Sports and Mental Health: The Pros and Cons

When we think of examples of bad mental health, we tend to think of ‘emo’ teens, Emo’s are most commonly deciphered as teens who like ‘emo’ or sad music and have black hair, they usually hate their life and either don’t like or are too ‘lazy’ to do sports. But in reality, what we call bad mental health can affect anyone, Including children, even if it seems untrue.

Whenever people talk about mental health and sports, the main statement is: "just get out and exercise more," or "join a sports team, it makes you think about something else." Which may be accurate since, according to Newport Academy, "research shows that sports and other types of physical activity can be equally as effective as medication in improving teen mental health and happiness levels." But how can we be sure? Does every sport make a positive impact on our mental health? Or some? Or none at all? 

Three interviews on mental health on sports teams took place to help us find answers to this question. Three middle school students Sarah Paul, Sophie Stucki, and Chloe Bott shared their experiences with sports and mental health.

Sarah Paul has been on the school's Tennis team for almost two years. First Sarah stated that losing a point usually makes the person feel responsible, which can be disappointing, so after matches, she tries to reflect to avoid making herself angry at herself.  "Tennis is a very emotional sport," Sarah says, "When I first started, my parents were the ones who pushed me to do tennis, and at the time, I enjoyed it, but it was not really my favorite, but now Tennis has become something I deeply love." Sarah continues by saying how this year, her parents were very cautious of her not making the team since she had gone the summer without practice. Still, she tried out anyway, even when the voices in her head said she wouldn't make it. "But when I played, I realized that it's muscle memory." Even so, she still worries about every match since she feels bad about losing points "mostly, I try to keep it in my head, but on the inside, I'm cursing myself out if I missed the point or if others are trying to be rude." This was an intriguing statement. Sarah went on "Tennis is therapeutic. You can get all your anger out by hitting a ball, but when you're in a competitive environment, you can think bad about yourself for missing a shot too, so honestly, I think Tennis is both a good and bad sport for people's mental health."

Sarah’s comments show how tennis can be challenging, but it can be a good sport for making us happy and healthy in the long run.

The second sports team member is a cross-country middle school student called Sophie Stucki. Sophie has been on the cross-country team for three years. She first stated that cross country does not affect mental health whatsoever. Sophie was then asked how she feels when she doesn’t win first place. Sophie said, "I don't expect myself to win first place. I don't expect to get into the top three, and if I do, I congratulate myself but getting first is different for me since I'm not ‘that runner.’ Even if I were to get third, that would be big for me. Still, suppose I don't get it. In that case, that will not defeat me." She went on to explain why she started doing cross country, "I started in third grade and hated it, so I quit. Still, I joined again in sixth grade, and the only reason I did that was that my sister did it, and I was terrible, terrible, terrible, but then I started practicing with my mom, and that's how I got the most improved player." The next question for Sophie was how she felt about cross-country

"I never thought I would be a runner since I used to hate it, but now I love it, and I never thought I would"

-Sophie Stucki

Sophie was then asked about why one should join cross country, she answered that anyone who thinks they could benefit from running or want to be part of a team should join. Sophie stated how everyone is very close together in her group. Nobody is left out, unlike other sports groups. "Next year will be harder for me since the team won't be the same, but that is exactly what I thought last year. I said I wasn't going to be in cross-country since the sixth graders would come and the eighth graders would leave, and I thought it's over for my ride with cross-country… even better this year, it's way better."

Sophie's interview demonstrates how our teammates significantly impact how the sport makes us feel. Even when we are unaware, others are constantly influencing our life for the better or, the worse.

Chloe Bott is the third and final sports respondent. Who was on the B team for basketball. Unfortunately, Chloe has been an ex-member of the team since she moved away and left ZIS in the summer of 2022. So Chloe’s first question was how she felt the team influenced her mental health by leaving the group. She responded that she misses basketball but is glad she can now have rest to do homework since playing basketball tired her out. In addition, Chloe stated that playing basketball while on the team made her feel happier and sometimes healthier.

Chloe said that even if it weren't recommended, she would still have done basketball because she grew up playing it with her father on the weekend. Chloe's answer to the final question about how her teammates made her feel while she was on the team she answered that  her teammates were all older than her, so Chloe never really grew close to any of them but looking back on it now, Chloe says she wishes she were closer to her teammates since that might have helped her be happier and engage more in Basketball or other activities.

On the other hand, Chloe had said that when she missed a shot or didn't do as well as someone else, it made her feel stressed.

"Basketball has the power to make someone feel amazing but also to make you feel worse about yourself”

-Chloe Bott

During these interviews, we learned how mental health varies depending on the sports team, so there is more than one way to solve this mystery. Although the teams seem to be a big part of how sports make people feel, the sport itself has not shown any real sign of influence on a person's mental health. Still, this article only scratches the surface of what sports could really do to our mental health.