How former NFL player found peace<\/a><\/p>\nWhite, who competed as a high school and collegiate athlete and holds a master\u2019s degree in clinical mental health counseling, said young athletes often face a \u201cperfect storm\u201d of factors that can impact both their well-being and performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is one of the most vulnerable times of growth and development, just in general,\u201d White said. \u201cWhat\u2019s happened to youth sports, 9-18 (years old), is that the structure has really changed. We\u2019ve professionalized it. It\u2019s more expensive. It\u2019s more outcome driven. We\u2019re talking earlier and earlier about recruiting, and NIL has come into play. For these kiddos, it feels less like play and more like a path we have to get right.\u201d<\/p>\n
High school athletes today are also more exposed to social media than ever before, White said, which can create an additional layer of pressure for athletes who constantly feel watched, compared and evaluated.<\/p>\n
\u201cMistakes feel more permanent, and stats feel heavier than they ever were,\u201d White said. \u201cSo that\u2019s putting on an extra layer of pressure, which turns into fear of failure and this consistent need for perfectionism.\u201d<\/p>\n
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![\"Atascocita]()
<\/p>\n
Atascocita football kicker, Phoenix Sosnowicat, is photographed at football practice at Atascocita High School in Humble, Wednesday, April 29, 2026.<\/p>\n
Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle![\"Atascocita]()
<\/p>\n
Atascocita football kicker, Phoenix Sosnowicat, is photographed at football practice at Atascocita High School in Humble, Wednesday, April 29, 2026.<\/p>\n
Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle![\"Atascocita]()
<\/p>\n
Atascocita football kicker, Phoenix Sosnowicat, is photographed at football practice at Atascocita High School in Humble, Wednesday, April 29, 2026.<\/p>\n
Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle![\"Atascocita]()
<\/p>\n
Atascocita football kicker, Phoenix Sosnowicat, is photographed at football practice at Atascocita High School in Humble, Wednesday, April 29, 2026.<\/p>\n
Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle![\"Atascocita]()
<\/p>\n
Atascocita football kicker, Phoenix Sosnowicat, is photographed at football practice at Atascocita High School in Humble, Wednesday, April 29, 2026.<\/p>\n
Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Burnout is another growing concern, White said, especially as more athletes specialize in one sport at an early age and compete year-round without enough time to recover mentally or physically.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we have to create more recovery time,\u201d White said. \u201cWe\u2019re playing year-round. We\u2019ve lost multi-sport athletes. We\u2019re burnt out. Kids are chronically stressed. We have to make sure that it\u2019s OK for kids to take a break, to step away for a minute. Not just physical rest, but mental space.\u201d<\/p>\n
Puja Patel, director of pediatric psychology at Dell Children\u2019s, said adolescence is already an emotionally intense period of life because the brain is still developing. Patel noted that suicide is the second-leading cause of death among adolescents and that depression rates have been on the rise for several years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the moment, when they have those big feelings or those pressures, it feels like this is the moment that\u2019s going to last forever,\u201d Patel said. \u201cAnd then if you add in athletics to that, high school athletes have an added component of practices and just pressure for performance. It\u2019s this constant juggle between all of these things, when the brain is still learning how to plan and how to problem solve.\u201d<\/p>\n
Changing the conversation<\/p>\n
White said one of the biggest challenges surrounding athlete mental health for a long time was the stigma attached to speaking openly about personal struggles. But that dynamic has shifted significantly in recent years, particularly as prominent professional athletes have shared their own experiences publicly.<\/p>\n
From Olympic legends Simone Biles and Michael Phelps to NBA All-Star Kevin Love, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and PGA Tour golfer Gary Woodland, athletes across several sports have become more vocal advocates for mental health awareness.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does wonders,\u201d White said. \u201cIt has an immediate effect when these big-time athletes \u2014 who we think are untouchable, who we think don\u2019t have any challenges \u2014 come forward and say, \u2018I\u2019m human.\u2019 I think it\u2019s been one of the biggest shifts in younger athletes getting the care that they need.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, more than 8 million high school students participated in athletics in 2024-25, including more than 879,000 in Texas alone. Organizations like the Texas High School Coaches Association have increasingly recognized mental health as an issue that requires greater attention and education.<\/p>\n
The THSCA announced in 2023 that it was partnering with Ascension through Dell Children\u2019s Medical Center in Austin to provide coaches with mental health resources and training.<\/p>\n
Libby Pacheco, a former volleyball coach who is now the COO of the THSCA Education Foundation, said one of the organization\u2019s main goals is helping coaches identify athletes who may be struggling.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom an association standpoint and from a coach\u2019s standpoint, the biggest issues are really trying to identify and help not only the athletes that might in crisis, but also identifying those athletes that are struggling in ways that we maybe don\u2019t see,\u201d Pacheco said. \u201cThe behind the scenes kind of stuff. Our biggest focus for our coaches right now is talking, just from an education standpoint, about how do you have those conversations about mental health? How do you identify athletes, and then what do you do once they are identified? The other piece is maybe to prevent athletes from even getting to the point where they might be in crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n
White said coaches and parents are often on the front lines when it comes to recognizing changes in athletes\u2019 behavior and emotional well-being.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think coaches need more education on what to look for and what to notice in these young athletes,\u201d White said. \u201cBut when I speak to parents, they\u2019re under more pressure than ever, too. I see parent anxiety just as much as I see athlete anxiety. I always tell parents and coaches that they have to regulate first. We have to remember that our athletes are essentially mirroring our states. In other words, if my parent is so anxious about my performance, how am I supposed to feel? If my coach can\u2019t handle the stress of the game or the emotions of the game, how can I?\u201d<\/p>\n
Patel said coaches can play a critical role in creating supportive environments for athletes by focusing on growth and well-being, not just performance and results.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think in particular, coaches are so well positioned, not only to bring out the confidence and support for high school athletes, but they\u2019re also another adult figure that is there and has eyes on their athletes to notice if they\u2019re struggling or if they need additional support,\u201d Patel said. \u201cSo they\u2019re there as this resiliency factor in another human that cares and is part of their safety net.\u201d<\/p>\n
Patel also said it\u2019s important for young athletes to develop identities outside of sports.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we think about athletics, it is such an important thing to be a part of a team and a community, but it\u2019s also important for adolescents to expand their identity so that can\u2019t just be the only thing they\u2019re doing,\u201d Patel said. \u201cBecause if we have an injury or we have a setback, if we put all our eggs in that basket, then it\u2019s even harder to move on.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Coats, one of the simplest and most effective solutions to battling mental health concerns is building trust between coaches and athletes. He\u2019s shared some of his own hardships with players and wants them to know they can come to him with off-the-field issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like if we can be open and honest and have open lines of communication, you don\u2019t get into situations where a kid does something rash that he can never come back from,\u201d Coats said. \u201cI want you to come in and be open and honest and trust that I\u2019m here to help guide you not just as a football player, but also as a young man.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Sosnowicz, speaking publicly about his own struggles was difficult, but he hopes it encourages other athletes to seek help when they need it.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust don\u2019t keep it inside,\u201d he said. \u201cTalk about it with someone else. Even if it hurts, it will be way better than keeping it inside.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Atascocita football kicker Phoenix\u00a0Sosnowicz\u00a0is photographed at football practice at Atascocita High School in Humble, Wednesday, April 29, 2026.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":443181,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[163,85,46,522,523],"class_list":["post-443180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=443180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443180\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/443181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=443180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=443180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}