a sports psychologist until recently many did not pursue it as a full time career now a few academies have come up and they are extending their services to sports teams as consultants shares practicing sports psychologist nupur kaulhowever the times are changing after kohlis statement earlier in the month cricketing legend sachin tendulkar supported the former with a tweet saying proud of your success and decision to share such personal experiences these days youngsters are constantly judged on social media thousands speak about them but not to them we need to be able to listen to them and help them flourishsachin tendulkars tweet for virat kohli opening up about his depressionin september 2019 harmanpreet kaur the indian women cricket team captain in t20 urged bcci to appoint a psychologist for the team nowadays the pressure is high you need someone to discuss things with when they are not fine she stated at a press conference even players who are preparing for the tokyo olympics like shooter manu bhaker requested the sports ministry to hire the services of sports psychologists to prepare themselves better being in a sport that requires vigorous mental strength and stability to perform flawlessly getting an experts guidance will help me prepare better for the olympics she statesneed to end the stigma regarding mental health in sports while all sports are equal but it is harder for team players to open up about mental health as compared to individual sports players because of the stigma there is always a thought that what will be the teammates think about me what if they find a substitute for me if i open up moreover male players have a tougher time accepting their struggles because of the gender bias in sports nupur kaul practicing sports psychologistmost of the queries from the players or coaches is about handling pressure another issue that nags them the most is the fear of making mistakes and fear of failure in my experience of interaction with young athletes a lot of importance is placed on winning their self esteem and the way they view themselves is determined largely by their performance outcomes so i work on helping athletes separate themselves from attaching their identity to just performance outcomes nicole menezes cofounder grit sport and exercise psychology consultancy consults u17 national womens football team