The Burden of Sport. John Weston Parry.

The Burden of Sport.   John Weston Parry.

How and Why Athletes Struggle with Mental Health. 

Sports-related books tend to discuss the personal and team success in terms of results and outcomes.    This will always be the most significant way of measuring success and status.    However, one author has decided to write about how many athletes, especially competing at the highest levels of their sport, may experience and suffer from an emotional and mental health standpoint while chasing their dreams and goals.    John Weston Parry is the author of The Burden of Sports and delivers an extensive, detailed manual getting the reader to see how the underbelly of competition impacts the social and mental health of athletes. 

This book looks like and reads like a textbook that could be used in any college sport studies department around the nation.   It is very organized and structured.    The author provides copious details explaining the content and numerous examples supporting each category within just about every chapter.  The book is broken down in three parts including underlying factors jeopardizing health and wellness of athletes, mental health concerns regarding spectator sports and finally addressing the emotional challenges of marginalized athletes.

Numerous case studies are included in each part that help edify understanding and experience of several key concepts heavily addressed in The Burden of Sports.    One such concept is known as sportswashing.   On the surface this may sound like a form of brain washing but this concept is explained to be much more than that.    An entire chapter is devoted to discussing and explaining sports-related “Yips”.   A lesser-known variation of transgender referred to as intersex is addressed in the last chapter.   Furthermore, in a book littered with acronyms, one stands out over the others known as DSD or disorder of sex development.

The most interesting topics covered in this near handbook were the effects of homo-sexuality on gay athletes and the pressure they experience as competitors, particularly to conceal their sexual orientation for fear of damage to their career.    Another scintillating topic was easily the transgender content and stories included in part 3 of the book.   As mentioned previously, a section was devoted to players that suddenly experience a loss of ability to perform at a high level, or even at all, known as having the yips.   Parry provides myriad examples of athletes that identify as gay.   The author points out how many were, and still are, reluctant to reveal their sexual orientation.    While society in general seemingly accepts a person’s orientation more willingly than in past generations, Parry makes it clear that this has not necessarily crossed over to athletes in just about every sport with the not surprising exception of ice-skating. 

Parry seems to be of the belief that transgender athletes face enormous and unfair restrictions and scrutiny often at the hands of mostly male legislators that regulate gender rules within their organizations----many of these are often accused of bias and perpetual corruption.   The author tends to lean towards letting the transgender athletes participate without exception and attempts to debunk whatever advantages that inter sex athletes are perceived to possess.    In fact, the author is highly critical of the testing measurements used to judge and qualify athletes suspected of being too masculine for women sports in particular.    Not only are the parameters deemed unfair by Parry but through his description they could be argued as unsafe and even dangerous.

While Burden is not too lengthy (about 275 pages) and has some dry spots and minutia to overcome, it contains several interesting case studies reinforcing key concepts introduced throughout the book.    Although this has the feel of a text book, Parries expertise, writing style and command of details is an asset and provides a worthy learning tool and experience.    This is a growing topic that is not always so well understood or explained but Burden allows the reader to garner greater awareness of the often less discussed rigors of competitive sports.     

 

•               You might like to read this book if you like to read about the connection between mental health and sports.
•        You might like to read this book if you like to read about case studies of athletes and their mental and emotional setbacks. 
•          You might like to read this book if you are interested in exploring more about transgender and sport.        

 

Read more about the author on twitter:   https://twitter.com/westonparry