Book Club: How has the pressure changed for college athletes?
'What Made Maddy Run'
I wanted to start a thread about this quarter’s book, ‘What Made Maddy Run,’ because the topic of mental health in college sports is certainly not less timely than when this book was written in 2018. And a lot of triathletes can probably understand anxiety and pressure — but also that there’s something to be gained by thinking about what younger athletes are facing now and how that’s changed. If you’ve started the book, then you know there are some big questions about how we’ve shaped college, college sports, and how to serve student-athletes better.
Did you play sports in college, did you struggle freshman year, was that struggle more magnified or different because of the institution and culture around you?
Two things I want to know from you:
The stats and research in the book show *huge* numbers of college students, and especially college-athletes, rate their mental health as bad — and a large number have had suicidal thoughts. Was this surprising to you? Why or why not?
How do you think the pressure on college students and student-athletes has changed since you were in school? Why?
We will have a Q&A with the author later in March (so you have a few weeks to finish up the book), just confirming date/time!
I swam in college and started in the pre title nine in 1973. I swam at UCLA with 3 women who had been in the 72 Olympics. I was very excited and also noted I was doing the “same” workout as them. That motivated me. I transferred to Cal state Northridge for my three final years and had the same coach as the men’s team, who was actually quite good. We swam with the men and did a lot of the same workouts. We had one team mate that developed anorexia, but everyone else seemed to have no mental health issues, (at least to my uneducated self). Current college kids have grown up with a lot of parent involvement and have to deal with separation from them in addition to college, which can contribute to anxiety . My grandkids are headed to college in the next three years and the parents are really trying hard to help them develop independence and self worth, so we will see how this goes