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Easing the Psychological Impact of Cutting an Athlete

I wrote this last year but it is vital to revisit one of the most anxiety-producing processes for our athletes (and coaches too).

Millions of young players are going to open themselves up to the pain of not making the team.

I remember that pain.

Every time I got cut from a team it hurt. It hasn’t happened in close to thirty-five years but I still remember it.

The first time a coach cut me from a team occurred when I was nine.

The coach of a local traveling team called us all in and read the names of the players who made the team off a list. Those that made the team celebrated & the other half of us wandered around devastated. There were a lot of nine-year-old boys trying not to cry in front of the kids who had made the team. I had no idea why the coach cut me. I felt confused, hurt, and angry.

The next day my father took me out to play catch and allowed me to express my frustrations. *** Free parenting tip playing catch is a great way to allow young boys to open up and talk. My dad used it a lot and it also worked for me as a father.** It helped a lot. He knew I needed to get back on the horse but needed to process my emotions first.

We came up with a plan to improve on areas of weakness and the next year I made the te

Not all athletes are so lucky. They don’t all have a parent that understands how to help support a child getting cut for the first time.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not one of those people who think that teams should not have cuts.

In many sports, there isn’t an alternative to making cuts. A roster of 22 basketball players would create a miserable experience for all. Many basketball teams end up with 60 or 70 players showing up to tryouts. Cuts are unavoidable.

The job of coaches is to cut players in a way that allows them to maintain dignity and self-esteem. Create an environment that allows an athelete to maintain dignity and feel safe coming out for tryouts.

Hopefully, this is not their final memory of their time playing sports.

Interesting data supports an athlete-centered approach to cuts. It comes from a study conducted by the kinesiology departments of the Universities of Saskatchewan and Alberta. In 2017, they interviewed 1700 athletes about their experiences trying out for teams. They gained valuable insights to help coaches.

Not making a team affects athletes psychologically in the following ways:

1.) Change in social circle. - those that make the team tend to move with the other members of the team this can leave out those who were cut.

2.)Deter them from trying out again- when an athlete’s experience mirrored mine, it likely prevented them from trying out again. Without specific feedback, they were unlikely to continue on in competitive sports.

3.) Damages Self-esteem- This feels like a natural consequence of not making the team. It just doesn’t have to be long-term damage.

Coaches can mitigate the damage by following best practices when cutting athletes.

It is normal for athletes to feel hurt and angry at not making the team. They have to be able to express this frustration even if that is with the coach who cut them.

*** Warning Old Person Rant Incoming.***

Compounding this is that failure is no longer seen as a normal part of the process of growing up. Society has decided that failure is too hard on young people. They do not have the same amount of experience failing as the generations that have proceeded them. The consequences of failure in childhood used to prepare kids to be adults. The adult world still functions this way, failure happens. I am concerned about what happens when this generation experiences failure as adults.

Best Practices for Coaches when there are no alternatives to making cuts.

The data from the Sulz, Humbert, and Gleddie survey highlights best practices for coaches. Athletes whose coaches carry out cuts using best practices reported a far more positive experience.

Best practices included:

1.) Immediacy- Don’t make them wait too long after the final tryout.

2.) Privacy- Cuts should occur in a meeting withe at least 2 coaches and not in front of other members of the team.

3.) Encouragement- Provide them with encouragement and other options to keep playing.

4.) Clear Expectations- Athletes should have a clear sense of what you’re looking for at the start of tryouts.

5.) Start with the outcome- Athletes prefer to hear the outcome at the start of the discussion. Confusion arises from “You had a good tryout” followed by “But I am cutting you”.

6.) Provide specific feedback- What are the steps they need to take to make it next year?

7.) Check in with them the following week- This shows the athlete that you care about them as a person.

I know that cuts are not easy for coaches either.

I don’t really sleep well during tryouts because I know what is coming. It is probably my least favorite two days of the year. I know that I am going to hurt kids. I guess it’s a good sign that I don’t look forward to it.

It should be hard to make cuts.

It shows that I have empathy for the young athletes who want to play on my. The moment it isn’t hard to cut kids is the time I need to hang up the whistle.

So embrace the difficulty of making cuts, it means you are a coach who cares about young athletes.

Joing the Competitive Advantage Coaching Community

Last week I invited subscribers of this newsletter to joing the next step in the evolution of the newsletter.

So far 60 coaches have joined and started sharing how they coach the whole athlete. I am leaving registration open until we hit 100 coaches. At this time registration will close for the winter.

The Community will create an advantage for members by providing access to:

• Curation of the best coaching Podcasts, videos, books and other resources
• Courses designed to help coaches improve in all five of the pillars
• Weekly Zoom gatherings on relevant topics
• Insightful Guest Speakers
• 25 years of coaching resources ready to use with your team.
• Maybe even a few X's & O's

Let's build something great that unites and supports as many coaches as possible.

How can I help you on your coaching journey?

Let's work together.

I would love to help you or your team build a competitive advantage. Here are a few ways I can help:

• Join our community
• Consult with your team or coaching staff
• Teach mental skills to your team via Zoom
• Work 1 on 1 with coaches
• Work 1 on 1 with athletes

Shoot me an email I love to talk coaching and see how I can help you.

Coaching is hard, let's make it easier.

Send me an email at jasonpayne@evolutionmpc.com

Thanks for reading and have a great week.