Yearly programming and training for the long-term athletic development of basketball players requires careful planning and consideration. It’s safe to say that the common goals and desires of every coach is to reduce and prevent injury as much as possible within their control, improve performance on the court and build physically and mentally strong players that have great team chemistry, confidence, leadership skills and genuine care and love for each other.

Anxiety disorders can affect a student athlete’s ability function effectively – academically, athletically or socially. Symptoms of anxiety disorders often worsen under stress.  A student-athlete may be experiencing stress because of the transition of being away from home and adjusting to a new living situation, or worrying about achieving academically, or meeting performance expectations in his or her sport.

There is a school of thought in American sport today that “more is better.”  Parents and coaches, perhaps dreaming of the spoils of athletic success, are encouraging kids at increasingly younger ages to specialize in a particular sport and to commit to year-round training in it.  Cutting-edge physical training programs frequently require overloading athletes to obtain maximum training gains.  The pressures to do and achieve more keep growing, and far too rarely is consideration given to the costs of operating in this non-stop fashion.

The NCAA promotes a holistic approach to developing student-athletes during their college careers and beyond. Although there is increased public dialogue around the long-term health of college student-athletes, many athletic departments have yet to develop specific programs to address this issue. The current season of NBC’s popular show, “The Biggest Loser,” profiles former athletes who struggle to maintain their health and fitness after retiring from competitive sport.

Historically, the training table referred to the one meal per day for scholarship student-athletes outside of their institutional meal plan and on days when campus dining facilities are under normal operation. With the recent Division I deregulation of meals legislation that went into effect on August 1, 2014 there is a little more freedom in feeding student-athletes.

In an excerpt from the Sports Science Institute’s guide to mental health, “Mind, Body and Sport,” University of South Carolina athletic trainer Rachel Sharpe looks at the challenges of addressing mental health in college sports.

In an excerpt from the Sports Science Institute’s guide to mental health, “Mind, Body and Sport,” Lincoln Memorial student-athlete Bradley Maldonado offers his perspective and advice as a student-athlete to managing mental health.