Balancing The “Albatross of Expectation”…

In her wonderful all access (see what happens when you give someone unfettered access and trust them to do a good job) piece on Purdue basketball, Dana O’Neil talked about the weight of pressure on the shoulders of Coach Matt Painter, identifying that weight as ‘The Albatross of Expectation.”

I thought a lot about that Albatross Monday night, as we saw the relief and joy of players from UConn, especially Paige Bueckners  and her journey and Iowa while the disappointment and emotion from LSU and USC was also quite evident.

However what really reminded me of the weight was the postgame monologue by the Tigers star Angel Reese. Reese was asked a question by Erica Ayala, and you can watch the full response here. It was a stark reminder of the pressure, the doubt, the questions we put upon those in the limelight, and the weight they can carry with them.

I raise this as the lights keep getting brighter and brighter with the dawn of Name, Image and Likeness, the continued power of the social space, and now the dollars being spent in niche and women’s sports like never before.

While it is easy to sit back and say “they are adults over 18, they are taking the money and they want the fame,” or, as was validly pointed out yesterday by Nick Wright on FS1, there needs to be time when people aren’t beholden to their mobile device and following everything that is being said about them by mysterious strangers, it is more important to ask if the system is there to help those being cast into the limelight, especially at a young age. 

The answer in many cases, at least in sports business, is probably not. Now this is not new. I have lived through the learning experiences of young people like Jennifer Capriati…not once but twice in her career…and other women’s tennis players, as well as athletes in other sports who were thrust into the limelight and did not know where to turn or ask for advice or counsel, when the lights get too bright or even worse…too dark. I have been around three athlete related suicides, and even have tried to find best practices to share with young people who you could see have the pressure coming, and more often than not, the hope by those closest to them hope that this is just part of the process and hope that it goes away and doesn’t end badly. There are   exceptions in teams, leagues, organizations setting up proper safety nets, but not as many…especially on the college and high school level…as are needed.

Today we are again all giddy with the success of ratings numbers and dollars to be made, and are extended with the joy of anticipation over what comes next, especially as we can flip our screens on and off.

However it is important to ask if we remember if these young people are just that…kids who need help and support, just like anyone else does at that age. Are they getting it? Ask the leaders around them if its enough. The success they are enjoying is important, but like everything else there needs to be their personal balance, and unless you walk in their shoes, its important to have some of that perspective.

Yes they take the money, yes they drive their “unapologetic self’s,” and the criticism comes with performance on the biggest stage.  Let’s hope that the joy of success is the payoff for the hard work being put in, and that the weigh is balanced by leaning in on the people who should be there to keep it real for them away from the cameras and the attention.