Anxiety Steals the Game: How Mental Performance Coaching Helps Young Athletes Step Into Their God-Given Confidence

Growing up in South Florida, basketball was more than a sport to me—it was my passion, my world, the thing that made me feel alive. I played AAU basketball year-round, and when I was in sixth grade, my team earned a spot in the national AAU tournament in Seattle, Washington.

For a kid who loved the game, this felt huge. I remember the excitement, the energy, the anticipation. I had dreamed of moments like that since the first time I picked up a ball.

But when the moment actually came… something unexpected happened.

Performance Anxiety Showed Up Before I Did

As soon as we arrived and the games began, anxiety washed over me. Instead of confidence, I felt pressure. Instead of clarity, I felt fear. Instead of playing loose and free—like I knew how to do—my thoughts spiraled and my body tightened.

I froze.

I didn’t play well. Our team didn’t perform the way we hoped. And inside, I felt embarrassed, frustrated, and confused.

I knew I was one of the better players on the team. But performance anxiety took over, and I didn’t have the tools or support to handle it.

Looking back, I wish I had someone in my corner—a mental performance coach, a mentor, someone who could have said:

“You’re not alone. Let’s work through this together. God didn’t give you a spirit of fear—He gave you power, love, and a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)

At that age, I didn’t understand that anxiety can overpower even the strongest, most talented athletes when they don’t have the skills to manage it.

Mental performance coaching isn’t therapy—it’s about teaching practical mindset and emotional skills so athletes can handle pressure and play with confidence again.

What I needed back then is exactly what I feel called to give now through my coaching work.

Why I Became a Life Coach for Young Athletes

My experience in Seattle stayed with me. It shaped me. And it became part of what God has used to lead me into coaching today.

Because the truth is this:

Mental performance is just as important as physical performance.

And if no one teaches a young athlete how to handle pressure, stress, self-doubt, or emotional overwhelm, then they’re missing half the game.

Many of the boys and young men I coach struggle with:
✔ Performance anxiety
✔ Fear of failure
✔ Difficulty regulating emotions
✔ Pressure from coaches or parents
✔ Perfectionism
✔ Feeling like they aren’t “good enough”
✔ Trouble bouncing back after mistakes

And I get it.

I lived it.

What I longed for as a sixth grader is what I now feel honored to provide—a safe place, a supportive guide, a coach who helps young athletes build real confidence from the inside out.

Not just confidence in their abilities… but confidence in who they are, who God created them to be, and what they carry within them.

What Mental Performance Coaching Offers

Mental performance coaching helps young athletes learn how to:
✔ Calm their nervous system
✔ Break out of fear-based thinking
✔ Build confidence rooted in truth, not pressure
✔ Stay focused and composed during games
✔ Manage big emotions in healthy ways
✔ Bounce back quickly from mistakes
✔ Play freely and joyfully again

I think about that sixth grader every time I’m working with a child who feels overwhelmed by expectations. I think about how alone I felt, and how different things could have been if someone had equipped me with tools for the mental and emotional side of sports.

And I’m grateful—genuinely grateful—that God redeemed that part of my story by allowing me to pour into others today.

Your Child Doesn’t Have to Fight Anxiety Alone

If your son is experiencing performance anxiety or emotional overwhelm—whether in sports, school, friendships, or life—coaching can give him the tools to step into confidence, resilience, and peace.

It’s not about being perfect. It’s about helping him discover who he is and what he can do with support, practice, and encouragement.

And I would be honored to walk alongside him in that journey.

If you want to talk about how coaching could help your athlete, I’d love to connect.

Together, we can help him step into the freedom, strength, and courage God has already placed inside him.

Written by Jeff Muyres, PCC, CPT, CACLC, CSPC
Christian Life Coach & Mental Performance Coach
Creative Family Counseling and Coaching

📞 770-727-4027
🌐 Serving clients in Georgia and nationwide through virtual coaching