I am here at the Bonfiglio Tournament in Milan, one of the most important tournaments on the junior tennis circuit and one week before Roland Garros. Until a few years ago, there would be no psychologists at a junior tournament, because the few who did this work were not dedicated to adolescent athletes, unless they were early specialization sports like artistic gymnastics.
When I first started following national teams, the investment in this area was only for athletes who were likely to win an Olympic medal; one would never invest professional and econocratic resources on athletes who did not have that perspective. I first went to the Olympics in 1996 in Atlanta as a psychologist for the national shooting team. The goal was clear, to work to enable shooting athletes to improve their performance and win a medal.
The topic of athlete wellness and mental health was not an area that was recognized as important, let alone working with junior athletes was of any interest.Over the next 32 years, leading up to Tokyo these issues became just as central as those related to performance improvement. It is something that has happened very gradually and should be good for everyone but is it really true?
