In the last post, I wrote about redefining the landing — about listening to my body as it asks for care, collaboration, and longevity.
As I’ve reflected on that, I’ve found myself thinking about how often bodies are still asked to adapt to systems that haven’t changed much.
To be fair, there are signs of movement. At the professional level, and across social media, we hear about teams, coaches, and programs trying to be more thoughtful about their athletes as whole people. Conversations about mental health, rest, and well-being are happening now in ways they weren’t a decade ago. Some systems really are shifting.
And still — when “healthy” is defined as only having tendonitis, or being cleared as long as you can compete, we have a long way to go. At every level of sport.
Because even as the language evolves, the underlying expectation often remains the same:
adapt yourself to the system.
When Struggle Is Treated as a Personal Problem
In sport, we tend to treat injury, chronic pain, burnout, or identity disruption as individual problems to be solved.
I think about the years I was told all the ways I needed to be “better” as an athlete — and I still see similar messaging today, directed primarily at individuals:
“You need a stronger mindset.”
“You need better rehab compliance.”
“You need more grit.”
“You need to be more resilient.”
These messages aren’t always wrong.
But they’re incomplete.
Because they assume the system itself is neutral — or fixed.
But what if these moments aren’t just personal challenges?
What if they’re data?
What Bodies Tell Us That Systems Often Miss
Bodies are honest.
They respond to load, pressure, pace, and expectation — whether or not we want them to. And when a body begins to break down, shut down, or protest, it’s often revealing something about the environment it’s been living in.
I see this again and again in my work:
- Athletes whose injuries aren’t just physical, but existential
- Former athletes who feel unmoored when performance is no longer the organizing force
- Former high-performance athletes whose aging bodies carry the cumulative impact of sport — histories that are often minimized or disconnected from their current care
- Coaches holding immense responsibility without enough support
- Systems that invest deeply in bodies while athletes are competing, but lose curiosity once performance ends
- Systems that prize endurance and toughness, yet struggle with attunement, repair, and lifespan understanding
When performance is the organizing principle, care tends to follow performance.
When performance ends, care often becomes less precise.
When Performance Isn’t the Problem
Many of the athletes I work with aren’t struggling because they don’t care enough, work hard enough, or want it badly enough.
They’re struggling because they’ve been trained to override themselves for years.
They learned — explicitly or implicitly — that:
- pain is weakness
- rest is indulgent
- care comes after results
- identity is earned through output
So when the body changes — through injury, aging, illness, hormonal shifts, or cumulative stress — the system doesn’t always know how to respond.
And neither does the athlete.
Too often, former athletes are told some version of:
This is just what getting older feels like.
Without curiosity about:
- cumulative training load
- recovery history
- nervous system wear and tear
- perimenopause, menopause, or post-menopause
- or the long-term cost of high-performance sport
When we stop competing, the system’s interest often fades — even though the body is still carrying the story.
This Isn’t Just About Athletes
Coaches, clinicians, athletic trainers, and support staff often carry this same tension.
Many of you were shaped by the same sport cultures.
Many of you learned to push through your own limits in order to support others.
Many of you are holding space for athletes’ pain while quietly negotiating your own.
Many of you are balancing athlete well-being with pressure from programs, boosters, funders, and performance demands.
When systems don’t make room for reflection, repair, and care, everyone feels it.
Burnout doesn’t happen in a vacuum.
Neither does compassion fatigue.
Neither does moral distress.
A Gentle Reframe
Perhaps breakdowns aren’t signs that something is wrong with the individual.
Maybe they are signals that the system needs attention — across the lifespan.
What if injury, burnout, or identity disruption were invitations — not to push harder — but to pause and ask better questions?
Questions like:
- What are we asking bodies to tolerate at different stages of life?
- What are we rewarding, explicitly and implicitly?
- Where does care live once performance is no longer the goal?
- How do we understand aging, hormones, and recovery histories in former athletes and coaches?
- Who is responsible for holding care — and who is currently carrying it alone?
These aren’t questions with quick answers.
But they are questions that change cultures when they’re taken seriously.
Why This Matters
Athlete care isn’t just about rehabilitation protocols or mental skills training.
It’s about:
- how systems respond to vulnerability
- how leaders model care
- how staff are supported to do relational work
- how identity is held when performance shifts
- how bodies are understood across a lifespan, not just a season
When systems evolve, individuals don’t have to carry everything alone.
And when individuals are supported, systems become more sustainable.
A Quiet Invitation
This is the heart of the work I care deeply about — walking alongside athletes, clinicians, coaches, and organizations as they reflect on how bodies, identities, and systems intersect.
Not to dismantle sport.
But to help it grow up.
To become more attuned.
More humane.
More sustainable.
Stay Connected
For weekly reflections on athlete identity, sport culture, and whole-person care, visit lcollinslcsw.com/athleteilluminated.
In solidarity,
Laura
Reflection Prompts
- Where does the system I’m part of invest the most care — and where does that attention fade?
- How does my sport or organization understand bodies across different life stages (early career, injury, transition, aging, retirement)?
- What assumptions are made about pain, fatigue, or change once performance is no longer the goal?
- How are cumulative load, recovery history, stress, and hormonal shifts considered — or overlooked?
- Where are the gaps in care during key transitions in an athlete’s or coach’s life?
- What would it look like to build systems that stay engaged with people across their lifespan, not just during their peak years?
Note: This and every Athlete Illuminated post is for educational purposes only and not a replacement for mental health treatment. If you are in urgent need of mental health support, please call 9-8-8. If you are experiencing an emergency, please call 9-1-1 or go to your nearest emergency room. For ongoing mental health concerns, consider seeking professional support or therapy.
The Athlete Psychotherapist 
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