End-of-Year Burnout Is Real—Here’s How to Support Your Athlete
By the time May and June roll around, many student-athletes are running on empty. School stress, final exams, spring sports, social shifts, and constant expectations all start to pile up. Even athletes who normally seem full of energy and motivation can start showing signs of fatigue or frustration.
This time of year can quietly take a toll. Some athletes keep showing up with smiles—but they’re emotionally drained. Others might suddenly resist going to practice, lose motivation in school, or become more sensitive than usual. What they’re experiencing isn’t laziness—it’s burnout.
What Burnout Can Look Like
Burnout in tweens and teens shows up in many forms:
Irritability or quick emotional shifts
Trouble sleeping or chronic tiredness
Anxiety about performance in school or sports
Withdrawal from things they normally enjoy
Feeling overwhelmed, even by small tasks
Often, kids don’t have the words to name what they’re feeling—they just know they’re tired of trying to keep up.
What You Can Do at Home
As parents and caregivers, one of the most valuable things you can do is acknowledge how heavy this season can feel.
Here are a few ways to help:
Ask better questions. Instead of “How did you do?” try “How are you feeling today?” or “What was hard, and how did you handle it?”
Make room for rest. Let rest be just rest—not earned or measured. Downtime, playful movement, or time without expectations can go a long way.
Normalize struggle. Remind them it’s okay to feel overwhelmed. Help them see that burnout doesn’t mean they’re failing—it means they’re human.
How We Approach Burnout at Beyond Sticks
At Beyond Sticks, we take a holistic approach to athlete development—and that includes acknowledging mental and emotional strain. When our athletes hit tough moments, we slow down, check in, and offer tools to support their nervous systems, like breathwork, grounding strategies, and reframing stress.
We also shift the narrative away from “push through” and toward pause and reflect. Our coaches model how to talk about effort, energy, and boundaries—so athletes learn how to value themselves beyond performance.
As the school year wraps up, you may notice signs of burnout creeping in. That’s okay. It’s not a sign of weakness—it’s a signal that care and recovery are needed.
This summer, we’ll continue these conversations on and off the field—connecting mindset, rest, and growth in every camp session.
👉 Sign up for summer camps