Jacques Jewels: Mental toughness a messy issue

Recent research shows that one in three professional footballers has been struggling during the active career with mental problems.

Especially after a serious injury or sporting disappointment.

We can hold our heart for Robin van Persie, Wesley Sneijder and their teammates when qualifying for the World Cup, failed.

Major causes are the big money, the huge attention and the personality cult.

Especially when soccer offers huge purse. Just see this reality. The magic of happiness and emotional quality of life can be met with an income of 70k euros per year. Most of us do in that bracket. But alas, that’s a pittance against the prevailing salaries of footballers of our times, which run into millions.

A professional sports career starts from 7 to an average of 32 years and in those 25 years, it comes every day to get better. A long journey of sacrifices with peaks and valleys. Go only to stand. How do you deal with that?

Of course, an athlete responsible, although only really since his or her 18th.

Around trainers, coaches and parents is usually not in a position to make a difference for a talent and goes along with the issues of the day. Coaches focus on their own careers. Parents dream about the future of their child.

But what does this group of vulnerable, sporty children themselves? Vibrance, stress, self-confidence and focus will determine the mental fitness. To develop and improve it determines the difference between gold and silver, profit or loss, happy or unhappy.

There’s a lot of hidden uncertainty among football players. Soil his youth. To guard against the harsh world of football and for fear of abuse put players at an young age dejected.

“Good speech, though I do not understand Dutch,” said former FC Utrecht player Kristoffer Peterson about the peace conference of coach Erik ten Hag.

This statement does not stand alone.

Players are terrified of sanctions by trainers and coaches. The lease is early in there. Athletes constantly say ‘yes’, and there are few coaches who give their pupils a sense of security.

Unfortunately we see in football that entire families are dependent on the success or failure of their children.

The pressure is enormous at a young age. To reach the top quickly reveals a sensitive and transparent attitude you will not be appreciated. In fact, you should settle and redeem like a chess piece.

We must become aware of this process and make our own conclusion. Because the current training of top talent does not deal warm the mentally fragile players.

With hockey trying to emulate football, though a long shot, events like Leagues, like Hockey India League, provide a cauldron of emotions for players which need mental toughness to be there, and excel, and then start earning