That is a view held by Dr Darren Britton, a lecturer in sport psychology at Solent University, who believes sportswomen are more likely to experience stressors when competing in sports that are directly related to sexism, and issues concerning body image, amid other factors.
“There’s less pay, less investment in facilities and bigger expectations. If you’re a professional female athlete in your late 20s, at what point should you or can you start a family? There’s a whole host of stressors that female athletes have to contend with that male athletes don’t.”
Team selection has also been found to be a stress trigger that can impacts female athletes. In a 2015 study involving 1,277 athletes published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, being picked for a team was found to be a major contributor towards elevated stress levels among women.
A similar conclusion was drawn in a smaller study of 23 female semi-elite rowers published in the Journal of Sports Sciences last year, which found that stress around selection was so great it created perceived “psychological ill health” among athletes.
Maddie Hinch, who starred for Great Britain women’s hockey team in the penalty shootout at the Rio 2016 Olympics, can relate to the stress associated with the competition for places in a team.
The three-time world goalkeeper of the year has openly spoken about experiencing depression and burnout after trying to live up to a ‘superhero’ tag following her penalty heroics that won Great Britain a gold medal.
“The selection side of the sport is just an added part of the reality of what we do, so of course that brings its tension and difficulties,” says Hinch. “We’re constantly being analysed on a day to day basis, whether that’s some type of team cameras in training or the coaches watching. You constantly feel like you’re having to be at the highest level and that itself causes stress.”
