When Grief Enters the Locker Room

"When a death occurs in a sport environment, particularly a death by suicide, its impact can ripple through entire organizations. Athletes, coaches, and sport staff, including those tasked with supporting organizations through crisis (e.g., sport psychologists, athletic counselors), often experience collective waves of shock, grief, and unanswered questions. This reality was central to a recent conversation with professional soccer player for RC Strasbourg Sierra Enge and adolescent mental health and suicide expert Dr. Kimberly O'Brien."

"Together, Sierra and Dr. O'Brien bring both lived and professional experience to the intersection of grief, suicide prevention, and athlete mental health. Throughout our discussion, their perspectives underscored a critical truth: we still do not fully understand the weight or complexity of grief and loss within sport environments, especially when that loss is due to suicide. Athlete Identity and the Pressure to Perform For many athletes, sport is not just something they do."

Deaths in sport, particularly by suicide, produce organizational ripple effects that provoke shock, grief, and many unanswered questions among athletes, coaches, and support staff. Athlete identity often becomes intertwined with performance, intensifying pressure from visibility, social media, and constant evaluation. Performance decline, injury, or life disruption can rupture that identity, leading to anxiety, withdrawal, and isolation. Recovery and resilience can follow through diversified self-investment, peer and professional support, and perspective shifts. Persistent gaps remain in recognizing the full weight and complexity of grief and loss within sport settings, and in creating effective prevention and support strategies.

Read at Psychology Today