Begin with the need, rather than the score
A player can keep earning a starting place while struggling away from practice. Another athlete can feel well in daily life but want help managing attention in competition. The scoreboard does not tell you which kind of support a person needs.
AASP’s provider guide makes this distinction: mental performance and mental health do not necessarily move together. A performance credential alone does not establish clinical qualifications. Some practitioners hold both, so check the credentials and service actually being offered.
What sort of support could fit?
These examples help organize a conversation. They are not a screening test, and needs can overlap. If you are unsure, consult the qualified support staff available to your organization.
| Situation | Possible next contact |
|---|---|
| An athlete wants individual help with a competition routine or focus skill. | A qualified mental performance professional. |
| An athlete raises mental-health concerns or struggles with daily functioning. | A licensed mental-health professional or healthcare provider. |
| A player is unclear about their assignment, feedback or practice expectations. | The relevant sport coach, with other support where needed. |
| An athlete describes mistreatment or an immediate safety concern. | The appropriate safeguarding or urgent-help route. |
Open a private, ordinary conversation
Choose an appropriate setting under your organization’s youth-safety procedures. Describe a specific observation, then make space for an answer. An illustrative opening is: “You mentioned dreading practice several times. I want to understand what has been difficult. Would you like to talk, or would another trusted adult feel easier?”
Avoid presenting a referral as something the athlete must earn by trying harder first. Explain what help you can offer: identifying a contact, involving the right school staff or helping arrange a conversation. Ask what would make that step easier. An offer to “find someone” is more useful when you follow it with a real name or route.
Know what belongs outside a coaching conversation
For a young athlete, persistent distress or difficulty at home, school or with friends deserves professional attention. Unsafe behavior or talk of harm needs immediate help. NIMH provides guidance for recognizing these concerns; a coach should not try to diagnose or treat them.
Follow your organization’s emergency procedures. In the United States, 988 provides crisis support by phone or text, while a life-threatening emergency calls for 911. Use the relevant local services elsewhere. A concern about immediate safety should not wait for the next practice or a performance consultation.
Make the handoff respectful
For minors, follow the school or organization’s established safeguarding process for involving appropriate family members and support staff. Explain what you need to share and why. Do not promise absolute secrecy. If the concern involves a parent or another adult, use the designated safeguarding route rather than improvising a confrontation.
Keep personal information out of team talks and informal staff conversations. A coaching staff may need to know an agreed practical adjustment without receiving the athlete’s private history. Ask the relevant professional and follow applicable procedures about what information can be shared.
A helpful follow-up can be simple: “Were you able to connect with the person we discussed?” Let the athlete decide how much of the private conversation to describe. Continue offering ordinary welcome and clear coaching. Support should not make someone feel like a problem the team now has to manage.
If the athlete cannot reach the suggested provider
Ask about the barrier without asking for private clinical details. Is the contact route unclear, the fee unaffordable, transport unavailable or the athlete unsure what to say? Bring that practical problem to the appropriate school or organization support person within established procedures. A list of names is not useful if none provides an accessible next step.
A simple handoff note can record the agreed contact route, who will help arrange it and any practical coaching adjustment. Follow the organization’s information-handling rules; do not place private health details in a shared team tracker. Confirm what action belongs to you and what belongs to qualified support staff. Urgent concerns still require the relevant immediate response rather than a routine appointment search.
A teen’s first mental performance coaching session: what to expect
Keep teaching within your role
You can still teach an understandable practice cue, give specific feedback and make room for questions. Referral is compatible with good everyday coaching. It also gives you a chance to review whether your own communication or training expectations need to change.
reset offers educational mental skills practice, not human appointments or clinical care. Recommending an app does not complete a referral. When the athlete needs a person, help them reach the appropriate person.
Sources and further reading
- AASP: How to Identify the Right Provider
Distinguishes mental performance services from clinical care and explains that performance does not establish mental-health status.
- NIMH: Children and Mental Health
Guidance on seeking professional and urgent help. School and organization procedures vary.