewis & Paladino, 2008). The athlete students are also lies in this category, and they need proper attention to decrease their alcohol addiction. The counselors are able to deal with this issue, as he/she is the one who provide assistance to the athletes who are facing addiction problems and it is negatively impacting on their overall team performances. The alcohol related issues not only impacts negatively to the performance of the athletes but it also damages their reputation among the other athletes. They have to suffer from many mental tensions and have to accept the fact that they need proper counseling or proper guidance that how they will effectively reduce their addiction habit and how they are able to overcome their flaws. The counselors provide assistance to these athletes and they
References
Association of Applied Sport Psychology. (2010). About certified consultants.
Retrieved from http://appliedsportpsych.org/consultants
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