Grief in sport is real, yet rarely acknowledged. Providing connection and support to athletes is essential to healing.
Sport culture often prioritizes performance, leaving grief unrecognized and unsupported.is often driven to athletes’ physical abilities, psychological endurance, and team-based achievements . A far less visible but equally significant aspect of the sport experience is the presence of grief following death within sport contexts.
Despite its inevitability, grief in sport remains under-examined and frequently marginalized, leaving athletes, teams, and support personnel to navigate loss without adequate recognition or structured support .within the Association for Applied Sport Psychology to help sports professionals prepare their organizations for the aftermath of death. Parga and I spoke recently about areas of grief exploration and how we can support athletes in the wake of loss.shape how athletes interpret and respond to distress . A person experiencing grief might feel as if their strength has disappeared, but Parga explains it in a different way: “Sport tells a powerful story about strength. Push through pain; stay tough, control your emotions, and perform no matter what. For athletes, these messages become about both, yet grief has a way of exposing the limits of even the strongest performance mindsets. Grief doesn’t follow sport’s rules and there is no magic ending to grief.” When a teammate dies, the world does not simply “reset” after the tribute ends. Many athletes describe returning to environments that appear unchanged. Daily routines and expectations remain the same, but an integral part of the team is missing—the person who died. Strength can include expressing feelings related to grief.Within sport settings, research highlights that experiences of loss, including the death of a teammate, can disrupt identity, psychological safety, and performance consistency . As Parga pointed out, grief rarely announces itself dramatically. It often moves quietly through the body and mind and might appear as:Helping athletes understand that everyone experiences grief differently provides the space to honestly reflect upon one's unique and individual grief expression. Parga emphasized this point:“Grief rarely looks the same from person to person. One athlete may immerse themselves in training while another may struggle with focus. One may express Research consistently shows wide variability in grief responses , yet athletes often and relentlessly compare themselves to others. They might think, ”Why am I not handling this better?” or “Everyone else seems fine, why am I feeling bad?”of judgment, concerns about appearing weak, or perceived performance consequences . Silence about grief risks emphasizing a culture of ignoring difficult-to-manage emotions rather than creating space to heal them. Suicide remains the second leading cause of death among athletes . When a death involves suicide, silence often deepens. Suicide carries layers of stigma, discomfort, and uncertainty. Athletes may struggle with questions they feel unsafe to ask, while coaches may worry about saying the wrong thing. Gently and honestly naming reality can help stabilize environments. Research shows that being proactive about personalizing the nature of the loss strengthens the sense of community, while avoiding discussions can lead people to feel isolated . Similarly, research on suicideGrief does not require perfect words. Often, what’s missing inside grieving teams is permission to feel one’s emotions and share one’s thoughts. Athletes wait for acknowledgement, coaches wait for cues, and silence fills the space between them. “What people frequently need most is remarkably simple,” Parga explained. He said that simple phrases like these can often help:One athlete described the relief of hearing similar, simple words: “We didn’t need speeches. We just needed someone to say, ‘Of course this is hard.'”Grief expands the definition of strength. Strength is staying present when emotions are uncomfortable and allowing healing and safe reactions without judgment. Remaining connected to others while healing can allow people to move forward without pretending that nothing has changed. In sport, strength is often associated with endurance. In grief, strength becomes honesty, and perhaps the most important truth for athletes to remember: Feeling emotions is not a performance flaw.Athletes are used to celebrating with their teammates, and they might be less used to sharing difficult emotions. Role modeling sharing emotions about grief, loss, and death can help others open up and begin their own healing process.it can be of service to educate people about the different ways we experience, express, and manage individual grief symptoms.thoughts, actions, and aftermath can help people begin to open up about their feelings related to the loss of someone by suicide, and it can even help them express their own thoughts of suicide or death in general.can help people experiencing grief realize that others feel the loss, too, and that there is ongoing support during the ups and downs that people experience after a death.to help those who have experienced a loss can help set the stage for ongoing conversations about grief, loss, and healingPeople often ask when they will feel better. Grief does not have an expiration date, but people can learn how to carry it in ways that feel more manageable over time. In sports and in life, strength is not moving on from or forgetting grief; strength is learning how to move forward while continuing to honor what mattered. Grief does not disappear, but it can be something you live with rather than something that stops you. Over time, it exists alongside purpose, connection, and the parts of life that continue to move forward. If you or someone you love is contemplating suicide, seek help immediately. For help 24/7, dial 988 for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or reach out to the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. To find a therapist near you, visit the Andriessen, K., Krysinska, K., Hill, N. T. M., Reifels, L., Robinson, J., Reavley, N., & Pirkis, J. . Effectiveness of interventions for people bereaved through suicide: A systematic review of controlled studies of grief, psychosocial and suicide-related outcomes. BMC Psychiatry 19, 49 .Küttel, A., & Larsen, C. H. . Risk and protective factors for mental health in elite athletes: A scoping review. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology,Marek, F., & Oexle, N. . Supportive and non-supportive social experiences following suicide loss: A qualitative study. Frontiers in Psychology. O’Brien, K. H. M., Willoughby, K., & Nilsson, A. . Suicide bereavement with sports teams. Sport Social Work Journal, 7, 133–144.Petek, B. J., Churchill, T. W., Moulson, N., Kliethermes, S. A., Baggish, A. L., Drezner, J. A., Patel, M. R., Ackerman, M. J., Kucera, K. L., Siebert, D. M., & Harmon, K. G. . Sudden cardiac death in National Collegiate Athletic Association athletes: A 20-year study. Circulation, 149, 80–90. Reardon, C. L., et al. . Mental health in elite athletes: International Olympic Committee consensus statement . British Journal of Sports Medicine, 53, 667–699. Rice, S. M., Purcell, R., De Silva, S., Mawren, D., McGorry, P. D., & Parker, A. G. . The Mental Health of Elite Athletes: A Narrative Systematic Review. Sports Medicine , 46, 1333–1353. Sarkar, M., & Fletcher, D. . Psychological resilience in sport performers: a review of stressors and protective factors. Journal of Sports Sciences, 32, 1419–1434. Westaby, J. & Sheppard, N. . Epidemiology and aetiology of sudden cardiac death in athletes. . The British Journal of Cardiology. Whelan, B. M., Kliethermes, S. A., Schloredt, K. A., Rao, A., Harmon, K. G., & Petek, B. J. . Suicide in National Collegiate Athletic Association athletes: A 20-year analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 58, 531–537.The Friend EffectSelf Tests are all about you. Are you outgoing or introverted? Are you a narcissist? Does perfectionism hold you back? Find out the answers to these questions and more with Psychology Today.
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