Combating stress in collegiate athletics

When a student-athlete walks into Jerry Pastore’s office, a discussion about sleep or stress is most likely to ensue.

The Coordinator of Student-Athlete Wellbeing, Pastore said his job revolves around trying to help athletes maintain a balance between their hectic sports schedules and other aspects of their personal lives. Developing good sleeping habits is one of the first steps to helping achieve that balance.

“People don’t realize how heavily scheduled Student-Athletes are,” Pastore said.

He detailed what a typical day in the life of a student-athlete looks like. At 6 a.m., they’re weightlifting before going to class until the early afternoon. From 1 p.m. until dusk, they’re usually practicing, and afterward is study time. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Because of the amount of time dedicated to their sport – the typical NCAA athlete spends 39 hours per week on academics and 33 hours per week on their sport while in-season – devoting time to other aspects of their lives can be difficult.

“They’re high achievers, they’re goal-oriented,” Pastore said. “What made them successful as student-athletes has to be kept in some sort of balance. Pushing in a sport or working through a sport or being very focused on a sport and continuing to try to improve and reach your goals is really great for that, and that’s what makes them very successful.”

Pastore uses breathing and relaxation techniques to help athletes sleep better. He also acts as somewhat of a counselor for athletes who are struggling in their personal life; homesickness is something his patients often deal with.

While he is not a sport psychologist (he’s more of a health-life coach), many teams do bring in their own sport psychologists to help their athletes with the mental side of their sport. This often includes learning how to control breathing and relaxing during games.

Assistant volleyball coach Burdette Greeny said the team has brought in people twice in the past three years to help with team-building activities. These consultants help with teaching techniques on how to work on breathing, relaxing and maintaining focus during the heat of games.

“It’s team building, but it’s not ‘rah rah’ or cheerleading stuff, there’s some meat to it, there’s substance to it,” Greeny said. “They talk about ways to use your brain, like self talk.”

Greeny said he’s learned to instruct his athletes to see obstacles as challenges, not threats. That pertains to all aspects of life, not just on the court.

“Every situation you look at, do you look at it as a threat or do look at it as a challenge?” Greeny said. “I don’t care how difficult it gets to the point of getting your brain to go ‘hey, it’s a challenge,’ no matter what comes up, it’s a challenge, it’s not a threat.”

Having a high-energy mindset that is constantly striving for growth instead of fixation can be both physically and mentally draining. That’s when an athlete will go see Pastore to help regain that emotional and physical balance in their life.

“He’s awesome,” Greeny said. “Almost every one of our athletes goes and sees Jerry. I think he’s phenomenal… He’s a third party, a different voice that feels safe.”