Violet Bramley, a sophomore on the girls JV soccer team, said that the tryout process was definitely a stressful process. “Something specific about it, I think, was just the social aspect and the pressure to perform really well in front of people, especially because I made frosh last year and I felt as though I needed to advance to the next level or else I wasn’t going to be good enough in the eyes of my peers,” Bramley said.
According to the National Library of Medicine, “Studies have proven that there is a direct correlation between exercise and improved health. Nevertheless, athletes seem to experience mental health problems more frequently than many people acknowledge. These mental health problems are often a result of factors such as stress.”
Sophie Valdes, a sophomore who tried out for softball this year, said she experienced stress during the tryout process. “Even though I was returning from last year, I didn’t know what team I would make, since a new team would be added,” Valdes said.
Davis Gebhart, a senior on the lacrosse team, reflects on how he feels like friends and other people make pressure during tryouts worse at least a little bit because of their expectations. “I have a lot of friends that are on varsity, and they’ve been for years, some since freshman year, and it’s always a big thing,” Gebhart said.
“I think it’s a big thing in high school, to be like, yeah, I’m a varsity athlete,” Gebhart said. “So when you’re just on JV, even if you’re really good and would be on varsity at different schools, it’s still like you feel like you’re not as good. Especially now being on varsity, I feel like I have more authority when I’m talking about my sport or playing it,” Gebhart said.
High school is the end of the line for many athletes, as most students don’t get to play their sport in college. It varies every year and between each sport, but according to the University of Olivet, only about 6 out of every 100 student-athletes continue to play their sport in college or university.
Valdes said that sometimes other people’s opinions and lives can impact the stress of a sport due to feeling pressure to achieve their abilities especially when you try out for a sport. “Because if you look like a 13-year-old on USA softball, it’s definitely a lot of pressure to perform that way. And if you see someone on your team performing a certain way, it may put pressure on you to do that good,” Valdes said.
Senior Benjamin Bock said that throughout the tryout process, other student athletes and social media do not significantly impact him. “I don’t really care about social media. I’ll look at it, but I don’t think about it at all when I look at it,” Bock said. “So it doesn’t affect how I think. I assume for some people it does, like living up to the expectations that other people have, like trying to place yourself against others, but not for me.”
Tryouts are one only step of many that athletes may have to take to get onto a team. “I’ve tried out for three different sports, and this year was my varsity tryout, and I was pretty confident that I would make it,” Gebhart said. “But it’s still one of those things that you got to get through, you know, you got to do well.”
Bramley said that one of the most important things to remember is to remain confident, even when you doubt yourself or mess up. If you have confidence the coaches will take note of that. “They’ll see your recovery, and they’ll see how you perform. Even under the pressure of thinking you might not do well, they’ll see the effort you’re putting in to remain positive,” Bramley said.
